Slade's Dave Hill teams up with Noddy Holder's son for his first solo album

10 December 2025, 10:23

Dave Hill - and Noddy Holder and son Django in younger years. Picture: Alamy

By Mayer Nissim

Slade are closing one door but Dave Hill is opening up an another.

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While Noddy Holder and Jim Lea quit Slade in 1992 and drummer Don Powell was forced from the lineup in 2020, Dave Hill has continued to regularly tour under the Slade name.

This year's Christmas jaunt will be the band's last proper tour, though Hill has reassured fans that he'll continue to play the occasional show all the same.

But as he closes the door of regular touring, Dave Hill is kicking open another as he plans to release his first ever solo album, called Dirtyfoot Lane and named after a real place in Wolverhampton.

"I've done a solo album, a very important solo album," Hill told Contact Music.

"It's true stories, slightly country, not Slade, but it has rock in there. There's songs written about my mother, I've written a song for Slade. It's a thank you to Noddy, Jim and Don, it’s called 'Thanks For The Good Times', it's a great song."

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And while he's striking out on his own, his album has been produced by Django Holder, ex-Slade frontman's Noddy son.

"He's 30 years of age, he’s a fantastic guy, very calm, very talented," Hill said. "Noddy recommended him, so I thought, 'I'm going to try him'. He was just great to be with."

He added: "The songs I've been writing for quite some time, the influences are more now. Django is brilliant at making spaces in music, he's very clever of making the song sound interesting."

Dave Hill in concert in 2025. Picture: Alamy

Hill said that Noddy "really encouraged" him to make the album and prove himself as a songwriter.

He added that while he's not a "great singer" he can still get across the meaning of his songs, while giving a couple of the rockier tracks to his bass player John Berry to sing.

Of his continuing relationship with Holder, Hill said: "Noddy is one of my all-time best friends, and remains to be so. It was like that from day one when I asked him to join me.

"We have such a good relationship."I feel that Noddy is a really decent, good man, who encourages me to not rely on anybody but myself. He's right about that."