Noddy Holder - Other Work

Other Work

During 1982, Holder branched into production and worked with his old school friend Phil Burnell and his band Three Phase on one single "All I Want To Do Is (Fall In Love With You)", which was the band's only release. Holder and Burnell produced the single together, and the single was published under Noddy Holder Music Ltd./Whild John Music Ltd., and released via Speed Records which was Slade's own label at the time. The single was not a commercial success, as it received limited promotion, and therefore gained little interest from the public.

During late 1983, Holder did some production work with the American band The First, who came over to the UK from Boston, Massachusetts in America, especially to work with him, although there was never any following release. In late 1983, both Holder and Lea produced Girlschool's cover of the T-Rex song "20th Century Boy" and then the album "Play Dirty" which featured two Slade tracks "Burning in the Heat of Love" and "High and Dry". The "High and Dry" track was originally written for Girlschool but still appeared on Slade's album that same year. Lea also produced the Holder/Lea penned "Simple Love" for the actress and model Sue Scadding. Initially the song was intended for Slade but no version by the band is known to exist. The b-side was another Holder and Lea composition, "Poland", which Lea released as a single himself the year before under the name Greenfields of Tong. In 1985, Holder co-wrote, and sang backing vocals on, the single "Citizen Kane" which Lea released under his own name.

In 1988, Holder recorded "Tear Into the Weekend" for a Pepsi commercial in Canada. Also in that year, the hard rock band Chrome Molly released "Shooting Me Down", a song written by Holder and Lea. The single was unsuccessful. The band held their third official fan club convention at Drummonds Convention, King's Cross, London.

In 1989 Holder joined Dave Hill's newly formed group Blessings in Disguise which also featured, Ex-Wizzard keyboard player, Bill Hunt, Craig Fenney and Bob Lamb. The debut single, released in 1989 for the Christmas market was a cover of The Everly Brothers "Crying in the Rain", backed by a Hill/Hunt composition, "Wild Nights". The record was a commercial failure. The band also recorded a cover of the Elvis Presley song "A Fool Such As I" which wasn't released. The final single, "Chance to Be" was composed by Daniel Somers and Colin Baines and unlike the first single, did not feature Holder on vocals but little known female vocalist. The b-side was a track written by Hill entitled "You're the Reason that I'm Strong". Released in 1990, the single was a charity record intended to raise money for Queen Alexandra College for the Blind in Birmingham.