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Post by stuball on Feb 22, 2020 13:27:58 GMT
Latest info is that Bobby's book is a straight bio not day by day diary and is believed to end in 1981. Which means to expect little or no info on such contentious topics as the Nash 83 USA tour, the Haydock court cases, arrivals/departures of Clarke, Wayne, Howarth, Coates, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame event, and countless other incidents from the past (nearly) 40 years. Shame. Given Bobbys personality though, I'm not expecting him to rock the boat too often. Still looking forward to having a copy in my hands once it's out. Oh dear! I hope it's not a 'in 1981, Terry and Bernie decided to persue other interests, and we wished them well' nothing burger. In other words, all bun and no meat. Here's hoping I'm wrong! For at this stage of the game, bland and colourless is not what we longtime Hollies fans need.
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Post by baz on Feb 22, 2020 18:27:22 GMT
Latest info is that Bobby's book is a straight bio not day by day diary and is believed to end in 1981. Which means to expect little or no info on such contentious topics as the Nash 83 USA tour, the Haydock court cases, arrivals/departures of Clarke, Wayne, Howarth, Coates, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame event, and countless other incidents from the past (nearly) 40 years. Shame. Given Bobbys personality though, I'm not expecting him to rock the boat too often. Still looking forward to having a copy in my hands once it's out. A great shame indeed that the curtain falls in 1981 but a telling sign too as I declared somewhere else in this forum that The Hollies "ended" for me with the departures of Bernie and Terry so its most curious that's where Bobby's book apparently bails out.
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Post by JamesT on Feb 22, 2020 18:38:53 GMT
I suppose it is where the classic years finished, but yes, so much will not be covered. Shame.
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Post by stuball on Feb 22, 2020 18:50:43 GMT
Latest info is that Bobby's book is a straight bio not day by day diary and is believed to end in 1981. A great shame indeed that the curtain falls in 1981 but a telling sign too as I declared somewhere else in this forum that The Hollies "ended" for me with the departures of Bernie and Terry so its most curious that's where Bobby's book apparently bails out. It appears that Bobby decided to end his book at the point when The Hollies went from being 'international recording artists', to largely playing their hits on the 'oldies circuit'. A wise move in my opinion, both from an editing, but also from the publishing point of view.
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Feb 22, 2020 19:02:53 GMT
With the knowledge now that Bobby's book only goes up to 1981 (40 years ago !!!) I have today cancelled my order......
Can only imagine that with what he only has to say up 'til then would probably be as boring as the current line up..
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Post by cameron on Feb 22, 2020 23:09:23 GMT
I find that interesting, almost as if Bobby acknowledges that perhaps 1981 was when the Hollies stopped being current and relevant, as it was the start on their run on the oldies circuit. Allan has previously made comment to Graham leaving being the start of the "gradual dissipation of the Hollies", but no other Hollie has made reference to when "the Hollies" as we all know them came to an end as such. I think most us us here have quietly agreed that 1981 or 1983 was the end of the group, when they last had an album out with a current charting single. I personally think 1981 is about right, when Bernie and Terry left. The brief reunion with Nash was a bit of a disaster all round, and Nash appeared to drop them as quickly as he got back with them. Are we really bothered for the story of 1981 - 2020? Probably not. I expect that the 1981 - 2020 portion didn't read anywhere near as exciting as pre-1981, and the publisher probably recommended that he stops the story there.
I've said all along, there'll be no gossip or revelatory reveals about the other members. But Bobby is a fantastic story teller and his anecdotes will be thrilling to read and he's very good at setting the scene when he writes. It'll be an intimate behind the scenes look, with plenty of new stories and details that will be unknown to the most diehard of Hollies fans.
FYI, RoughTrade Records are selling signed copies for £20 plus £3.50 postage, which is much more reasonable than the £8.00 shipping for the signed copy from the Flood Gallery, although I'm unable to cancel my order with them now.
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Post by cameron on Feb 22, 2020 23:13:57 GMT
With the knowledge now that Bobby's book only goes up to 1981 (40 years ago !!!) I have today cancelled my order...... Can only imagine that with what he only has to say up 'til then would probably be as boring as the current line up.. Why would you be more interested in the post-1981 years? Surely the stories of the classic Hollies heyday is what we're all most looking forward to
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2020 11:12:55 GMT
With the knowledge now that Bobby's book only goes up to 1981 (40 years ago !!!) I have today cancelled my order...... Can only imagine that with what he only has to say up 'til then would probably be as boring as the current line up.. Why would you be more interested in the post-1981 years? Surely the stories of the classic Hollies heyday is what we're all most looking forward to For the same reasons that Simon (Gralto) posted. The 4 decades since then may have been musically disappointing, but a hell of a lot has happened. I hadn't even ordered it yet, but I'm certainly in no rush now.
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Post by baz on Feb 23, 2020 13:15:03 GMT
For the same reasons that Simon (Gralto) posted. The 4 decades since then may have been musically disappointing, but a hell of a lot has happened. I hadn't even ordered it yet, but I'm certainly in no rush now. Exactly. Just what went on with the Nash reunion? How did they feel getting to number one again in 1988? Why didn't they record a new studio album for 23 years? How did they feel about Allan's voice deteriorating? The Eric Haydock legal battle? The Carl Wayne era? Does Bobby still think "Staying Power" is such a magnificent album and why? The R+R HOF fiasco? There's all sorts of sagas and issues that are gonna be absent. Fact is, I think the book is gonna appeal mostly to Hollies fans who would want to know about the last 40 years even if it's quickly dealt with in a couple of chapters. I'm sure it will be an entertaining and interesting read but I suspect a lot will get glossed over. I also suspect it will end with them reuniting with Graham for the TOTP performance so it's a sort of happy ending with the old line up back together for one day as opposed to the devastating split with Bernie and Terry. It is vaguely possible there could be a second volume as I have noticed many showbiz names get signed up to churn out 2 or 3 books though I'm doubtful in Bobby's case.
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Post by cameron on Feb 23, 2020 14:29:45 GMT
My point is, if Bobby ever looked on this forum, he'd see a lot of us talk ad nauseam of how the 1963-1980 years are the core Hollies years. He'd also see a lot of people here express some pretty bold opinions of the current line up. So he could be forgiven for not writing about it. There seems to be a degree of double standards here. Do we care about the reunions or the "fiascos"? Or would we rather sink our teeth into some precious anecdotes about how they recorded their original albums or what happened out on tour? He's still going to cover Allan going solo twice presumably, the Rickfors years and the "flower power bit" as Bobby calls it. To me, around 1965 to 1974 will be the most interesting part of the book. I expect he will end on the high of reuniting with Graham so that the story has a happy ending. I can't believe some so-called 'diehard' Hollies fans are even considering NOT buying the first ever autobiography by a Hollies member who's actually going to give us a good meaty story about the group!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2020 14:47:15 GMT
The trouble is, the musical 'peak' years are also the years where we tend to know a lot already (the 'Look Through Any Window' DVD and the books by both Graham Nash and Brian Southall are just 3 good sources).
But if indeed Bobby does surprise us by writing a "good meaty story", then you can be sure that I will buy it. Otherwise, I feel NO obligation, any more than I feel obligated to seek out Denis Haines' recordings with Gary Numan or Terry Sylvester's early work with The Escorts (actually the latter are really good, but you get my point).
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Post by Stranger on Feb 23, 2020 16:35:53 GMT
It would be a strange admission on Bobby's part to stop the book in 81 if from the perspective of nothing really interesting happened after that.
Agreed with Peter C, we already know a lot about the "core" years though I think there is still a lot to be said about 74 to 81, of which we dont know a lot about what was going on.
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Post by allanangel on Feb 23, 2020 18:33:52 GMT
That's a lot of years to compress into one book. Maybe a second book is planned, depending on the sales of the first?
I have ordered my copy.
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Post by anthony on Feb 23, 2020 23:09:51 GMT
Looking forward to getting my copy, I may be one of the few but I'd love to hear about 1980 onwards, the Styles years, he ain't Heavy being a number 1 in 1988, how they came to ask Carl to join, what was their process in getting Peter Howarth. come t. thoughts on touring the world these days compared to the 60's and 70's.
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Post by Gralto on Feb 24, 2020 14:27:26 GMT
Regardless of when the narrative ends, this will be a welcome addition to published Hollies history. Across nearly 60 years of the band's existence, we have only a small handful of books on the group's movements, and none I suspect that will be as filled with detailed information as this one. Bobby has been the band's archivist always, writing diaries, collecting anything rare and interesting etc. The band only continues to this day due to his enthusiasm and drive.
I'm not sure there are many rock drummers who have had their story published by Omnibus. It all bodes well for a fine read, and I for one am greatly looking forward to it. Er, no pun intended but hats off to Bobby for getting it done. Perhaps this may now prompt a certain Florida resident to finally tell his side of The Hollies' story. Clarke's autobio would be the best of all but that is never likely to happen.
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Post by johnt on Feb 24, 2020 14:31:46 GMT
I was also hoping that Bobby's book would go right up to the present day. In addition to what has already been mentioned, there are many things I would like to know, such as how they managed to get hold of John Miles at short notice to fill in for Allan who had to pull out halfway through a UK tour due to his wife's illness, similarly with Ian Harrison deputising for Carl.
Also, how Bobby can keep himself fit enough to continue touring year after year at his age and what are his thoughts on when he will eventually retire. (I remember reading an article from the 60s that he was hoping to retire at 45!).
Still, if his book only goes up to 1981, so be it. I'm sure it will be a very interesting read and there will be snippets in there that we have not known about before.
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Post by rokinrobinoflocksley on Feb 24, 2020 15:27:43 GMT
Regardless of when the narrative ends, this will be a welcome addition to published Hollies history. Across nearly 60 years of the band's existence, we have only a small handful of books on the group's movements, and none I suspect that will be as filled with detailed information as this one. Bobby has been the band's archivist always, writing diaries, collecting anything rare and interesting etc. The band only continues to this day due to his enthusiasm and drive. I'm not sure there are many rock drummers who have had their story published by Omnibus. It all bodes well for a fine read, and I for one am greatly looking forward to it. Er, no pun intended but hats off to Bobby for getting it done. Perhaps this may now prompt a certain Florida resident to finally tell his side of The Hollies' story. Clarke's autobio would be the best of all but that is never likely to happen. Per JamesT in the BREAKING NEWS Allan Clarke thread, Allan is indeed working on a book, listen to the interview:
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2020 15:55:01 GMT
Even if he does write one, I believe that Allan Clarke is far too much of a gentlemen to reveal much, and witness how a while back he quickly apologised for suggesting that Tony Hicks wasn't an original member. So I can't imagine him rocking the boat too much. Would love to be proven wrong though!
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Post by cameron on Feb 24, 2020 16:05:39 GMT
We actually know precious little about the Hollies. Whenever any of them get an interviewer who deviates from the “He Ain’t Heavy” story or Graham leaving story, we ALWAYS get something new that we didn’t previously know. I didn’t know until a couple of years ago that David Crosby turned up at that last Hollies gig with Nash and Allan had to be restrained from hitting him. I didn’t know that when they went to Japan in 1968 they filmed many Tv specials including one of them performing a transitional Japanese folk song. There’s many errors in the official sessionography list and much that needs elaborating on. I didn’t know until just a couple of months ago that the Hollies backed Kenny Lynch on his version of “A Better Place” and it’s not even been documented on Discogs...... so there’s so much that we don’t know. The Hollies must be the least written about of all the main 1960s groups. You can piece together every waking moment of the Beatles’ career from 1963 to 1970, but the Hollies are comparatively unknown.
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Post by anthony on Feb 25, 2020 23:20:53 GMT
I just saw a post on facebook that they heard Bobby on radio and he stated the book does end in 1981.
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Post by johnt on Feb 26, 2020 8:39:39 GMT
Bobby's book is now priced at £17.80 on Amazon, down from £20.
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Post by thejanitor on Feb 26, 2020 14:07:39 GMT
Yes, I'm a little disappointed we won't get to read about post-'81 (I would personally be really interested in Bobby's reflections on the Carl Wayne era) but nevertheless, I'm positive we'll get plenty of great new stories and tidbits from this book about the group in their 60s/70s heyday we don't know about already.
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Post by cameron on Feb 29, 2020 19:38:18 GMT
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Post by cameron on Mar 10, 2020 16:26:48 GMT
Allegedly Bobby will be appearing on GMTV tomorrow (11th March) to promote his book
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Post by cameron on Mar 13, 2020 1:27:40 GMT
Another TV appearance from Bobby, with some great but brief archive footage from 1993:
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