albatros
Full Member
albatros
Posts: 108
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Post by albatros on Apr 24, 2019 13:53:18 GMT
The picture on the CRAZY STEAL cover was taken in Germany at a concert they did at BREMEN. It was on the 24th of September 1976 at the Glockenhalle
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Post by gee on Apr 24, 2019 18:33:55 GMT
It has to be probably the worst Hollies album cover ever (even worse than on 'Sing Hollies' and that was pretty awful)
- the photo looks dreadful, both a silly concept (who's idea was it ?) and a really bad unflattering group picture
I once said in a review that The Hollies look about as happy as if they were walking to the electric chair !
Allan looks unwell, Bernie looks old, Tony and Terry while looking o.k. both look rather forlorn and while Bobby at least looks cheerful somehow he looks out of proportion with his legs not seeming to match his body !
Bobby was correct in that interview re 'weary' material - however that is more an impression which is created here, I would say that the problem is NOT the songs or the group performances in themselves, rather the grouping of them all together with far too many slow melodramatic ballads which for me start to 'blur' together thus losing their individual qualities and all thrown in like they are I feel tend to lop side the set dragging the entire thing down with just 'Burn Out' and 'Caracas' being the more upbeat in style and pace and as a result both standing out as if after thoughts and indeed like palm trees in a desert of surrounding slow melodrama !
which is sad as some FINE slower songs are here notably 'Writing On The Wall' (complete with 'He Ain't Heavy' style harmonica by Allan) , the falsetto vocal atmospheric 'What Am I Gonna Do ?', the sincere 'Hello To Romance', a terrific harmony laced cover of Danny Douma's 'Amnesty' and a majestic closing number 'Feet On The Ground' ...but on a set that rarely gets above walking or even 'plodding' pace I find that you just end up getting BORED with it all
try wading through that later CD on 'Head Out of Dreams' that lumps these and the 'Five Three One...' slowies all together - and see if you can stay awake !
'Boulder' while a fine 1976 recording was two years old so WHAT was that older already released song doing here in 1978 on the THIRD UK studio album to be released after it was cut and issued early in February 1976 as a (unsuccessful in the UK) stand alone single ??
consider this....would 'I'm Alive' have gone on 'Butterfly' ?
a sure sign things were badly wrong behind the scenes....
However re older Hollies songs that MIGHT have fitted in well if they required a more uptempo number for the new album....they COULD easily have unearthed a 1974 completed but unissued and then unknown to the public gem that would not have sounded either dated or out of place - 'Tip of The Iceberg' - and utilised that which would not have been known to most Hollies fans let alone the general public at the time - this driving guitar led song written by Tony would have at least 'powered up' the first side of the album early on (something the set badly needed I feel) had it been inserted between the opening two songs thus alternating the style notably and making the two slower numbers more contrasted and alternate re their merits instead of sounding like one long continuing melodramatic dirge... and along with 'Burn Out' given the vinyl album's first side some much needed rockin' energy - yes ?
while the CRIMINALLY discarded as a mere 'B' side gem 'Crossfire' a Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester original with tremendous Hicks guitarwork could and should have opened side two of the album with great flair again adding some desperately required fire and 'poke' to the album
'Amnesty' - with it's glorious acapella vocal harmony intro, tight harmonies and a fine Hicks guitar solo (we tend to perhaps forget ?) - could then have been moved up to a more significant placed track three on the second side (in place of 'Boulder') duly giving us a sharp contrast in style to the very happy go lucky sound of 'Caracas' before it and the bluesy styled 'Clown Service' next on this (besides the two then most recent polydor singles) otherwise ALL NEW set of songs with overall at least three uptempo guitar led numbers plus the sax led mid paced 'Caracas' and the bluesy harmonica driven 'Clown Service'and Steely Dan style sophistication of 'Let it Pour' to offset the remaining five slow ballads which would all be properly and quite crucially well spaced out across the album and the melodramatic songs then being well separated from each other giving you more chance to properly appreciate them individually over the vinyl album's two sides as opposed to a sense of just 'more of the same' etc...
in short
side one: Writing On The Wall / Tip of The Iceberg / What Am I Gonna Do ? / Let it Pour / Burn Out / Hello To Romance
side two: Crossfire / Caracas / Amnesty / Clown Service / Feet On The Ground
An eleven track album as was 'Confessions of The Mind' with some more changes of pace and style giving the album some 'life' and put in either a decent arty sleeve or at least featuring a more flattering group photo
I'm not saying this would be the best album they ever made...but it surely WOULD have been an improvement on the lack lustre top heavy melancholic flavoured set complete with THREE songs most of us already had on polydor singles then which we got in 1978....?
in the UK they had just enjoyed two big selling chart albums at no.4 and no.2 respectively by 1978 in 'Hollies Live Hits' and 'Twenty Golden Greats' both of which had been successfuly promoted on UK TV - this album of 'new' material had it been better planned, put together with more thought re contrasting styles, and given a better cover just might have picked up more sales with the wider public on the strength of those other two then very recent UK chart albums which would have been SO important then re the situation regarding their fast slipping relationship with polydor records
instead the band blew it as if they loaded the gun, took careful aim...then SHOT themselves in both feet !
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Post by anthony on Apr 24, 2019 22:08:58 GMT
I agree Gee, For me the album has some really good songs but they seem to be all the same apart from Burn Out, they have gone just for the Bollards, I would have loved some more up temp material included. Your list would have helped. For me the Album cover is OK, but they sure have had a few shockers over the years, One of their best albums has the worst cover art "Confession of the Mind", its a nothing cover in my opinion.
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Post by calvertbesseralseric on Apr 25, 2019 3:05:08 GMT
I think that,broadly,the issue with the band at this stage was definitely its image. From Allan's hideous stage costumes (which he himself derided as "borrowed from Donny Osmond" on the live album) to the procession of confused, weak singles through the mid-late 70s, they just didn't seem to know what they wanted to be. It's obvious that their strength was straightforward pop-rock and emotional balladry, but they seemed to decide at some point that didn't sell any more and thus they needed to start ripping off other 70s sounds! On tracks like Wiggle and Star, they just sounded so contrived and forced, whilst being out of place with their audience, they were never going to have hits with those. I don't think this is a problem that could be easily fixed by tweaking the track listing. They were just a completely unmarketable band, as strong as the material was.
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Post by calvertbesseralseric on Apr 25, 2019 3:06:23 GMT
I really don't get why someone couldn't have a word to Allan about the costumes. Even dressing more like Terry on stage would've made them less bloody uncool!
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Post by calvertbesseralseric on Apr 25, 2019 3:15:19 GMT
At any rate, I'll give you my attempt at a Crazy Steal track listing that might've given them a crack at critical success, if not commercial acclaim.
Side 1 1. Tip of the Iceberg 2. Hello to Romance (really solid track actually imo) 3. Let it Pour 4. Caracas 5. Writing on the Wall Side 2 1. Crossfire 2. Feet on the Ground 3. Burn Out 4. Clown Service 5. Hello Lady Goodbye (b-side to a flop single, just as deserving as Boulder)
This would resurrect 2 tracks that deserve a better fate, would leave them with a fully self-written album, and would give them a more contemporary-sounding release that still plays to their skills.
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Post by gee on Apr 25, 2019 17:11:22 GMT
That is a decent re-jig of the album too - I went with the core of what was put out rather than a major overhaul of the running order - and I think I would maybe swap the positions of 'Hello Lady Goodbye' and 'Feet on The Ground' in your listing as 'Feet' sounds to me more like the big epic closing track...but it's all opinion of course and equally valid
'Amnesty' is a great track with that superb acapella intro and a fine Hicks guitar so maybe that along with say the jaunty 'Come Down To The Shore' (then cut but still unissued) might be added to give a twelve track listing ?
whatever a more positive upbeat and contrasting style set would have been the result
Hello To Romance was and is a fine song too - a few of the slower tracks suffered from 'too many' being bunched together
re their image - well you couldn't make it up
Allan - looked great on 'Hollies Greatest Vol 2' cover from 1971 era in jean jacket and jeans...so he has a fizzy perm (that may have cost him his hair !) and indeed goes from the bare chested 'medallion man' look to 'Donny Osmond' reject white suits...! (just as he noticeably aged)
Bobby - after leaving it late finally donned a sensible blonde hairpiece by 1969 matching his original hair colour...which he made a longer style of by 'Romany' - instead of staying with that look (many would have forgotten he had a hair loss issue later on) gradually over time then going for a shorter greying version (as Allan later wore)....instead in 1974 Bobby put a large black cat on his head !
Bernie - instead of getting a smart hair piece around 1971 as he lost his own hair opted for a 'sweep over' look that only emphasised his problem as the seventies went on - by 'Crazy Steal' he clearly was in trouble hair wise which didn't help the look of a band trying to retain any kind of appeal to a younger audience
clothes wise Bobby and Bernie looked o.k.
Tony and Terry looked completely fine - which only emphasised where the others were not looking so good !
a SHREWD band manager would have spotted all this and duly corrected their look both re any hair loss and re clothes which WAS so important as time went on
Terry (after The Escorts early rather staid 'suited' image !) was the epitomy of 'stylish cool' throughout his merseybeat and Hollie days....only to later completely lose any idea of fashonable image as he adopted the dreaded 'Baywatch reject' look older guys who thought they still were 'cool' had...complete with shorts
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Post by JamesT on Apr 26, 2019 6:13:15 GMT
But, Gee - what was Tony's dungaree look all about in the 70s and early 80s? He pre-dated Dexys by a few years!
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Post by eric on Apr 26, 2019 9:21:17 GMT
Gee proposed the following tracks and sequencing for "A Crazy Steal":
side one: Writing On The Wall / Tip of The Iceberg / What Am I Gonna Do ? / Let it Pour / Burn Out / Hello To Romance
side two: Crossfire / Caracas / Amnesty / Clown Service / Feet On The Ground
This version works extremely well and it will now be my preferred listening experience.
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Post by gee on Apr 26, 2019 10:28:18 GMT
yeah James I forgot those and fully agree re those Dungarees Tony wore - he looked like Andy Pandy ! (a BBC TV younger children's character years ago who lived in a basket with a teddy bear)
maybe that explains 'For Certain Because...' title too ? LOL
Glad you liked that suggested track revision Eric, I tried to keep it as close to the actual album and just use 'Crossfire' and the (then) available to them 'Iceberg' songs that would have boosted the album's uptempo tracks notably and along with 'Burn Out' and 'Caracas' brought some life and power to the set which the slow songs badly required to make them work better in turn...
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Post by moorlock2003 on Apr 26, 2019 10:37:23 GMT
"Tip of the Iceburg" should have been the followup to "The Air that I Breathe". Such a fantastic rocker; it still baffles me why that and "Mexico Gold" were left on the shelf at the time. Those two tracks sound like hits, and the band sure could have used some more hits at that point. "Curly Billy" sounded too much like "Long Cool Woman" to really be taken seriously.
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Post by gee on Apr 26, 2019 10:53:04 GMT
I quite agree - like 'Won't We Feel Good...' surely should have followed up 'The Baby' in 1972 ?
'Iceberg' was a great exhilarating track...however I believe it was Ron Richards idea to go with 'Son of A Rotten Gambler' which while a nice song and group performance was far too low key to work as a single and in truth just not that distinctive (especially straight after the classic 'Air That I Breathe' which was so memorable) and really 'Gambler' should have been kept back for album use as a second track following a rocker etc...
they did this time after time, even in 1980 shelving 'If The Lights Go Out' for a slow ballad then again in 1985 holding back the great rockin' number 'Laughter Turns To Tears' in favor of a slow ballad which failed to chart
it was as if they WANTED their chart singles days to come to a premature end in the UK and USA...!
I suspect they suffered from a 'Hollies Committee' of Hicks, Elliott...then Clarke (after Ron Richards exited) who ponderously 'hummed and harred'...then went for the safe option of a slow ballad !
which explains Terry Sylvester's growing frustration
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