‘Pop’s crying out for a young Slade’

NODDY HOLDER’s unmistakable voice, which Slade a generation of pop fans, is about to revive the days of glam rock, big sideburns and, of course, the tinsel triumph that is the single Merry Christmas Everybody. Neville John Holder, to give him his correct title, is on a stage tour to Durham and Harrogate, where An Evening With…, co-starring BBC Radio2 presenter Mark Radcliffe, is likely to be every bit as lively as the outfits donned by Slade during Holder’s 25 years with the band.

“Mark Radcliffe has been badgering me for a couple of years to get out and tell some of my stories that went out on Radio 2 for about eight years. I was originally booked to talk about TV, but we ended up talking about music.

“This year I decided to do it because it’s my 50th year professionally in showbiz and 60th year since I stood up and started singing in working men’s clubs,” says the man dubbed Sir Nodward by Radcliffe.

I opt for Holder having started singing at six – he was born in June, 1946 – but he corrects me to seven and says: “I was going around the Black Country with my dad, who dragged me up one night for what today they’d call karaoke, but in those days it was called Free And Easy, with a piano player on the stage.

“The number one at the time was Frankie Laine’s version of I Believe and I sang that, brought the place down, got my first round of applause and it was downhill all the way after that. I got a taste for it,” Holder says.

With so many stories to tell, Holder feels the show will be different every night but does have highlights that Radcliffe will steer him back to throughout each performance. “We’ve actually got too much to cram into ten shows. Mark will pull me back into line, but there is so much to talk about that it makes it interesting for us as well. In the second half I talk about the later part of my career, after Slade, and throw it open to the audience for questions,” he says.

Holder has tested out the format at a couple of charity events, and earned some standing ovations, but opted for mid-range theatres like Durham and Harrogate because he likes the intimate atmosphere.

“We want it to be like we were in a pub, with others listening to the conversation,” he says.

The audience are going to expect the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter to sing. But when I ask Holder about the side of the show he replies cheekily: “I’m not going to tell you, you’ll have to wait and see. I’m not giving any of the show away. We’re not really going to play any of my singles, but there are film clips and some footage that people won’t really expect.

It’s a cross-section of my whole career because I didn’t want to just focus on the Slade days. That’s been well-documented, but it’s not all directly related to Slade,” he explains.

“I can tell you that a lot of the film footage will have comedy value,” Holder adds.

He claims he doesn’t have a no-go area in terms of audience questions. “So far people have asked weird and wonderful things and stuff that you wouldn’t expect people to know. Some of the questions have been about my personal life and I don’t normally give too much away about that,” Holder says.

Inevitably, the questions come about a Slade reunion – the band still performs, but parted company with Holder in 1992.

“I give them the explanation about why I left and never rejoined and it’s part of a story they didn’t know existed. I just wanted a change, and I do explain this in the show. I’d been on the road and with rock and roll bands for the same four guys for 25 years and been in bands for five or six years before that. Basically, I was bored of it and wanted a change.

“I was going through stuff in my personal life. I was getting a divorce and my dad was dying. So I decided that I wanted a change and I didn’t wanted to go on with album, tour, album tour. I thought we’d achieved everything that Slade could achieve,” he says.

HIS proudest achievements after leaving were the award of an MBE in 2000 and appearing the 40th anniversary live edition of Coronation Street the same year.

“I was really chuffed to be asked and I was the first celebrity to ever appear and have a speaking role. I played a character called Stand and saved the cobbles from being dug up. It was scary but great. Members of the cast who had been in it for 40 years were nervous, because it was live and open to the elements.

The day we did i,t the rain was pouring down and it was gale-force winds and microphones were being blown everywhere, but we got through it without a hitch,” Holder says.

On the question of whether he could achieve the same fame today, with its far more fragmented music audience, he says: “I think that the music scene is crying out for a young Slade: A pop/rock band who can do singles and albums with a colourful image. Today, all the bands are being ‘too cool for school’ and you don’t see too many bands smiling these days.

“People related to the fact that Salde didn’t take themselves too seriously. In those days Top Of The Pops was being watched by 18 to 20 million people every week. If you made an impact on a show like that, and we did, people are talking about you in the pub, whether they loved you or hated you. That was the great thing about Slade. You couldn’t ignore us, that’s for sure.”

• May 11, Durham Gala Theatre, 0191-332-4041, galadurham.co.uk May 19, Harrogate Theatre, 01423-502-116 harrogatetheatre.co.uk