He’s been the front man of one of the most successful rock and roll bands in the UK, has toured all over the world to sold out gigs and he’s penned one of the most recognised Christmas tunes ever. And now Noddy Holder, who fronted the legendary Slade, is getting set to take his place on the Live and Unsigned 2010 Judging Panel.
Live and Unsigned spoke exclusively to Noddy on what he thinks makes a band successful, what he loves about the music industry and how he came up with that classic line ‘It’s Christmaaaas’…
L&U: Have you ever judged a music competition?
Noddy: I have and I really enjoy it, it gives me a real insight into what’s up and coming today. I have done it nationally and regionally and have judged specific competitions – I once judged a heavy metal competition. But I am really looking forward to judging Live and Unsigned because I’m really interested to see a mixture of genres.
L&U: What will you be looking for as a judge?
Noddy: Originality and the ability to handle an audience. I’ll be looking for something that’s not been done before and I’ll also be looking closely at image. I think image is so important – all the big bands like The Beatles and The Who all had big images to go with their music. And when I was in Slade we placed huge importance on our image. I think it’s great if artists are influenced by what’s gone before, but I don’t want to see any copies. Music can’t stand still, it’s got to be constantly moving and I’ll be looking for new twists and new ideas. I also think it’s so important to get live gigging experience, because interacting with your audience is crucial.
L&U: Any particular genre you are looking forward to?
Noddy: All of them! I grew up listening to jazz and artists like Sinatra and I still love that music today. There is so much choice, I’m looking forward to hearing it all!
L&U: How is the music industry different today from when you were in a band?
Noddy: Music is very accessible now with the emergence of the internet and is instant. But I also think it takes a lot longer for music to get released through record companies now than it did before. When I was gigging in the 70’s, I could get a song written and released within a fortnight. Nowadays record companies take six months to develop an artist and release their music and it doesn’t seem to be as spontaneous as it was before. Musicians take up to two or three years to write an album now but I have always wanted to get music out there as fast as possible. I think if you wait too long you lose contact with your audience and you get sick of hearing the songs! Inevitably it’s a little different when you release a second album, but it used to take me about a month to write an album.
L&U: How do you think bands can crack the industry today?
Noddy: There is a real emergence of bands making it through the internet and sites like MySpace – Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen both did that. I think it’s difficult today because when I was in a band record companies were signing new acts all the time. But today they don’t have the money to do that and less and less acts are getting signed. If acts do get signed, it could be for one album and they are dropped if it flops. I remember when we signed, it was for a five album deal. Nowadays, if there is no return on investment a band can be dropped automatically. I am a huge believer in live gigging – I know it’s difficult financially for bands to do, but I really believe it’s the way to build a fan base. Build up that hardcore fan following in gigs, and they will be the ones that support you and buy your records. I think a lot of acts believe it happens over night – it doesn’t. Slade got together in 1966 and it wasn’t until 1971 that we had a hit record. It’s a real hard slog and it’s about perseverance.
L&U: Tell us about your Slade days?
Noddy: U2 may have taken over the title now, but for a long time we were the longest serving band with the same line up as we were together for over 25 years. We worked all over the world and our thing was live music – everybody knew us for our gigs. When we used to gig in America, we could fill a 20, 000 capacity arena without having a single released. We toured all over the world and we always shipped our equipment to wherever we were – that way the show was always the same no matter where you saw it. Having hit records was the icing on the cake for us because we all loved gigging.
L&U: How did you come up with the infamous ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’?
Noddy: The first song I ever wrote was in 1967 and it was called Buy Me A Rocking Chair. It was a hippy song but none of the band liked it so it got binned. Six years later, our bass player and co writer Jimmy was wondering why we hadn’t released a Christmas song. He remembered the song I wrote and came up with a new verse. I went away and came up with some lyrics and it all fell into place. We recorded it in New York and played it to our manager who loved it. The record company had wanted a Christmas single from us and at the time no rock band had done one. We had no idea Wizzard were bringing one out too! We also had no idea how big it would be. In two days it sold over one million copies and I still hear it played today.
L&U: What’s the secret to success?
Noddy: I would say it’s mainly hard work. Talent is also crucial, but you don’t have to be a songwriter to have a long and successful career. Tom Jones has had a fantastic career as a singer and hasn’t written any songs and there are lots of fantastic artists like that out there. But what I do think you need is the ability to capture the publics imagination.
L&U: Would you ever go on tour again?
Noddy: I was in the music business for over 30 years and as much as I loved it, I wouldn’t go back to it. I am doing so many different things with TV, Radio and Presenting now that I wouldn’t want to give up.
L&U: Would you ever manage a band?
Noddy: I actually dabbled with managing back in the 80’s. I managed a band that was really good and I think they could have really made it in the industry. I worked with them and paid for demos. I secured an offer from a major record label and to be fair to the band, I had them go away to consult a lawyer on the contract in case there was anything they wanted to change. They came back and had some doubts and after having a meeting decided to decline the offer and went back to gigging in working men’s clubs so unfortunately it didn’t work out. I think some bands can be very picky before they’ve made it in the industry and it’s important to grab opportunities.
L&U: Any stand out musicians you like today?
Noddy: I have a passion for great singers. I really like Paolo Nutini’s new album.
L&U: What advice would you give to acts today?
Noddy: There are definitely up and downs in this industry, it’s all part of rock and roll. I don’t think you should go into the industry if you want to be a millionaire over night because you won’t be. You have to really love it. It’s all about perseverance and obviously there are great rewards if you work hard.
L&U: If you weren’t a musician, what would you have been?
Noddy: I think it was always inevitable for me to go into music, so I think I would have still been playing music somewhere. But if not, then I would have been a History or English teacher.
L&U: What do you think has been the biggest change in music in the past ten years?
Noddy: The amount of really good female songwriters. If you search back to the 70’s and 80’s, apart from Kate Bush and Annie Lennox, there really weren’t a huge amount of female songwriters. But today, there are so many talented female writers and I think that’s been a prominent change in the last decade.
L&U: Where do you think music will be in the next ten years?
Noddy: I think the internet will become more and more important. I think bands will start releasing their own videos to the public and we’ll see a real emergence of live streaming. I am a big fan of going to old shops and boot sales and finding rare seven inch vinyl’s and discovering old music. But I think those days are gone for a lot of people – music is now becoming a world wide jukebox because of the internet and the download era.
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