Hippy roots of Xmas classic

Even those who aren’t au fait with Slade will know the group’s 1973 Christmas hit Merry Xmas Everybody, which even after 33 years is one of the most frequently played Festive songs.

But few people will know that it started life as a hippy song written by Noddy Holder in 1967 - and was initially dismissed by his bandmates.

“I wrote the original chorus and middle eight in 1967 in line for the psychedelic scene with our early group the ‘N Betweens,” he says.

“Originally it had a lyric that went: ‘So you won’t buy me a rockin’ chair to watch the world go by - buy me a looking glass to look me in the eye’. It was very hippy dippy.”

When Noddy played it to his bandmates, he was told it was rubbish.

But Jim Lea, the creative driving force behind many of the band’s melodies, remembered the tune and later suggested reworking it as a Christmas song.

Neville John Holder was born in Walsall in June, 1946, and was always the showman, right from when he performed Frankie Laine’s 1953 hit I Believe at Walsall Labour Club at the age of seven.

“My dad was a singer in the clubs, part-time, and he used to take me round the clubs and I used to get up and do one or two songs, whatever were the hits of the day,” he says.

“I always knew I could sing, and I always knew I could get an audience going, even from a very young age.

“I used to put on puppet shows in the backyard for the local kids and charge them a penny.”

Noddy was the last member to join the line-up having previously played in a band called Steve Brett and the Mavericks.

While Noddy is proud of Merry Xmas Everybody, he feels the band’s place in history will always be overshadowed by that single song.

“People forget we had over 20 albums out and a lot of success with albums,” he says.

“Although we were appearing on television every week, on Top of the Pops and programmes like that, and we were continually in the charts through the 70s, we weren’t just a singles band.

“A little bit different to our contemporaries, we actually had a lot of success with albums, worldwide.”

By Mark Andrews

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