NODDY HOLDER
Slade’s bangin’ man talks working men’s clubs, old comrades and Mod dancing.
He made us Feel The Noize with Slade, now he’s feeling Confidential, sharing views on Europe, the art pieces in his special collection, and more.
AS MOJO SPEAKS to Noddy Holder he’s had bad news. “My best pal from school, he died a couple of days ago,” he says. “From my first band, the Rockin’ Phantoms.” But as we discuss Slade, Noddy’s natural ultra-exuberance returns – the massive Midlands joie de vivre that beams from the recent Slade 45rpm vinyl trove Feel The Noize: The Singlez Box. Noddy left Slade in 1992, subsequently deploying his remarkable voice and presence over radio and TV engagements, from BBC Radio 6 Music to Coronation Street and Bob The Builder, not forgetting the lift announcements in Walsall New Art Gallery. Now he pauses to reflect on the glory days of Slade.
The box set sleeves are packaged as per their original releases in the 1970s, in Italy, Germany, France, Spain…
Is this a pro-European gesture? (Laughs) Good thinking… I am a European, proud to be a [EU] remainer. I live a lot of the time in Portugal and some ex-pats I know there voted to leave. Why would you do that? I was touring Europe before Slade, in the German clubs. I love Europe and I think Brexit is a big shame.
Could you pick one favourite track from the box set?
Probably Far Far Away. We’d played in Memphis and I was sitting on a balcony with our manager Chas Chandler, who’d been in The Animals and discovered Jimi Hendrix. We were overlooking the Mississippi river, it was late at night and I was thinking how far these Black Country boys had come (laughs).
A big paddle steamer came down the river, all lit up.
I sang the line “I’ve seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi”, and Chas said, “That’s good! Go and write the rest of it…” Amazing!
When you hear your voice from this period what do you think?
I like it – because I can hear my influences. I was singing at working men’s clubs from the age of seven. The first song I sang on-stage was the Frankie Laine version of I Believe. Little Richard became my idol and that’s what I hear most in my voice.
You spell Singlez Box Set with a ‘z’, in typical Slade style. Nowadays Slade-style word-forms are part of text-speak and beyond. Were you predicting the future?
(Laughs) I’ll go with that! We came to that by accident when we were recording Coz I Luv You. On the lyric sheet in the studio I’d written the words in a Black Country style, like you’d see on a toilet wall. It had such an effect we stuck with it.
The exhibition Black Sabbath – 50 Years is currently celebrating your Midlands peers at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Could there be something similar for Slade?
I don’t know, because I gave most of my [stage] costumes to charities. The one thing I have is my top hat with the mirrors – in a bank vault in New York.
How often do you see your former Slade bandmates?
Not very often. I did see Don [Powell] this year. I haven’t seen Jim [Lea] for a long, long time. It’ll be about a year since I saw Dave [Hill] – if I’m going through Wolverhampton I’ll call in for a cup of tea. When I left the band we weren’t getting on. We did get together in the same room about 10 years ago, but we were arguing again within five minutes (laughs).
You can’t imagine Slade touring with you back at the microphone then?
No, absolutely not.
The box set also features the 1981 track When I’m Dancin’ I Ain’t Fightin’. Are you a dancer?
I am a very good dancer actually. My style is old-school Mod dancing. I’m a James Brown fan, a Sam & Dave fan… I’ve been asked to be on Strictly [Come Dancing] many times. I think I’d be good at the dancing, but not the discipline for the training.
Tell us something you’ve never told an interviewer before.
I have a nude here – Olga. She’s naked, top to bottom. I collect weird trivia, buying it on my travels, and it’s part of my being pro-European. Olga is a statue from a German fun fair. Totally naked, with sculpted pubic hair.
Slade’s Feel The Noize: The Singlez Box is released on September 6 on BMG.
“My top hat with the mirrors is in a bank vault in New York.” NODDY HOLDER