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Post by eric on Jun 16, 2019 11:59:35 GMT
Obvious its always great to make it big in the US, its not the be all and end all. Cliff Richard one of the biggest recording stars admits he never making it big, well he did well for himself everywhere else. I wouldn't be surprised if HH were bigger that the Hollies in the US, in my opinion the Hollies were never that popular in the states. It took a few attempts for the Beatles to do well in America, they followed the worlds reaction and came on board. Anthony, according to the Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, Herman’s Hermits were more successful on the singles chart in the USA than The Hollies. The details are: Herman’s Hermits - 130 weeks on the charts - 11 Top 10 hits & 14 Top 20 hits. The Hollies - 83 weeks on the charts - 6 Top 10 hits & 7 Top 20 hits. Yes, HH had more hits in the USA than The Hollies, however, IMHO, aside from “No Milk Today” and “My Sentimental Friend” (the latter is surprisingly not listed in Billboard), HH’s singles do not rate in quality alongside the classic Hollies hits including “He Ain’t Heavy”, “Long Cool Woman” and “The Air That I Breathe”. Therefore, the less popular Hollies (based on chart longevity) enjoy the greater reputation of the two bands due to their superior musicality.
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Post by gee on Jun 16, 2019 15:12:26 GMT
The Bee Gees were a native British group actually from Manchester tho' they also lived on the Isle of Man too before emigrating to Aus where they began their proper musical career.
whilst USA success is very important of course it's indeed not the be all and end all as The Shadows and Status Quo to name two legendary bands worldwide prove
Shadows Hank Marvin and John Rostill plus later Aussie Shad John Farrar penned USA hits for Olivia Newton John so their work as songwriters enjoyed USA chart success at least
Cliff Richard has had 19 USA chart singles and Elvis had Cliff's single of 'Living Doll' on his home juke box at Graceland which is not bad for a 'failure' in the States
The Ventures USA success tailed off for years but they kept going largely due to their tremendous success in Japan where they were arguably even bigger than The Beatles and have recorded a number of albums that were for the Japanese market
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jun 16, 2019 23:08:33 GMT
The Shads and Quo tried the US. Just didn't break out.
Those guys (Shadows Hank Marvin and John Rostill plus later Aussie Shad John Farrar penned USA hits for Olivia Newton John) would have made more money from songwriting royalties in the US than from anywhere in the rest of the world record sales.
Like I have stated before everyone wanted to break in the US, that's where the real money is.
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Post by cameron on Jun 16, 2019 23:22:25 GMT
Funnily enough, the Hollies were always very big in Germany. Many of their Polydor albums were released in Germany before anywhere else in the 1970s and Germany generally got a few extra singles, including a few exclusives. "Live Hits" was a Germany only LP, which then got released in Canada, and the high level of imports lead it to be released in the UK.
But, which UK band was voted 'Best British Group' of 1967 AND 1968 in Germany? The Beatles? The Rolling Stones? No, DAVE DEE DOZY BEAKY MICK AND TICH!! DDDBMT toured all over Germany in 1967 and 1968, and had a huge stronghold there. I believe I read somewhere that they had more time in the charts than the Beatles in 1968 there. Likewise, the Hollies always did well in Sweden because they always toured there. They very much appeared to take the place of the Beatles in Sweden after the Beatles stopped touring.
The point I'm getting at is that it's horses for courses. Somewhere in the world, each big group will have their own country that they've claimed. The Hollies didn't tour America for long enough or often enough to make a serious impact there. So it's amazing that they sold as well as they did in America, without too much PR and major television appearances. I've always said that the Hollies achieved what they did purely on their own merit - no gimmicks, no press scandals, no behind the scenes PR, no A&R men fixing their record sales for them... they genuinely achieved their success on the merit of their music only, which isn't something that many bands can boast. Even the Beatles had Brian Epstein fiddling their record sales charts to make "Love Me Do" a national hit... the Hollies never had a figure like that in their career.
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poco
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Post by poco on Jun 17, 2019 0:20:46 GMT
I have seen your posts for years now. All you do is spew out old Melody Makes articles. If I'm a betting man you are under 25 years of age. The point I'm trying to make is please post your opinion not print. I have read them 40 to 50 years ago long before you were born.
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Post by eric on Jun 17, 2019 0:39:45 GMT
Gee - I admit that I have taken some poetic license in claiming the Bee Gees as an Australian band. Although they started their recording career here and had their first big hit “Spicks and Specks” on these shores, we Aussies knew they were British boys. But we loved them and thought of them as one of our own.
Cameron – I agree with you that The Hollies made it on their own merit. In Australia in the 60’s they were by and large a faceless band. Even though the demand was there for them to perform here, their first tour of Australia was only scheduled for April 1967 (this was subsequently cancelled due to Bobby’s illness). By this time The Beach Boys, Beatles, Stones (twice), Dave Clark Five, Kinks, Manfred Mann, Herman’s Hermits, Shadows, Searchers, Gerry & Pacemakers had already played concerts Down Under and promoted themselves on local TV. The Hollies didn’t appease their Aussie fans for the cancelled tour until January 1970 by which time they had been in our local chart 14 times with 13 top 10 hits to boot. Fortunately, they have done a good job of touring here since then.
For the trivia buffs, the band that replaced The Hollies on the 1967 Australian tour was Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.
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poco
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Post by poco on Jun 17, 2019 0:57:09 GMT
The Shads and Quo tried the US. Just didn't break out. Those guys (Shadows Hank Marvin and John Rostill plus later Aussie Shad John Farrar penned USA hits for Olivia Newton John) would have made more money from songwriting royalties in the US than from anywhere in the rest of the world record sales. Like I have stated before everyone wanted to break in the US, that's where the real money is. Chris, I love Status Quo. All their songs sound alike. LOL Still I love them. Like the Hollies they never broke their ass to tour the US.
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Post by eric on Jun 17, 2019 11:02:09 GMT
Thanks Eric! The Bee Gees in the early days (especially 1967-1969) were a wonderful band, and are perhaps overlooked by many collectors thanks to their later disco hits and image. I am familiar with The Easybeats' pre 'Friday' material, mostly thanks to some excellent surviving TV footage. Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs are a band I've only discovered in the past months or so, and found some of their early covers as good as anyone's, and The Seekers were a world-wide success, and an act that I have a lot of respect for. Peter, I am very pleased to learn that you have discovered Australia’s Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs. It’s a shame that the success of this high quality band in the 60’s was confined to Australia. Billy Thorpe was another Englishman who migrated to Australia as a youngster and ended up becoming a very successful performer Down Under. The band’s hit version of “Poison Ivy” in mid-1964 is a stunning recording and one that should be sought out by anyone who loves the sounds of the British Beat from the 60’s. The best sound quality of their 60’s singles and EP material is found on the “Extended Play” remasters from 2014. The release of the band’s first two albums in digital format is long overdue. Thorpe morphed from pop star into a hard rocker in the 70’s, headlining outdoor festivals with extended jamming that was underpinned by his powerful vocals and guitar. He was an absolute star, one who deserved to have an international career. For the trivia buffs on this forum, all the wonderful sounds of The Hollies, The Beatles, The Easybeats and Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs were found on the Parlophone label in Australia.
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Post by cameron on Jun 17, 2019 23:10:02 GMT
I have seen your posts for years now. All you do is spew out old Melody Makes articles. If I'm a betting man you are under 25 years of age. The point I'm trying to make is please post your opinion not print. I have read them 40 to 50 years ago long before you were born. . Is this aimed at me?
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poco
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Post by poco on Jun 18, 2019 0:05:13 GMT
LOL,
No target on your back. You must be young and must draw back on old articles.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jun 18, 2019 0:58:54 GMT
I think the overall QUALITY of The Hollies' recorded work puts them alongside The Beatles. One can rattle off chart statistics until the cows come home.
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Post by cameron on Jun 18, 2019 7:09:25 GMT
LOL, No target on your back. You must be young and must draw back on old articles. What's the problem with being young or drawing on old articles? I suggest you wind your neck in and have a bit more respect for your fellow Hollies fans.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 7:17:41 GMT
LOL, No target on your back. You must be young and must draw back on old articles. What's the problem with being young or drawing on old articles? I suggest you wind your neck in and have a bit more respect for your fellow Hollies fans. Mark Lewisohn (born in 1958) used to get a lot of stick from older Beatles fans for being too young to really remember the band, yet he is now acknowledged as the no. 1 expert by pretty much everyone. On a much smaller scale, I won all the Jerry Lee Lewis quizzes at a fan-club convention in the late 80s while in my mid-20s, and some oldies refused to talk to me afterwards(!). My point is, age is no barrier on how much someone can know, and anyway, as the original fans die off or go senile, surely it's good to have younger people coming along? I welcome Cameron's posts as much as anyone's, and there's no doubt (wherever he's learned it from), he knows more than pretty much anyone on the band's peak years.
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Post by eric on Jun 18, 2019 7:58:52 GMT
What's the problem with being young or drawing on old articles? I suggest you wind your neck in and have a bit more respect for your fellow Hollies fans. Mark Lewisohn (born in 1958) used to get a lot of stick from older Beatles fans for being too young to really remember the band, yet he is now acknowledged as the no. 1 expert by pretty much everyone. On a much smaller scale, I won all the Jerry Lee Lewis quizzes at a fan-club convention in the late 80s while in my mid-20s, and some oldies refused to talk to me afterwards(!). My point is, age is no barrier on how much someone can know, and anyway, as the original fans die off or go senile, surely it's good to have younger people coming along? I welcome Cameron's posts as much as anyone's, and there's no doubt (wherever he's learned it from), he knows more than pretty much anyone on the band's peak years. I agree with Peter's comments with regard to age and I too welcome Cameron's posts. I see a real benefit in referring to documents written and published in the 60's and 70's, as one's memory is not always 100% reliable. As has been documented on this forum on many occasions, even the Hollies themselves can't remember everything they did. This is why Bobby's book, if it ever gets published, will be a valuable reference to us all as I understand that it is based on the diaries that he kept over the years. I do prefer facts over fiction!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 8:35:00 GMT
I think the overall QUALITY of The Hollies' recorded work puts them alongside The Beatles. One can rattle off chart statistics until the cows come home. True. To my ears, the only other 60s band (beside The Hollies and The Beatles) to release such consistently great singles was The Rolling Stones, at least in the UK, during the 1963 - 1971 period. The Kinks also come close, but don't quite match the above three bands thanks to a couple of below-par late '60s singles, ditto The Who (ie 'Dogs').
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jun 18, 2019 12:59:54 GMT
I have to say that age is not an important factor in this story. Cameron is a very enthusiastic collector and as such should be be just as welcome to share his comments/knowledge with everyone. Everyone here knows Gralto (Simon) and I have known him personally from when he was a young Hollies collector in his 20s. How do we all feel about him and his knowledge now (Cameron will be like that in the future). Simon's knowledge is way above most of us on this forum. We have all gathered our knowledge on the band from various sources, be it sharing knowledge, press or whatever source, and some over a short period of time and others over a much longer time.
We all need keen Hollies fans for the bands name to be kept out there and to assist us all with our own knowledge.
Quiet some time back on this forum I mentioned we all have opinions and we should be able to express it. If someone says something I disagree with I will either not respond or try and pass a diplomatic response.
I am not the most articulate person around and so I don't respond to topics in a long winded method.
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poco
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Post by poco on Jun 18, 2019 21:41:31 GMT
LOL, No target on your back. You must be young and must draw back on old articles. What's the problem with being young or drawing on old articles? I suggest you wind your neck in and have a bit more respect for your fellow Hollies fans.
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poco
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Post by poco on Jun 18, 2019 21:43:56 GMT
Well post an old article I have not seen yet and I will take off my neck brace.
Sensitive, Not Royal Marine material.
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Post by Stranger on Jun 19, 2019 10:13:27 GMT
Sensitive, Not Royal Marine material. Were the Hollies popular amongst you Marines back in the 60s Poco? I thought you'd be more Sgt. Barry Sadler types. Curious to know what the music of choice was in Malay or Aden or wherever it was you were serving at the time. Would never have suspected the Hollies!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2019 10:59:48 GMT
Sensitive, Not Royal Marine material. Were the Hollies popular amongst you Marines back in the 60s Poco? I thought you'd be more Sgt. Barry Sadler types. Curious to know what the music of choice was in Malay or Aden or wherever it was you were serving at the time. Would never have suspected the Hollies! Maybe they listened to rock 'n' rollin' red-necks like Jerry Lee Lewis?
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poco
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Post by poco on Jun 19, 2019 11:41:25 GMT
LOL,
You guys are spot on Beatles, Rolling Stones, Red Neck Artists, Country and Western, Motown. No Barry Sandler he was 2 years before.
God Save The Queen & Baby Brits !
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Post by stuball on Jun 19, 2019 15:07:34 GMT
Someone mentioned the Aussie group Sherbet in a post recently. It might be of some interest to know that they opened for The Hollies on their 1977 Canadian tour. The single they were plugging at the time was titled 'Magazine Madonna'. In their short set, they opened AND closed with that number. A very good group as I remember. And much above the routine 'opening act' caliber.
The previous year, on The Hollies '76 Cross-Canada tour, another Australian open the show. His name was Peter Foldy, and he had a big AM hit here with a 45 entitled 'Bondi Junction'. It was a pleasant pop diversion which garnered a lot of airplay.
Never considered it before, but it does seem quite the coincidence that Aussie acts would be paired consecutively with The Hollies in Canada. Did The Hollies warm receptions 'Down Under' have something to do with it?
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Post by eric on Jun 19, 2019 21:52:46 GMT
stuball, thank you for that information. I had no idea that Sherbet opened for The Hollies in Canada. What a great combination! I can understand why you thought Sherbet were better than the average opening concert act as they were a hugely successful band in Australia (where they had 20 hit singles from 1971 to 1978) and they knew how to rock on stage. They are another Aussie act that should have enjoyed greater success beyond Aussie shores. I am not familiar with Peter Foldy but going by the title of his 45 he may have been from Sydney.
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