Hollies in Australia 1972 with Mikael Rickfors

[dirtyfaz]

I saw The Hollies with Rickfors perform in Sydney in 1972 but have little recollection of the tracks performed. I do remember them doing Slow down Go Down as it was their current OZ 45. Did any of our Australian members see that show and if so can they remember what the set list was.

On a set list site it shows set lists from the UK tour but nothing from the Australian portion of the tour. That shows some album tracks being performed and that makes sense as Mikael was now in the band and had recorded an LP with them so they would have needed to showcase Mikael's vocals. What I do remember was instrumentally that version of the band was by far the most powerful basically being a 4 piece band instead of a 3 piece with vocals. 

I would love to be reminded what their set list was.

[eric]

dirtyfaz, I saw the Mikael Rickfors version of The Hollies perform at the now demolished Apollo Stadium, Adelaide, on 9th May 1973. My notes at that time record them playing the following songs (not in order):

Carrie Anne (opener with lead vocal by Tony Hicks) - Long Cool Woman (closer with lead vocal by Terry Sylvester) - He Ain’t Heavy - Romany – Bus Stop (Terry) - Long Dark Road - You Know The Score (Terry) - Too Young To Be Married (Tony) - Amazing Grace - Slow Down, Go Down. All other lead vocals were by Mikael.

I made no note of “The Baby” and “Magic Woman Touch” having been performed, which seems odd given both were successful records here (TB no. 10; MWT no. 12). I understand that these singles were way less successful in the larger Aussie markets of Melbourne and Sydney so this possibly caused their omission from the set.

A 10 song set list appears to be short by today’s standards. However, I do recall them “stretching out” instrumentally on some songs which obviously filled in some time.

As an aside, “Slow Down, Go Down” entered the Adelaide charts 9 days later where it stayed for 3 weeks, peaking at no. 22. Therefore it would appear that their concert failed to buoy the sales of this single.

Furthermore, notwithstanding the success here of “Curly Billy” (no. 14) in 1973, “The Air That I Breathe” (no.2) and “Son Of A Rotten Gambler” (no. 18) in 1974, The Hollies, with Allan Clarke, next played Adelaide on 24 January 1975, to a much smaller audience in a large outdoors stadium. The decline in interest in the band at that time was maybe due to a combination of fans not enjoying their 1973 concert performance (with weaker lead vocals on their most loved hits) and (what turned out to be) their last charting single, the lack lustre SOARG.

However, to their credit, the band has shown incredible resilience as a concert act over many years and in February 2019 it will again tour Down Under, a staggering 44 years since their 1975 concert at the near empty Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, situated next to the revered Adelaide Oval cricket ground.

[JamesT]

Nov 15, 2018 6:35:04 GMT eric said:

I made no note of “The Baby” and “Magic Woman Touch” having been performed, which seems odd given both were successful records here (TB no. 10; MWT no. 12). I understand that these singles were way less successful in the larger Aussie markets of Melbourne and Sydney so this possibly caused their omission from the set.



I think the first ever live performance of The Baby was during the Carl Wayne period circa 2003 and Magic Woman Touch was only premiered live a year or so ago.  Quite remarkable, really.  The former, in particular, is a great song.

[eric]

Thanks James for clarifying my point about The Baby and Magic Woman Touch. I agree that The Baby is a great song and Magic Woman Touch was quite magical on the airwaves during the Aussie summer of 1972. It is a great summer song.

[moorlock2003]

Nov 14, 2018 21:17:25 GMT dirtyfaz said:

I saw The Hollies with Rickfors perform in Sydney in 1972 but have little recollection of the tracks performed. I do remember them doing Slow down Go Down as it was their current OZ 45. Did any of our Australian members see that show and if so can they remember what the set list was.

On a set list site it shows set lists from the UK tour but nothing from the Australian portion of the tour. That shows some album tracks being performed and that makes sense as Mikael was now in the band and had recorded an LP with them so they would have needed to showcase Mikael's vocals. What I do remember was instrumentally that version of the band was by far the most powerful basically being a 4 piece band instead of a 3 piece with vocals. 

I would love to be reminded what their set list was.

There was no UK tour with the Rickfors lineup; only US and Australia.  I'm surprised they didn't tour Canada; "Long Cool Woman" was No. 1 there as well as the US.  "Slow Down Go Down" was not part of the US set list, unfortunately.  I would have loved to hear that one.  My biggest criticism is that the band really should have put a few more rockers in the set.  "Hey Willy" would have been stunning with Rickfors singing it.  It was a single from the previous year, so musically it was closer to where the band was at then, as opposed to "Carrie-Anne" for instance.

[dirtyfaz]

Oops! That UK should have been USA. I didn't check the post so that error got through. I did know they only toured OZ & USA.
Moorlock you are right to ask about Canada. They didn't tour there much a bit like the States
Thanks for your response Eric. My guess is they may have done a song or 2 from Romany as well looking at what they performed in the US. Bands back then played for about an hour so maybe there were a couple of extra tracks played.

[moorlock2003]

Having the three frontmen trade off doing lead vocals was much more band-like and interesting, as opposed to Clarke hogging ALL the lead vocals with the resulting monotony. I saw the band in 72, 75, and 83, and far and away the best was 72.

[dirtyfaz]

I probably wouldn't use the word hogging with Allan because after Graham left he was the front vocalist. Terry and Tony doing harmony and Bernie and Bobby filling out the band. I saw this lineup every time they played Australia (maybe 10 or so times)including one tour 5 times. That year it was easy to see them that many time in New South Wales as they were playing smaller venues ie licensed clubs that hold a crowd of up to about 600 people.
If you look at their recorded history after Graham then Allan mostly took lead vocals so it would be no surprise that he was the front man. Terry a couple of songs and Tony never.
I still hold the opinion that the Rickfors version of the band musically was the strongest of all versions up to the time Bernie and Terry left.

[moorlock2003]

Nov 16, 2018 4:38:32 GMT dirtyfaz said:

I probably wouldn't use the word hogging with Allan because after Graham left he was the front vocalist. Terry and Tony doing harmony and Bernie and Bobby filling out the band. I saw this lineup every time they played Australia (maybe 10 or so times)including one tour 5 times. That year it was easy to see them that many time in New South Wales as they were playing smaller venues ie licensed clubs that hold a crowd of up to about 600 people.
If you look at their recorded history after Graham then Allan mostly took lead vocals so it would be no surprise that he was the front man. Terry a couple of songs and Tony never.
I still hold the opinion that the Rickfors version of the band musically was the strongest of all versions up to the time Bernie and Terry left.

I agree.  Bringing the synthesizer in, while practical, didn't improve their sound.  Notice how Rickfors played lead guitar on the live version of "Long Dark Road", doing a great job of it, too.