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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 18:36:06 GMT
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Post by JamesT on Jul 17, 2015 18:48:29 GMT
Nice one Peter - this will be what was on the official website's tour data section. I think there have been tech issues which have caused virtually the entire thing to disappear. Nice to see a review of Stirling and Glasgow in there by yours truly!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 18:58:33 GMT
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Post by johnt on Jul 17, 2015 19:01:13 GMT
Yes, I did a few of those reviews. I'll soon be coming up to my 50th anniversary of seeing The Hollies on stage. I still remember my first concert in early 1967 when I was a young 15 year old!
I've lost count of the number of times I've seen them on stage in the past 48 years or so but it must be close to a 100. In fact, I'll be attending two more concerts coming up in August and September.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 19:37:01 GMT
Reading through many of the reviews, it's clear how important (& well liked) Alan Coates was during this era. It's a pity he didn't stick around after Carl died, things might not have been such a shock to the system with just one new singer!
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Post by JamesT on Jul 17, 2015 19:41:35 GMT
Definitely, Peter. Alan Coates was a real asset, and his leaving, with no great expression of regret, was an absolute nadir in Hollies 'PR' in later years.
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Post by johnt on Jul 17, 2015 19:46:56 GMT
Reading through many of the reviews, it's clear how important (& well liked) Alan Coates was during this era. It's a pity he didn't stick around after Carl died, things might not have been such a shock to the system with just one new singer! Quite right. He was. He even played a concert in Cambridge during the 90s in agony with a slipped disc. He had to lay on the floor at the back of the stage and yet still managed to sing and play his guitar. I don't know how he did it but he did. That's what I call a true professional! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 21:57:57 GMT
I heard about that! Truly amazing.
Interestingly, he was in the band for the initial German concerts that introduced Peter Howarth in October 2004, but had been replaced by the time they toured the UK a month later.
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Post by gee on Jul 18, 2015 12:01:38 GMT
Yes that was when Sheila Bown of 'Carousel' saw them and wrote a piece 'LAYIN To The music' re Alan's horizontal performance (!)
Alan Coates was indeed a GREAT asset to the Hollies - the most underrated indeed 'unsung' hero (no pun intended) of the group's history in many ways
'Coatsey' joined them in 1981 following Terry's shock exit, alternating with Jamie Moses as high harmony vocalist for a time - Alan was first featured on the two 'live in Mainz' 1982 tracks later included on the Polydor '20 Years' CD 'Write On' & 'Blowin in The Wind'
Alan is featured playing rhythm guitar on the Nash reunion live album; 'Archive Alive' / 'Reunion' while as a high harmony singer his 'Nash soundalike' voice allowed them to bring back 'On A Carousel' (which they hadn't done for quite a while with Terry) and of course Graham's gem 'Butterfly' which Alan sang superbly - a Hollies concert highpoint
Coatsey was a strong guitarist too, trading hot licks with Tony Hicks on 'Purple Rain' and the extended 'Long Cool Woman' in Hollies shows
before Clarke's voice began to give out (intermittently as these things go) the 80's/90's touring Hollies group featuring Clarke-Hicks-Coates was a particularly strong version of the band ! (some decent concerts survive in bootleg form)
Alan was of course also a part of Broken English who scored a UK hit with The Stones styled; 'Comin On Strong'
Alan was far more than a 'Nash soundalike', he was a decent songwriter - penning 'Reasons To Believe in' for Clarkey (a Hollies version ought to have been recorded of that surely ?)
Alan appeared on several tracks of Clarkey's final solo album to strong effect making those tracks sound very 'Hollies-ish'
In the studio Coates sang fine tight high harmonies and the much overlooked vocal team of Clarke-Hicks-Coates was featured quite superbly on the acappella intro to the 12 inch extended version of 'Shine Silently' (inexplicably chopped off the 7 inch single version !)
- besides that gem Coates also sang high harmony vocal on; 'Hard To Forget' (still unissued), 'This is it', 'Stand By Me' (a chart entry in Germany), 'Your Eyes' 'Find Me A Family' (which stalled outside the UK top fifty), 'Purple Rain' (studio & Live versions) plus the final Allan Clarke hit single; 'The Woman I Love' (UK No.42 in 1993)
I think Alan Coates may have sung on 'Laughter Turns To Tears' & possibly 'You're All Woman' too (?) - while I'm sure I can hear him on 'No Rules' too (so 'Nash-like' !) tho' if so it's uncredited (he's very possibly on 'Naomi' & 'Two Shadows' too)
Alan is featured on the live version of 'Another Night' (from 1991) featuring a electric piano instead of synth' that EMI released in Germany with 'The Air That I Breathe'
Alan of course performed 'He Ain't Heavy' on TOTP (four times times in all) when it unexpectedly shot to No. 1 in 1988...so Coastey was at No. 1 (as indeed were Terry & Bernie on record) with The Hollies then !
IF ONLY they had bothered to do an album or two especially during the 'Clarke-Hicks-Coates' era (- 'on and off' Alan was with them around TWENTY THREE or so years or so from 1981 until 2004 !) - for a couple of studio albums would have made the 'Alan Coates era' look a bit more substantial than merely just a handful of singles (a couple being non UK) plus the odd other tack or two and some 80's/90's concert memories etc....
Alan Coates gave The Hollies LONGER service than Graham Nash & Terry Sylvester combined..! (that makes you think)
Coates did his bit to blend in with Carl Wayne (tho' he's not on 'How Do I Survive') and as we've mentioned WAS in the initial publicity photo with new lead vocalist Peter Howarth too and, as stated above, DID perform some concerts in Germany with Peter, albeit for a very brief period
- I do wonder what 'Howarth-Hicks-Coates' vocal team might have sounded like had those initial German shows been recorded - were any ...?
No disrespect to Steve Lauri (another fine guitarist, songwriter & singer) but Alan Coates did such a terrific job for The Hollies for so long, and he had more of a 'Hollie voice' I feel (being not unlike Nash), clearly Allan Clarke & Tony Hicks found Coatsey very easy to work with both live & in the studio
Alan Coates surprise exit was a considerable loss to the group (criminally unannounced - the poor guy got NO thanks at all from the band while a certain 'behind the scenes' Hollies guy once tried to tell me Alan Coates was 'NOT a Hollie'- I strongly argued he damn well WAS !!!)
Alan departed apparently without any problem due to his recording studio / music production business taking off - a studio run by Alan and his second wife singer/actress Kim Goody (who can be seen in episodes of 'Return of The Saint' & 'The Professionals') together with a few other music/business associates.
I was told they got a lucrative BBC contract that was all consuming of his time therefore Alan had to drop out of The Hollies group to concentrate 100% on that - the fact the band's first publicity photo with Peter Howarth includes Alan, and Peter & Alan performed those intial shows in Germany together, clearly proves they did plan retaining him in the band, so his voluntarily stepping down would seem to be verified by that (hence Steve Lauri was quickly drafted in very soon after Peter Howarth joined !)
Whatever, Hollies fans all hold Alan Coates in high esteem & remember his important contribution to the band with affection
as I said IF ONLY they had bothered to cut at few studio albums with Clarke-Hicks-Coates, plus put out a decent 'live' album (if necessary culled from the many concerts recorded by The Hollies limited)
- The Magnum Crentre, Irvine, Scotland concert of June 1985 was recorded by Radio Clyde and broadcast - it apparently has excellent sound and features rarer live versions of; 'Too Many Hearts get Broken' & 'Gasoline Alley Bred' thus would be an important piece of a largely 'missing era' in The Hollies history...
Hopefully if the current EMI / Warners exploration of their back catalogue continues after 'Clarke, Hicks, Nash Years' & 'Changin Times' box sets, maybe after the Clarke 'Polydor Years' of 1973-1981 we might end up with a 2CD set concentrating on; 1981-1993 from 'Take My Love And Run' to 'The Woman I Love', featuring both the Nash reunion WEA Recordings of 1983 plus the other and later studio tracks, possibly with a few live cuts too that would finally gather together the 'Alan Coates' era Hollies tracks ?
Alan Coates was & is a very talented musician, songwriter singer and concert performer, certainly a fine guitarist, who really deserves far more recognition for his sterling contribution to The Hollies story and at least for all his recordings with the group to be put together on a future CD set, completing a n interesting 'missing piece' of the Hollies story.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 12:17:12 GMT
I think I actually preferred Alan's voice to Terry's. As you said, a real shame so few recordings were made during his time with the band.
They appeared on TOTP 4 (not 3) times with 'He Ain't Heavy' in 1988: 15/9/88, 22/9/88, 29/9/88 and 25/12/88.
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Post by gee on Jul 18, 2015 12:47:47 GMT
Thanks Peter I've amended my posting - did they actually film FOUR performances for TOTP do you know ? (I can't remember now) or did BBC just repeat one ?,
I know they did film at least three - one where Clarkey, Tony & Coatsey all gathered around the mike together towards the end & Allan managed a smile ! - the best one)
One earlier effort saw Allan Clarke looking about as happy as if he had a sceptic toe...! (The Searchers 'ribbed' them about that TOTP performance !)
Not all these feature Alan Coates but I think it would make a VERY important latter Clarke era compilation (besides the final Polydor single , 'Carrie' & The Nash WEA Recordings):
1.Too Many Hearts Get Broken
2.You're All Woman
3.You Gave Me Strength
4.Laughter Turns To Tears
5.Hard To Forget** (**unissued to date)
6.This is it
7.Reunion of The Heart
8.Stand By Me
9.For What it's Worth (I'm Sorry)
10.Shine Silently (12 inch extended version)
11.Your Eyes
12.No Rules
13.Find Me A Family
14.Hillsborough (Lead Vocal: Tony Hicks)
15.Baby Come Back
16.Purple Rain (studio version)
17.Naomi
18.Two Shadows
19.Nothing Else But Love
20.The Woman I Love
21. He Aint' Heavy...He's My Brother (Live on BBC TOTP show 1988)
with bonus 'Live' Tracks:
22.Another Night (Live 1991)
23.Write On (Live in Mainz, 1982)
24.Blowin' In The Wind (Live Mainz, 1982)
25.Purple Rain (live Harrogate Int. Centre 21 Nov 1991)
not put in strict chronological order but just as a compiltion of that period, assuming all 25 tracks would fit on a single CD, otherwise some could go on a first CD with 'Take My Love And Run', 'Driver', 'Carrie' and the 1983 Nash WEA Recordings etc..
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 12:56:55 GMT
Hard To Forget** (**unissued to date) For those who don't know, they mimed to the unissued 'Hard To Forget' on a TV show (and, although not included here, they also mimed to the 1967 recording of 'Carrie-Anne' prior to the interview!) |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 21:50:41 GMT
Thanks Peter I've amended my posting - did they actually film FOUR performances for TOTP do you know ? (I can't remember now) or did BBC just repeat one ?, I know they did film at least three - one where Clarkey, Tony & Coatsey all gathered around the mike together towards the end & Allan managed a smile ! - the best one) One earlier effort saw Allan Clarke looking about as happy as if he had a sceptic toe...! (The Searchers 'ribbed' them about that TOTP performance !) I've just checked all 4 TOTP appearances, and here (briefly) are the differences: (1) 15-09-88: Allan wearing grey suit + black shirt (2) 22-09-88: Allan wearing brown suede jacket + white sweater (3) 29-09-88: Allan wearing blue blazer + white sweater (4) 25-12-88: Allan wearing white jacket + white T-shirt (also his hair is a little longer than on the September appearances) |
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Post by knut on Jul 19, 2015 7:27:37 GMT
How about including the Coronation street version of Heavy? I don't understand you probably fits in better on the previous CD along with Peggy Sue got married?
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Post by cameron on Jul 20, 2015 11:31:41 GMT
I've always thought that Alan Coates was a fine addition to the Hollies. His Nash-like vocals gave their sound a much needed boost. Upon hearing their latest "Live Hits - We've Got The Tunes", the vocals sound very weak to my ears. Peter Howarth is more of a "crooner" styled vocalist than Allan Clarke/Mikael Rickfors/Carl Wayne and it totally changes the Hollies' style. They always had a 'loud' frontman with a strong voice. Also, I'm not hearing that higher harmony coming through loud and clear. It often sounds a little strained at times too. As a result, for me personally, they don't sound anything like the Hollies when I listen to any of the recordings issued by the current incarnation. Then again, some of Allan's final years committed to tape didn't sound exactly great either, bless him.
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Post by Stranger on Jul 20, 2015 13:02:02 GMT
Upon hearing their latest "Live Hits - We've Got The Tunes", the vocals sound very weak to my ears. Peter Howarth is more of a "crooner" styled vocalist Apt description, Allan always had a tough, rock voice and he never really over did things in a Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston way which all modern singers, Howarth included do by default. I've said it a million times but Howarth's voice would better suit the high-harmony role. Lauri seems to be vocally anonymous. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2015 15:32:55 GMT
It's a shame there's only one Carl Wayne era song available, they could've made an interesting album (studio or live). What I find even more remarkable is that they didn't do even one TV appearance during the 5 years he was with the band!
Agreed that Peter would make a better high harmony singer than a lead vocalist (indeed, he pretty much did this when backing Cliff Richard).
I wonder if Alan Coates (in truth) found Peter a little lacking, hence his leaving after just a couple of gigs & a photoshoot?
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Post by cameron on Jul 20, 2015 16:29:29 GMT
It's this overly taught singing with "feeling" that gets me. You can't fake singing with feeling and make it convincing. Allan has this way of singing where you can see him beaming ear to ear and singing through a smile and it just lifts his vocals to a whole new level and you can see him straining his face to get all the notes out loud and clear. He sort of throws his head towards the microphone and projects his voice loud and clear. Likewise, on a softer song, he goes all subdued and has this way of pouring all his emotion into it. It's a convincing performance. He's not been taught to sing, he's a natural born talented singer.
Peter Howarth raises his eyebrows and shuts his eyes periodically and that's your lot really. That's someone who's been taught how to sing and it saps all the emotion out of it. This idea of being technically perfect - and Howarth to his credit never hits a bum note - but to me there's something just too overly polished about it. It takes a lot to sing a song, but it takes a lot more to own it. And Allan just has that magic.
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Post by cameron on Jul 20, 2015 16:34:18 GMT
Going slightly off topic, I always preferred the Move in their early days when Carl Wayne was firmly at the helm. He, like Allan, has a strong, loud voice. Listen to the Move's incredible live set at the Marquee in 1968 on the Move Anthology box set and you'll see what I mean. He hits all the notes with power and fitness on "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" just as Jackie Wilson did. Amazing.
They lost their touch when Roy Wood came along and wanted to sing his own songs with his softer, nasal voice and pushed Carl out. The later Move recordings really grate on me after a while. Wish he'd have left Wayne to do his thing as he'd always done and be the frontman that he was. I guess it was only natural that he was considered to replace Allan Clarke as they both had similar qualities as singers. I've never really heard any live recordings with him though, do any survive?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2015 16:41:35 GMT
Peter Howarth raises his eyebrows and shuts his eyes periodically and that's your lot really. That's someone who's been taught how to sing and it saps all the emotion out of it. This idea of being technically perfect - and Howarth to his credit never hits a bum note - but to me there's something just too overly polished about it. It takes a lot to sing a song, but it takes a lot more to own it. And Allan just has that magic. He's the kind of singer who'd do well on X Factor / Pop Idol / etc. I know he's not everyone's thing, but I really like some of Cliff Richard's records from the 50s and 60s (& a few from later), but after previously occasionally cancelling gigs due to voice troubles he had singing lessons in the early-mid 70s - and it shows! He might have become a far "better" singer technically, but the softer, more mannered approach took away what made him good in the first place to my ears. I'm glad Allan never learnt to "sing" in the same way (though his voice might've lasted a little longer!). Edit: I agree that Roy Wood's vocals can really grate (he made some superb records with The Move, Wizzard and solo, but I can't listen to him for long). |
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Post by JamesT on Jul 21, 2015 11:24:15 GMT
Many of you will know how scathing I was of PH et al about 10 years ago. I have since seen the band maybe about a dozen or so times and during this time my view has changed quite significantly. I don't quite know what it is, but Peter's voice doesn't come over as well recorded as it does live. He sounds much stronger live and can belt out a few - but certainly he's not the same kind of vocalist as Allan, Mikael or Carl.
A couple of months back, I also saw one of Peter's solo concerts - it was absolutely superb. I think he has helped steer the band onward for the past decade, but I can kind of see both he and Steve Lauri now carving out their own little niches because it's clear that the band will not go on as it currently is for a great many more years. I'd say things seem to be slowing down a bit more - for example, no autumn tour this year.
Re: The Move. One of the bands where I've got to say that I really like each era of the band. Something different and enjoyable in each. |
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Post by baz on Dec 20, 2019 22:04:11 GMT
Re: The Move. One of the bands where I've got to say that I really like each era of the band. Something different and enjoyable in each. The Move were excellent from beginning to end. That 1967 German TV live footage with the front line of Roy, Carl, Ace and Trevor trading vocals back, forth and together is astonishing. Ace quit and the vocal harmonies changed as he wasn't replaced and for me Rick Price replacing Trevor made the harmonies even better. "Shazam" is my fave album and Carl was in great form when Roy allowed him to sing. When Carl quit, The Move were never the same... "Looking On" is for me, a stodgy uneven album yet their final album "Message From The Country" as ragbag as it was was surprisingly strong given Roy and Jeff Lynne were far more interested in ELO by then. Oh, and we can't talk about The Move without mentioning the one member I've not yet mentioned - Bev Bevan. What a fantastic drummer! As we're mainly talking about Carl here, he genuinely was a superb front man. When he left The Move, in came Jeff Lynne and Jeff at that time was not very confident. Worse, Roy Wood now effectively acting as front man was good but it was clear he was awkward in that role... he'd dress up extravagantly and use that to help cloak the fact he was - and remains - a rather shy performer/leader. I love Roy's work with the Move, ELO and Wizzard... amazing songwriter and a unique singer but never a strong front man. I saw him live 2 years ago... he still sounded great, his band were excellent and I enjoyed the show but he still comes across as a bit ill at ease onstage. Carl was one of those natural front men who could have performed anywhere and commanded the entire proceedings. He simply had that gift so am a bit envious of those who were lucky to see him in The Hollies and it annoys me that theres only ONE studio recording commemorating his 4 years as a Hollie. A versatile bloke, very much missed. |
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