Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician, songwriter & actor. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder co-wrote most of Slade's material with bass guitarist Jim Lea including "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Merry Xmas Everybody". After leaving Slade in 1992, he diversified into television and radio work, notably starring in the ITV comedy-drama series The Grimleys (1999–2001). Early life and career Neville John Holder was born on 15 June 1946 in the Caldmore area, near the centre of Walsall, Staffordshire, England. When he was seven he moved with his family to the Beechdale Estate, a council estate in the north of the town which was also home to Rob Halford. The son of a window cleaner, in 1957 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 six 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 started his own band called the Memphis Cutouts and then, with Steve Brett & the Mavericks in the early '60s, recorded four singles for EMI's Columbia label. Slade In 1966, drummer Don Powell persuaded Holder to join The N' Betweens, a group which already included guitarist Dave Hill and bass guitarist/ keyboard player/violinist/songwriter Jim Lea. Together they formed the band Ambrose Slade, eventually to become Slade, one of Britain's top-selling rock bands. Lea and Holder turned out to be the group's most successful song-writing partnership, composing almost all of the band's songs. The band clocked up 21 hit singles and released 15 albums with their original line-up. Slade are particularly remembered for "Merry Xmas Everybody", written by Holder and Lea. Holder recorded the single with Slade in 1973, and the song became the band's sixth number one and the third Slade single to go straight in at number one in the UK Singles Chart. "Merry Xmas Everybody" has seen