Noddy Holder

Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist of English glam rock band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Holder co-wrote most of Slade's material with bassist Jim Lea.

Early life and career

Holder was born in the Caldmore area, near the centre of Walsall, Staffordshire, England. As a child he moved with his family to the Beechdale Estate, a council estate in the north of the town. The son of a window cleaner, Holder passed the Eleven plus exam and attended a grammar school for a year until it closed. He then attended the new T. P. Riley Comprehensive School and passed 6 GCE O-level exams. He formed a group called the Rockin' Phantoms with school friends at the age of 13, and with money earned from a part-time job, he bought a guitar and an amplifier. He also used his father's window-cleaning van to drive Robert Plant to gigs with Plant's band at the time, the Tennessee Teens. Holder turned professional with a band called the Memphis Cutouts and then with Steve Brett & the Mavericks in the early '60s made four singles for Columbia Records.