I was in the presence of rock ‘n’ roll royalty last night, following a late doors opportunity to see the living legend that is Noddy Holder, in a welcome stage return for this international treasure.

It’s become something of a habit, this (he adds, with conspiratorial wink to the camera) – that’s three times in 41 years now. Once with Slade at Hammersmith Odeon in December ’82, aged barely 15, then a decade ago in the company of esteemed broadcaster Mark Radcliffe at Preston’s Charter Theatre, and this time washed up on the quayside in torrential rain-sodden Greater Manchester, for one of those shows I was eager to see but at the same time unsure as to what I’d make of it.

Well, Slade fans – and there were lots at the Lowry who’d seen him many times over the years, certainly many times more than me – and anyone who’s ever loved quality music from its pioneering blues, swing and big band days onwards, can rest assured that Nod’s in good company here, and was on fine form too. And barely three weeks beyond his 77^th birthday, he was remarkably lithe. Slade a-lithe, you could say.

I’m not suggesting he’s about to announce a farewell tour of UK theatreland on the back of this or turn up in the Legends slot at Glastonbury next summer. But he certainly appeared to have more of a spring in his step walking on and off than old mucker Reg Dwight, judging by his contemporary’s somewhat stiff wander to and from the piano stool in Somerset the weekend before last.

Like Elton, he’s certainly stayed the course. In fact, after a lengthy previous show at Walsall Arena (another sell-out), Tom reckoned it was him that negotiated the curfew at the Lowry Theatre in a bid to try and get home to his own Cheshire base before dawn.

Actually, Elton John got a few mentions, Noddy recalling their friendship down the years, telling us Reg felt the need to ask what he was wearing each night (despite them being a couple of hundred miles apart at the time) when Slade were headlining some racecourse or other Down Under in early ‘74 while their glam rock competitor was elsewhere in Australia – lest they should clash when the concert photos were printed in the papers the following day.

Meanwhile, Tom, although always respectful and canny enough to play second fiddle to his guest for much of the evening, had his own Elton-related anecdote, regarding a prestigious gig in recent years as a representative of all things British in Dubai, where he came on amid a fog of dry ice and started with ‘Rocket Man’, in self-deprecating humour revealing how 70,000 people must have been collectively disappointed when they realised it wasn’t the Pinball Wizard himself, but some other bespectacled redhead (who sure plays a mean keyboard).

Like many more who turned up at the Lowry and prior to that in Wimborne and Walsall, I readily admit to not knowing who Tom Seals was before the darkest days of the pandemic. And I feel I should add at least a little background. He suggests viewing figures for his first Desert Island Discs style live lockdown videocast Q&A (with Matt Lucas) were rather modest, but it all went pretty much viral from there. In his words, ‘What started 18 months ago as a bit of fun in my Mum’s back garden’ led to ‘a 13-week series on Sky TV.’ And while there are many years between host and special guest in many cases – including Diane Abbott and Stephen K. Amos to Russell Watson and Toyah Willcox, via David Coulthard, Kenny Dalglish, Anton du Beke, Julie Hesmondhalgh, KT Tunstall and Ruby Turner, to name but a few – a mutual love of good music wins the day each time.

It certainly provided the extra chemistry here, Tom’s easy style and down-to-earth, non-showy personality and Nod’s colourful tales and natural craft as a raconteur – his anecdotes old, new, borrowed and blue in turns, arguably – making for a winning combination. What’s more, as Mark Radcliffe did a decade ago, Tom has the ability to jump in and pull his esteemed guest back on track when he needs to.

Regarding the setlist, to many of those assembled and plenty more who may have stayed away, so many of those timeless Holder/Lea classic songs are as good as sacrosanct. But Tom and co. – taking the Jools Holland big band blueprint – set the tone perfectly – following a fittingly warm introduction from engaging Yorkshire comic turned MC Beth Fox (son Django Holder’s other half) – with their big band interpretation of ‘My Oh My’, and never really looked back from there, their take on ‘Coz I Luv You’ different enough to pull off, I felt. However, it was the rock ‘n’ roll and trad/blues standards that worked best.

Nod appeared earlier than I expected, a mighty cheer going up for this instantly recognisable special guest (to most of us anyway, as I’ll get onto), neatly turned out in leopard skin hat, yellow damask/jacquard-print waistcoat (probably more jack-the lad than jacquard, in his case), colourful shirt and comfy troos/sparkly trainers get-up. I’d say he carried something of a Dickensian air about him, and was here to stay as it turned out, give or take a short intermission, right up to a memorable two-song stint at the end.

Along the way, he talked revealingly about his first steps on to the ladder (so to speak) with the help of his dad – a window cleaner by trade who would barter with the power of song from shop to shop – and the impact Little Richard in particular made upon this fledgling performer, Tom and his band punctuating those stories with a poignant take on Al Jolson’s ‘You Made Me Love You’ and the highly-influential Penniman’s ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’.

There was also a special cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Sir Duke’, pre-interval, after Nod’s reminiscences of Polydor’s link-up with Tamla Motown, including a cracking tale about Slade/Jimi Hendrix Experience manager/ex-Animals bass player Chas Chandler’s supposed fling with Diana Ross, built around a fateful day in NYC in the mid-‘70s when Noddy not only got to meet the chief Supreme but also Muhammad Ali and Pele. Living the dream, our cultural hero turned fan-boy.

And if I felt his words about his mum and dad’s relationship were rather poignant, that was somewhat mirror top-hatted by his almost understated revelation (at least publicly) of his own health worries in recent years. While Slade bandmates Dave, Don and Jim’s own battles are fairly well documented, there was something of a murmur around this impressive setting as he revealed he was only here due to the big fella upstairs and the remarkable staff at the nearby Christie Hospital, his diagnosis with oesophageal cancer having come with a ‘six months left’ tag… and yet here he was further down the line, positively radiant, countering a stormy day in the North West with a little glam rock stardust, his joyous approach to performing somewhat contagious to us lucky enough to be there – audience and band alike.  

There was also Nod’s version of the story behind Chuck Berry recording novelty hit ‘My Ding-a-Ling’ at Coventry Locarno on a night Slade were on the undercard, our special guest looking to convince us you can hear his voice on that 45, so by rights he had seven UK No.1s rather than six. And he was on sparkling form in a rambling but impassioned monologue about being mistaken for other celebs, prompted by a tweet sent to Tom by an audience member about how they overheard someone in the theatre saying they were looking forward to seeing the lead singer of Status Quo back on stage.

I won’t reveal those other names he reckons get cited… in the hope that there’ll be more of these shows coming. I could tell you much more, but I don’t want to be too revealing. In short though, a good time was had by all, and I felt it a privilege to be there. So here’s to more of the same if Noddy’s up for it. Besides, as the man himself would regularly say every time a Slade reunion was suggested, ‘never say never.’

Above all, Tom, his band, and Nod, worked the room so well, the quality musicianship and arrangements (I couldn’t see the guitarist and bass player from my lofty left-of-the-stage perch, but had a cracking view of Tom’s assured boogie-woogie tinklings and the brass trio beyond) giving Nod the platform he needed to tell his wondrous tales and add occasional backing vocal before his lead vocal finale on ’Johnny B. Goode’ – fittingly the last song Slade played together back in 1991 – and a fresh take on Old New Borrowed and Blue’s ‘Just Want a Little Bit’, sounding less Led Zeppelin and more Little Richard on this occasion (‘Lucille’ springing to mind), the song’s rock ’n’ roll roots shining through, the latter joined in a mighty medley by a new take on Slade’s Chuck Berry cover, ‘I’m a Rocker’, Nod truly warmed up by now, as if about to launch into a full set, his family and the theatre staff no doubt starting to get a little twitchy. As it was, the long queues outside the theatre told us all what we already knew – this man still holds legendary status. And rumour has it that all those who queued to see him had their wish fulfilled.

Coming next month, Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade by this website’s author, Malcolm Wyatt, is the story of the biggest British hitmakers of the Seventies – with six UK No.1 hits to their name), told by the fans and the band, featuring photos, stories and memorabilia from over 30 years and more than 200 contributors. Comprising 380-plus pages and more than 130,000 words, it carries forewords from Suzi Quatro and Sweet’s Andy Scott, and selections from interviews by the author with Dave Hill, Don Powell, and Jim Lea, plus another with Noddy Holder.

Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade also includes contributions from Slade historian Chris Selby and many more long-time fans of the Black Country’s finest, Slade poet laureate Paul Cookson, legendary photographer Gered Mankowitz, broadcasters Gary Crowley, Andy Kershaw and Mark Radcliffe, and a host of musicians, including Pauline Black (The Selecter), Rick Buckler and Steve Brookes (The Jam), Roddy Byers (The Specials), JC Carroll (The Members), Nigel Clark and Mathew Priest (Dodgy), John Coghlan and Bob Young (Status Quo), Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers), Danie Cox and Wendy Solomon (Slady), Dave Hemingway (The Beautiful South/The Housemartins), Miles Hunt (The Wonder Stuff), Carl Hunter (The Farm), Graham Jones (Haircut 100), Nik Kershaw, Ray Laidlaw (Lindisfarne), Jim Bob Morrison (Carter USM), Damian O’Neill (Th Undertones), John Robb (The Membranes/Louder Than War), Steve Smith (The Vapors), Mick Talbot (The Style Council), and Dave Wakeling (The Beat).

Above all, it’s a love letter to Slade from the fans who were there or were inspired by the band, from the early days playing West Midlands community venues onwards, with accounts of shows from all over the UK and mainland Europe, America and Australia, among them the ‘Old Guard’ who kept faith during the wilderness years before Slade’s 1980 Reading Rock renaissance, at least a couple there when the venues carried less than a couple of dozen punters in the band’s chicken-in-a-basket days. If you haven’t ordered Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade yet, you can do so via https://spenwoodbooks.com/product/wild-wild-wild/.

And for more information about Tom Seals and his forthcoming shows, head here.