NODDY HOLDER
Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noddy Holder:

Noddy Holder, was best known as the lead singer of the British band Slade.

Neville John Holder, better known as Noddy Holder, was born on June 15, 1946, in Walsall, Staffordshire, England. Neville attended the T. P. Riley Comprehensive School, in Walsall and passed 6 GCE O-level exams. He left school at 17 halfway through his A-level course to work in the office of a local car components firm. His love for rock and roll was sparked when he first heard Elvis Presley on the radio.

In his teenage years, Holder began performing in a group called The Rockin' Phantoms (aka The Memphis Cut-Outs) with school friends. With money earned from his first job he bought a Hofner guitar and an amplifier. Holder turned professional with Steve Brett & the Mavericks. The band made three singles and one TV appearance. As well as appearing onstage with Steve Brett, Neville was an occasional roadie (using his father's van, bought for their window cleaning round) for his friend Robert Plant, who later went on to great things with the group Led Zeppelin.

In the mid-1960s, Noddy Holder crossed paths with drummer Don Powell and guitarist Dave Hill, They had recruited bassist Jim Lea into their band The 'N Betweens and Holder completed the new line-up.

The 'N Betweens were a very busy combo. Holder's powerful vocals helped to shape the band's signature sound. The band changed their name to Ambrose Slade in 1969 and adopted a skinhead style that was as much a publicity stunt and an attempt to get media attention as anything else. It cost them in terms of work and reputation and they soon grew their hair again.

Slade's real rise to prominence began in the early 1970s when they signed with Polydor Records. They released a string of successful singles, including "Get Down and Get with It," "Coz I Luv You," and "Look Wot You Dun," which achieved significant chart success in the UK. However, it was their anthemic hit "Cum On Feel the Noize" in 1973 that catapulted them to international fame.

Noddy Holder and Jim Lea penned many of the band's hits, displaying a knack for crafting catchy, anthemic rock songs.

After Slade ended in 1991, Holder occasionally explored other creative avenues, including acting and television presenting. His Black Country accent and personality made him a popular figure on screen.  He has appeared in various TV shows, most notably The Grimleys (1999-2001) as music teacher Neville Holder, and had his own radio show on Piccadilly Radio in Manchester in the 1990s. He also presented 31 editions of Noddy's Electric Ladyland on the Men & Motors TV channel, was a team captain in BBC's A Question of Pop and was even immortalised as a puppet on the TV show Bob the Builder.

Since Noddy Holder parted company with Slade, he has only recorded one song that has been made available - a short acoustic version of the Slade song Coz I luv you, which featured on the soundtrack album for 'The Grimleys' TV show. This has also been made available as a digital download.

In 1999 Noddy Holder's autobiography Who's Crazee Now? (written with Lisa Verrico) was published and he was awarded the MBE in 2000 for his services to music. He was also the subject of the This Is Your Life TV show. On 8 December 2000, Holder made a brief cameo appearance in a live episode of Granada Television's Coronation Street, as a character called Stan, helping the cast mark the 40th anniversary of the soap.

Holder's voice was famously used in 2000 to record the lift announcements at the Walsall New Art Gallery. Director of the gallery Peter Jenkinson said at the time: "We are delighted that Noddy has agreed to record the lift announcements so that generations to come will be able to enjoy the unmistakable voice of Walsall's most famous son".

On 7 April 2004, in East Cheshire, he married TV-producer Suzan Price, with whom he has a son, Django (named after legendary gypsy jazz-guitarist Django Reinhardt), who was born in January 1995. Holder has two grown daughters, Jessica and Charisse, from his previous marriage, to Leandra. Nod is a grandfather. Nod maintains his personal privacy quite strictly.

In November 2004 he made a guest appearance in the second episode of Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere - filmed on Radcliffe Road in Bolton - in which he played a garage mechanic called Mick Bustin.

In 2005 Noddy has appeared in an advertisement campaign for Nobby's Nuts and Crisps. His image was the Nobby's Nuts mascot following on from the famous TV campaign. In 2006 Noddy made a guest appearance alongside Northampton Indie Rockers The Retro Spankees in a music video for the Misty's Big Adventure single 'Fashion Parade'. Since Christmas 2007, Holder has annually recorded a TV show countdown of hit Christmas tunes.

Holder was a regular TV critic and contributor to The Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2 for eight years, and the three often talked about rock star gossip from all eras. Radcliffe often refers to Holder as 'Sir Nodward of Holdershire'. He also occasionally presented Dumber & Dumbest, which was broadcast in the UK on Five.

On 9 December 2007, Holder was the third celebrity to be inducted onto the Birmingham Walk of Stars. 27,000 people turned out to his induction ceremony, which took place at Birmingham's 2007 Canal Boat Light Parade. On 24th December 2008, Holder appeared on British TV's BBC humorous news quiz show Have I Got News for You as a member of comedian and writer Paul Merton's team. In January 2010, Holder and his wife appeared on All Star Mr.and Mrs. on ITV, where they won the £30,000 jackpot for the NSPCC charity.

In 2011, Holder as 'King of the Sizzle' fronted British Sausage Week, touring the country to find the Best British Bangers and to promote support for British farmers and butchers. Holder has taken the opportunity to do some very confusingly non-rock'n'roll things since parting with Slade.

Holder featured as "Geoff's Dad" in the BBC Radio 4 comedy 'Hobby Bobbies'. Series 1 was broadcast July / August 2013 and Series 2 in November / December 2014.

During May 2013, Holder toured the UK with Mark Radcliffe for a series of intimate 'In conversation with' shows to celebrate his 50th year in showbiz Venues for the spring part of the tour include Bolton, Leeds, Durham, Telford, Preston, Redditch, Buxton and Harrogate. During the majority of shows, Holder performed some short acoustic numbers.

On 24 June 2014, Holder was awarded the freedom of his home town of Walsall, making him an honorary freeman of the borough. On 25 September 2014, Holder released his second book via Constable, titled The World According to Noddy.

In December 2015, he appeared as a presenter on BBC television's Songs of Praise. On Christmas Day 2015 Holder appeared in a cameo role in BBC television's Mrs Brown's Boys.

Nod has made a number of personal appeances related to local charities with which he is involved as a patron. He does not use social media personally. Any pages that state that they are his page are misleading readers.

Noddy Holder has stated categorically that the original line-up of Slade will not reunite. He has no intention of rejoining the group, though he occasionally liked to mischieviously startle fans into talking about the possibility by dropping 'never say never' comments in radio interviews, when asked about the possibility. Mostly these days, he will admit that there is no chance of it happening.

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Jim Lea

James Whild Lea (born 14 June 1949) is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, piano, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade from their inception until 1992, and for co-writing most of their songs.

Lea was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, on 14 June 1949. Influenced by French jazz-violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Lea's first instrument was the violin which he began to play aged 10.

His parents Frank Lea and Edna Whild owned The Grange pub in Bilbrook where he grew up. He attended Codsall Comprehensive School – now Codsall Community High School.

He joined the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra in 1961, and gained first class honours in a London music-school practical exam, before moving on to piano, guitar and finally bass guitar. He first played guitar, and then bass, in the schoolboy group 'Nick and The Axemen'.

Lea aged 16 went for auditions for a local band, 'The 'N Betweens', of which drummer Don Powell, guitarist Dave Hill and vocalist Johnny Howells were already members. He was accepted and left school immediately. When Noddy Holder joined soon after, the foundations for Slade had been laid. John Howells later left the band to pursue music more to his taste with another local band..

In December 1966, the 'N Betweens signed to EMI and their first single "You Better Run" was produced by Kim Fowley.

Chas Chandler, former member of the Animals and former manager/producer for Jimi Hendrix, spotted and signed them for Fontana Records in 1969, and their name was changed to Ambrose Slade. An album titled Beginnings was recorded. It was during 1969 that Lea wrote "How Does It Feel" at home, on an old out-of-tune piano with half of the keys not working.

In 1969, Ambrose Slade adopted a skinhead image and changed their name to Slade. Following their first chart entry with "Get Down and Get with It" in 1971, Chandler encouraged the band to write their own material, and the song-writing partnership of Lea and Holder commenced.[2] In most cases Lea wrote the melodies, and Holder concentrated on the lyrics. On the follow-up to "Get Down and Get with It", "Coz I Luv You," Lea played violin. Lea had the most formal musical training of the original Slade band members.

In 1979, Lea formed Cheapskate Records with his brother Frank and made records under the name of The Dummies. In 1981, Lea began record production and produced some of Slade's recordings. Following their first chart success in America, Slade commenced a tour in the US with Ozzy Osbourne. Lea fell ill after only one gig with Osbourne, the band returned home, and the original line-up with Lea and Holder never formally played live again. In a Q&A session for his official website in March 2017, Lea commented: "Over the last six months I've come to regret not going back to the States after I was ill in 1984. We did one gig with Ozzy and that was it. We should have gone back!!!!! The emergence of MTV would have made a huge difference."

In a Q&A session for his official website in March 2017, Lea disclosed his three favourite Slade songs were "How Does It Feel", "Far Far Away", and "Coz I Luv You". He also identified "When the Lights Are Out" from Old New Borrowed and Blue as an album track he would have liked to have seen released as a Slade single.

Slade's lack of success during the late 1970s led Lea to wonder if their material would be better received if recorded by another band. In late 1979, Lea formed The Dummies as a side project, with his brother Frank. The group released three singles, "When The Lights Are Out", "Didn't You Use To Use To Be You" and "Maybe Tonite". All three singles received plenty of radio airplay but sales suffered from distribution problems. "Didn't You Use To Use To Be You" was listed in BBC Radio One's 'A' playlist and was expected to become a top ten hit. Later in 1992, an album A Day in the Life of the Dummies was released, which gathered most of the material recorded by the band.

In the 1980s Lea also produced all of Slade's recording sessions (except for some of the singles), and became an increasingly dominant creative force within the band. It was not uncommon for him to handle Holder's, some say Hill's, guitar parts on record. In 1982, Lea was also busy working on solo projects. Under the name China Dolls, he released the track "One Hit Wonder", backed by the B-side "Ain't Love Ain't Bad". "One Hit Wonder" was the same song as "Didn't You Use To Use To Be You", originally released in 1980 under the name "The Dummies", whilst the B-side was a cover of the Slade track "It Ain't Love But It Ain't Bad", from the 1977 album Whatever Happened to Slade. The same year, Lea released another single, "Poland", under the name Greenfields of Tong, with the B-side carrying an instrumental version. "Poland" was a reworking of the 1979 Slade track "Lemme Love into Ya".

In late 1983, Lea's bandmate Noddy Holder joined him in record production. Together they produced Girlschool's cover of the T-Rex song "20th Century Boy" and the album Play Dirty which featured two Slade tracks "Burning in the Heat of Love" and "High and Dry". The "High and Dry" track was originally written for Girlschool but still appeared on Slade's album that same year. Lea also produced the Holder/Lea penned "Simple Love" for the actress and model Sue Scadding. Released by Speed Records and with Lea's brother, Frank on drums, the single failed to achieve any commercial success. Initially the song was intended for Slade but no version by the band is known to exist.The B-side was another Holder and Lea composition, "Poland", which Lea released as a single himself the year before under the name Greenfields of Tong. In 1984, Lea also produced an album for singer / actor Gary Holton. Lea also played all the instruments (except drums, played by Geoff Seopardi) on two singles from the album; Holton's cover version of "Catch a Falling Star" and "That's How the Story Goes". Neither achieved any success. In 1985, Lea released his only solo single under his own name entitled "Citizen Kane". Written by both Holder and Lea, it featured Holder on backing vocals.

In 1986, Lea produced and performed all the instruments except drums, played by Lea's brother, on two singles by Annabella Lwin. The first single was a cover of the Alice Cooper hit "School's Out", whilst the other single was a version of "Fever", written by Eddie Cooley and John Davenport and previously recorded by Little Willie John and Peggy Lee, among others. Both singles failed to have any impact. Lea also produced two covers by the rock band, The Redbeards From Texas; a Beatles' track, "I Saw Her Standing There", and Slade's own 1972 hit "Gudbuy T'Jane". Neither was successful and the band's lead vocalist Steve Whalley later became the vocalist of Slade II. In 1988, Lea produced "Shooting Me Down" for the English hard rock band Chrome Molly. Written by Holder and Lea, the single received airplay on BBC Radio 1, but failed to chart due to a dispute between I.R.S. and distributors MCA Records. The band were unable to capitalise on the single and they soon split.

Lea left Slade after Holder's departure from the band in 1992, being of the opinion that Slade was all four of them or nothing. He entered the property business in 1993 and went on to study psychotherapy in 1997 although he did not take it up as a career. In 1994, he released the single "Hello Goodbye" under the name Gang of Angels, and a reworking of "Coz I Luv You" twice; under the names "The X Specials" and "Jimbo feat Bull". In 1998, he began writing and recording new material, and released the single "I'll Be John, You Be Yoko" in 2000, under the name Whild. In 2001, he was awarded the Gold Badge of Merit by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.

Since Slade stopped touring in early 1984, Lea has performed live only twice; once for a local protest against a motorway development in his home area, and once again in 2002 for a charity event at the Robin 2 venue in Bilston, near Slade's old local pub, The Trumpet. Later the gig was made available as a download-only live album and later on, as on a second disc with his album Therapy.

In 2007, Lea released his first solo album, Therapy, which was made available on his website. It received positive reception upon its release and features Lea's own version of Slade's last single "Universe". In 2016, Wienerworld re-issued Therapy on CD and also released it on vinyl for the first time with bonus tracks. A new six-track extended play, Lost in Space, was released on 22 June 2018.

In 2021, Lea appeared on an episode of the BBC Two series Secrets of the Museum which followed the conservation and display of one of his original red lurex suits, at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

In 2023, the group that Lea had originally auditioned to join on 12 February 1966 – The 'N Betweens – were briefly reunited for a studio session and then a video session. The group this time around consisted of Jim Lea, Don Powell, plus original members Mick Marson and Johnny Howells. Guitarist Dave Hill was not invited to those sessions. A first track to appear from the sessions, "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" climbed to number 3 on the Heritage Chart and was released independently as a CD single on the Noize Recordings label. Lea also appeared on a Don Powell Band single, a version of "My Sharona", and its supporting video.

Lea has homes in Brewood, Staffordshire, and London, England. Jim Lea married Louise Ganner on 19 March 1973 after having first met as pupils at Codsall Comprehensive School. They have two children, Kristian and Bonnie. In 2014, Lea was diagnosed with, and treated for, prostate cancer, which he revealed publicly the following year.

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Don Powell

Donald George Powell, (born 10 September 1946, Bilston, Staffordshire, England) is the drummer who founded the English rock group, Slade.

Powell became a member of The Vendors, a band that guitarist Dave Hill later joined. The Vendors later became the N'Betweens and bass guitarist / keyboard player / violinist / guitarist Jim Lea got in at an audition. Powell then spotted Noddy Holder playing with Steve Brett & The Mavericks and he and Hill got Holder to join the N'Betweens. They regrouped as Ambrose Slade, changed the name to Slade and the success began.

Powell was the wit of the group and was considered by Slade's fans to be one of rock's best drummers. He co-wrote a number of Slade's earlier songs, mainly with Lea. Many of them can be found on the 1970 Slade album Play it Loud. He also co-wrote one of Slade's Top 10 hits "Look Wot You Dun" with Holder and Lea in 1972, and made the breathing noises in the background of the song.

On 4 July 1973, when Slade were number one in the UK Singles Chart with "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me", Powell was badly injured in a serious car crash in Wolverhampton, in which his 20-year-old girlfriend Angela was killed. He broke both of his ankles and five of his ribs. Surgeons had to drill into his skull to ease the internal pressure and he was unconscious for six days but he came round and eventually pulled through, finding the best therapy to be work. By mid-August, Powell was back recording with the group.

When the Top 5 hit "My Friend Stan" was recorded, Powell was still walking with the aid of a stick and had to be lifted onto his drum-kit.  The accident left Powell with no senses of taste and smell, and to this day he has severe problems with his short-term memory, whilst his long-term memory has remained unaffected.

When Slade split up in 1991 Don Powell owned and operated an antique import / export company before he reconvened the band as Slade II in 1993 with Dave Hill. He has remained active with various line-ups to this day and has released the albums Keep on Rockin' and Cum On Let's Party!

The name of the band was shortened back to Slade in 1997. In 2000 Don Powell had a small cameo role in the BBC TV drama version of Lorna Doone.

Powell has been married twice and for a number of years he lived in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England. In 2004 he moved to Silkeborg, Denmark, where he now lives with his partner Hanne. In December 2005, Powell appeared in the Channel 4 TV documentary 'Bring Back...The Christmas Number One'.

Don Powell was the subject of a collaborative biography with Lise Lyng Falkenberg.

He announced that he was no longer with Dave Hill's Slade in February 2020

The Don Powell Band are ready to rehearse for shows, COVID restrictions permitting.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CLICK TO BUY LISE LYNG FALKENBERG / DON POWELL's excellent book 'LOOK WOT I DUN' ON AMAZON.

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David John Hill

Early life
Born 4 April 1946, in Flete House Hospital, Holbeton, near Kingsbridge, Devon, England, UK, the son of a mechanic, he moved with his parents to Wolverhampton when he was only a year old. There he attended Springdale Primary school and Highfields Secondary Modern school. He bought his first guitar from a mail order catalogue and received some guitar lessons from a science teacher at his school. He then formed a band called 'The Young Ones' with some school friends. upon leaving school he worked in an office of the firm Tarmac for over two years.

Slade
He originally played with drummer Don Powell in a band that Don was already in, called The Vendors. The Vendors changed their name to The N'Betweens, met bass player Jimmy Lea and singer Noddy Holder, whereafter Slade was born.

Money was tight when the young Hill started playing, and right-handed guitars were much cheaper than left-handed ones, so even though Hill was left-handed, he played (and still plays) guitar right-handed. Hill's best known guitar was the "John Birch Superyob" that was built in 1973 (now owned by Marco Pirroni of Adam and the Ants). It became a vital part of Hill's image, just like his huge platform boots, his broad grin, the fringes and the outrageous costumes.

Hill was unkindly known as the class clown of the band, and his bizarre costumes and antics led to some friction with the more serious Lea. This led to an alleged show-down in a BBC dressing room before a recording of Top of the Pops where Hill replied to Lea's repeated criticism of his dress by saying "You write 'em Jim, I'll sell em!".

In 1989 Dave Hill and Noddy Holder did a remake of The Everly Brother's hit song "Crying in the Rain." They released Crying In The Rain as a 7" single and it was backed with "Wild Nites", written by Dave and Bill Hunt, on the Mooncrest label under the group name, Blessings In Disguise, both songs with Noddy on lead vocals.

In 1991, Hill followed it up with a further Blessings In Disguise single "Chance To Be" / "You're The Reason I'm Strong" - which did not feature Holder at all. "Chance To Be" was a charity record composed by Daniel Somers & Colin Baines to raise money for Queen Alexandra College for the Blind in Birmingham.

Recent years
Slade finally split up in 1991, but Dave Hill decided to carry the group on as 'Slade II'. Don Powell joined him and the band has continued to this day with various lineups. In 1997 the name was shortened back to Slade. The band has released the album Keep on Rockin' , which has also been re-packaged as Superyob, and also as Cum On Let's Party!

Dave embraced the notion of a "yob" culture. As well as the references to "Superyob" above, Dave, used the numberplate YOB 1 on his cars. The most famous of these was a silver Jensen. Latterly it was on a Rolls Royce, but the YOB 1 plate was sold along with the car. Hill married his wife Jan in Mexico City in the 1970s, and they have three children: Jade, Bibi and Sam. Hill and his wife have embraced the Jehovah's Witness faith. They live in Lower Penn, Staffordshire, England, where Hill occasionally teaches music at Lower Penn School and Penn Hall School.

In December 2005, Hill appeared in the Channel 4 TV documentary - 'Bring Back...The Christmas Number One'. In 2010, Hill had a mini-stroke, which took Slade off the road for a large part of the year, but he recovered well and resumed playing in December of 2010. Slade have continued to tour since then.

Dave Hill wrote his autobiography 'So here it is..'. and it was published by Unbound - issued first as a hardback, then as an extended paperback version, with an additional chapter.

He parted company with the founding (and last remaining) member of the original band, Don Powell, in February 2020.

His solo album DirtyFoot Lane is scheduled for release on October 30th 2026.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

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The Young Ones (1963 )
John Bradford – Vocals.
Keith Evans – Drums
Tony Carter - Bass.
Billy Hickman - Vocals

Dave Hill – GuitarThe Big Roll Seven
(1963 - 1964)
Mac Wooley – Drums.
Eddie Pearce - Piano
Fred Lewis – Bass.
Ron Graystone – Sax
Tony Archer – Sax.
Dave Hill – Guitar