Shell ad

[knut]

Has anyone heard a Hollies ad for Shell?

[cameron]

It's been one of the most talked about Hollies rarities, but no one has so far found any recording of it. Apparently it was an advertising jingle for the radio, recorded in 1964.

[Gralto]

Hi Knut - check this forum for some detailed info I supplied ages ago. If there is nothing there, I must have posted it on the old Elevated Observations site. In a nutshell it was an advertising jingle recorded at & for Radio Luxembourg I think circa July 1964. I contacted Shell Archives years ago to ask if they had anything but by this stage these were being managed by BP and I'm not sure if they knew precisely what they had. Nevertheless they didn't find anything. Our best bet is that someone recording a Radio Luxembourg program from the time on a reel to reel might have it by chance amongst an ad break. As of today, no copy is known to have surfaced with collectors. As Cam has said, it's highly desirable and will be big news - well, to us on here at least! - if it does turn up.
Cheers
Simon

[knut]

Thanks Simon. The reason I asked was that I spotted this feature in NME.

[ransford]

Not Shell Oil this time, but... In Sweden we got a monopoly for selling alcohol called Systembolaget (maybe it sounds crazy with monopoly but we love it because of its high quality of wine, beers, etc) . For months and months they´ve been doing commercials for not to buy alcohol do youngsters. The commercials differs, but they always play He Ain´t Heavy... as their trademark. And of course it´s The Hollies version!

[cameron]

I finally can expand on this with this clipping from "Pop Weekly", dated 14th August, 1964

[allanangel]

Great find, Cameron!!! I have saved this picture.

[gee]

I recall the Shell TV commercial jingle went;

'I'm going well, I'm going Shell' as sung by a driver driving through the countryside

Sammy Davis jnr in one version sang; 'Just made the show with a minute to go...' which led into the Shell jingle as Sammy danced to the London Palladium then off again by car to the departing Queen Mary liner


The Hollies if they did the same TV jingle may well have sung;

'were going well, were going Shell'

the last line was;

'you can be sure of Shell' if I remember correctly, while it's possible they did a version of the current hit with amended lyrics re Shell but if it was the then famous 'Shell TV jingle' it probably was that song above as the note to the picture clearly refers to them recording THEIR VERSION of the Shell jingle

[christocello]

I am sorry but here is just the Bing Crosby version although it may give us an idea of what the tune was like that the Hollies recorded.

[manwithnoexpression]

This photo is actually valuable for more than just being cool, it's one of only two photos I've seen of Eric with the Jazz Bass, which it seems like he used for a short period in the summer of 1964.

[Mevrouw Bee]

It's too bad they didn't do a "Things Go Better With Coke" ad like the Everly Brothers and a gazillion other acts. They got compilation albums! We recently picked up the Golden Earring(s) version on 45..

[cameron]

One of my favourites is the Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick & Tich version from 1968, which doesn't appear to be on that compilation

[cameron]

I have an update on the Shell Ad. I did some work for the archive that's next door to the Shell Archives at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and called in to ask about the Hollies jingle specifically. They said that they were aware of various jingles recorded by British pop groups/singers in the 1960s, but they weren't done for Shell UK, which would corroborate the bits and pieces that we've found tying the Shell Ad to Radio Luxembourg. Shell UK said that each country has its own division of the company with their own archives, and suggested getting in touch with the archives in Luxembourg/Belgium/Germany to see if anything survives.