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Post by irelandcalling4 on Jun 30, 2018 18:28:44 GMT
Clarkey, one of THE great pop/rock voices and an integral part of that wonderful Hollies sound. I've heard only a very small number of his solo recordings but I would like to rectify that. This forum is always a goldmine of Hollies info, anecdotes and facts. Since discovering them really in 2013, I have every Hollies album to 1983 (not yet fully delved into 5317704 or Buddy Holly); the three multi CD sets covering 1963-1988 (with many terrific non album material), Radio Fun, a pair of Hits albums, but its not enough! Lol I need more (the Furmanek helmed rarities collections mentioned recently sound like a dream) - so the Clarke solo albums (8 in all?) are definitely something I'd like to get into. The aficionados here who post such great information, if I may ask your thoughts in those 8 albums please - best songs, best album, thoughts on his solo work creatively and commercially (any of the 8 good sellers at the time?). Were the albums critical successes? I look forward to delving into this part of Allan's career  |
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Post by cameron on Jul 1, 2018 12:12:24 GMT
To me, Allan's two best solo LPs are "Headroom" (1973) and "Legendary Heroes" (1980). "Headroom" is an absolutely STUNNING production. Think of it as "Distant Light Part 2", it shows you where Allan was heading, had he stayed with the Hollies. All the tracks are quite lengthy, with a very prog rock sound. It has a very similar spacey etherial feeling as "Distant Light". "Legendary Heroes" is just full of great songs with a great production again. I wish the Hollies had just recorded that instead of the "Buddy Holly" LP. The lead track "Slipstream" should have been a huge hit.
"Allan Clarke" (1974) is another strong solo LP, but full of other people's material. The track "Slideshow" on this LP was his biggest solo hit. "My Real Name Is 'Arold" (1972) is okay, it sounds to me like he had quite a lot of tracks composed that the Hollies didn't want, so put them on this album as his first solo effort. It's not a cohesive sounding album, with a bit of a mixed bag of tracks. "I've Got Time" (1976) and "I Wasn't Born Yesterday" (1978) are my two least favourites, relying heavily on outside writers. It seems both Allan and the Hollies lacked confidence in their songwriting around this period. I actually really like "Reasons To Believe" (Germany only, 1990), despite the slightly dated sounding production. It's great to hear some late Hollies-related material, done much better than 99% of the Hollies' synth-laden sporadic 1980s output.
All of Allan's solo material is available on CD, except, inexplicably, for "My Real Name Is 'Arold". You need the original LP to hear that one.
Regarding your Hollies collection, the "30th Anniversary Collection" is well worth buying, with Ron Furmanek's remixes of all but two pre-1980s tracks. Also, if you see it cheaply, "The Long Road Home" 6-CD boxset. That gets you "Hollies Live Hits (1976)" which hasn't been issued elsewhere officially yet, but also the only fully authorised band biography in the form of a beautiful book with many rare photos and a full sessionography. Apart from that, you have everything by the Hollies on CD.
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Post by allanangel on Jul 1, 2018 14:40:49 GMT
If you couldn't tell by my username, ha ha, I am a huge fan!!! To me, Allan is the ABSOLUTE BEST EVER. Here are my thoughts on his solo albums:
I agree with Cameron. Headroom is stunning. Also amazing, brilliant and perfect. Mostly his own material, the songs are brilliant and heartfelt.
My absolute favourite is I Look In Your Eyes. I listen to that song over and over again every day. Can't get enough.
His version of Would You Believe is perfection. The Hollies should have listened to him and recorded it that way in the first place. It is more rock, hard edge, heartfelt, less pop.
People Of That Kind shows his empathy and compassion. He really feels things so deeply, too deeply at times for his own good.
Fishin' is just plain rockin' fun!
"Who" is like a warm blanket on a winter's day. Again, he feels so deeply.
Self titled Allan Clarke is really good. What keeps it from being great is that there are no songs written by Allan on it. Can't Get On is good rockin' fun.
The backing for I'll Be Home is brilliant!
I Wanna Sail Into Your Life is one of my favourites. Good hard edge to it.
Sideshow is just great.
Send Me Some Lovin' is enough to make any female fan go into meltdown.
From "I've Got Time" I love Halelujah Freedom, Sunrise and Living in Love. Again, this is a really good album that could have been great with more of Allan's songs.
I Wasn't Born Yesterday is brilliant in that it has all his own songs, but has an overall feeling of sadness around it. Absolutely amazing music, but leaves you feeling like you want to give him a big hug.
Legendary Heroes, wow! All but one song are his own. The Survivor is breathtaking and totally speaks to me. Slipstream should have been a huge hit.
I am still searching for My Real Name is 'Arold. Amazon U.K. seller wouldn't ship it here, darn it!
The only complaint I have about his music is that there never seems to be enough! I'm greedy and want more!
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Post by cameron on Jul 1, 2018 18:17:25 GMT
I am still searching for My Real Name is 'Arold. Amazon U.K. seller wouldn't ship it here, darn it! The only complaint I have about his music is that there never seems to be enough! I'm greedy and want more! "My Real Name Is 'Arold" has never been issued on CD officially. I'm going to do a vinyl-rip of my virtually unplayed copy and put it on YouTube once my turntable is back from the repairers. Have you got "Reasons To Believe" yet? It was issued on CD when it was released (1990) in Germany, and it is not too difficult to get hold of. |
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Jul 1, 2018 18:33:23 GMT
Re My real name is 'arold.....
hope this helps....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoIITa04yuM&list=PL0E0E4709054B7BD3
My favourite Clarkey album is 'I've got time' with the stunning ballad 'If you walked away'
Although I love them all to bits I do think his weakest was 'Reasons to believe'
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Post by allanangel on Jul 1, 2018 18:34:52 GMT
I am still searching for My Real Name is 'Arold. Amazon U.K. seller wouldn't ship it here, darn it! The only complaint I have about his music is that there never seems to be enough! I'm greedy and want more! "My Real Name Is 'Arold" has never been issued on CD officially. I'm going to do a vinyl-rip of my virtually unplayed copy and put it on YouTube once my turntable is back from the repairers. Have you got "Reasons To Believe" yet? It was issued on CD when it was released (1990) in Germany, and it is not too difficult to get hold of. That would be awesome, thank you, Cameron!!! I found a used copy of "Arold on Amazon U.K., but the seller wouldn't ship vinyl across the pond. I was extremely disappointed, to say the least. So close and yet so far. I don't have Reasons To Believe yet. I haven't been able to find an ad for the cd. It is so much harder to find anything Allan or Hollies here in Canada. The ads for the most well known are on Amazon.ca, but the shipping can take quite a while. I waited well over a month for the Clarke, Hicks and Nash years compilation cd. Well worth the wait, but still had to wait. I waited quite a while for my It's All Over Town dvd to be sent from England and for my Hollies in London Live dvd to be sent from France. It is hit and miss as to who will ship and who won't.  Anyone feel like putting I Look In Your Eyes on YouTube? I would be eternally grateful. |
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Post by allanangel on Jul 1, 2018 18:46:35 GMT
Re My real name is 'arold..... hope this helps....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoIITa04yuM&list=PL0E0E4709054B7BD3 My favourite Clarkey album is 'I've got time' with the stunning ballad 'If you walked away' Although I love them all to bits I do think his weakest was 'Reasons to believe' Darn, your link doesn't work for me. Great song. I don't know one song by Allan that doesn't touch the soul. He puts everything into the music. Everything is well worth buying. |
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jul 2, 2018 5:24:01 GMT
Did you try a cut and paste that worked for me.
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jul 2, 2018 5:25:19 GMT
Harold was put out by Magic Records in France. Guess you could say it is not official but maybe Magic got approval from RCA or whoever the label was in France.
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Jul 2, 2018 5:52:23 GMT
Click on the YouTube in bottom right and corner then whilst playing 'Ruby' click on 'play all' to the right and you get the full album.......
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Post by gee on Jul 2, 2018 10:12:24 GMT
Clarkey's solo career is like The Hollies a case of;
Great BUT could have been so much more !
he first 'walked' from the band in late 1971 in a move which shocked everyone - and in truth his exit unlike Nash's was not planned at all
unknown at the time to most Nash had both CSN waiting ...and a record deal with Ahmet Ertegan and Atlantic records set up !
where as Clarkey had NO record deal, NO producer, NO backup band....clever move eh ?
RCA Victor's UK division gave him a 'one off' deal, while some top UK musicians such as Gary Brooker, Herbie Flowers, Alan Parker, Eric Dillon, Tony Newman etc...plus fine guitarist/songwriter Ray Glynn all came to assist Allan through sheer respect and liking for him !
'Arold' saw him emerging from the waters into a new identity, effectively as the solo Beatles then recently had done undergoing a 're-birth' as a solo artist - hence the cover pics - and was a fine mix of electric rockers, reflective acoustic numbers, a county toon, and in general a less 'poppish' image and style
mostly it featured Clarke-Glynn originals plus a few covers like Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan of Stealers Wheel songs
maybe the choice of 'You're Losing Me' was wrong as single tho' - 'Ruby' would have been a wiser choice I think as it might have grabbed the wider public's attention far more with it's driving guitars and powering Clarke vocal being a rockin track as LCW had been...
if there was a drawback it was like the then solo Beatles were doing re their 'Beatle' within, plus Nash also re his own 'Hollie' Clarkey was firmly repressing the 'Hollie' within him allowing few vocal harmonies more just his own backup vocals, and keeping it all very 'modern singer/songwriter' in approach over anything more commercial sounding but then he was holding back a key part of himself
whatever 'Arold' drew alot of critical respect, even admiration for his daring to venture away from such a top band as The Hollies and 'do his own thing'...but it picked up only moderate sales and failed to chart as did the single which sadly pointed the way ahead for Allan as a soloist
1973 saw EMI re-sign Allan presumably after he'd worked with them on 'Hollies Greatest Vol 2' the previous year, and 'Headroom' was a superb follow up album with Allan far more confident, tho' he was unlucky when Dobie Gray scored with 'Drift Away' when I think Allan's version was better - he revisited his 1967 song 'Would You Believe' choosing to re-angle it away from the 'Spector-ish' production he wanted back then...to a more rock style but notably minus three part vocal harmonies
for me - and maybe Allan in retrospect - the following two albums full of covers while fine were lacking in his own songs, and he has admitted he should have put a few on both sets - maybe Roger Cook over dominated him in 1974 but his self titled AC album whilst enjoyable seemed to go in alot of very differing directions which whilst his fans would have appreciated his versatility the general public and music critics seemed to be confused by it all...tellingly that album was deleted by EMI in less than a year
EMI incredibly just sat on his stand alone single cover of 'Born To Run', as they had been slow re 'Drift Away' and once more Allan missed out, as also re his great cover of 'Blinded By The Light' as Manfred Mann's Earthband then scored a massive hit with it...
1976 'I've Got Time' his third and final EMI solo album was another interesting but very multi directional set of covers, nothing poor but again beyond his fanbase probably a bit confusing for many certainly one leading UK music paper reviewer who felt Allan was 'trying to leap onto too many stools at once' tho' he stated AC was a very fine singer of course - the 'Finale' fiasco closing track ought to have been replaced by his magnificent stab at the earlier single only 'Born To Run' that for me easily outdid Springsteen !
maybe tellingly this time the barely promoted single 'Living in Love' was more 'Hollies-ish'
sadly Clarke and Ray Glynn drifted away - apt - after the 1974 album maybe due to lack of any original songs (?)
later teaming up with Gary Benson AC returned to solo album work with original songs on 'I Wasn't Born Yesterday' in 1978 which was more of an Americanised rocker sound that suited him well, 'Shadow In The Street' gave him a welcome USA chart single and the approach was followed up well in 1980 on 'The Only One' / 'Legendary Heroes' which saw some superb original songs such as 'Survivor', 'Walls', and the great 'Slipstream' (The Hollies should have done a few of those with Nash on 'What Goes Around' later in 1983)
Gary Benson's 'Sanctuary' would later be cut by The Hollies tho' left unissued for years, while Pete Ham's 'Baby Blue' was covered really well by Allan
never doing a solo tour, or appearing much as a soloist obviously played a major part in AC's solo career always being something of a (apt) 'sideshow' to his Hollies work as he always seemed to think the albums or the occasional stand alone single would suffice
his 'Reasons To Believe' album for Polydor Germany in the later 90's saw Alan Coates playng guitar, singing high harmony and penning some numbers for him on a set of fine songs that whilst a bit dated production wise with too many keyboards and programming nevertheless was a strong effort worthy of a full UK and USA release...
a few non album tracks such as; 'Coward By Name', 'Why Don't You Call', 'Castles in The Air' , 'Someone Else Will', and 'Without Love' plus his great guest lead vocal on 'Breakdown' for Alan Parsons Project on album 'I, Robot' in 1977 are fine numbers too
I got the impression Clarkey was not quite certain which direction to go in as a solo artist, being fine at so many differing musical styles, but for me clearly 'Headroom', then 'I Wasn't Born Yesterday' and 'The Only One' / 'Legendary Heroes' were the stronger approach best suited to him as a soloist
plus later on Allan's solo career despite his 'real' stabs at it in 1971-73 then briefly again in 1978 largely seemed to be more of a 'hobby' to him, something he did in his spare time when not on 'Hollie duties' etc
- while equally it is noticeable that The Hollies only a few times ever ventured into AC's solo career territory, which seems strange but may be significant ?
a few decent CD sets cover the three EMI albums plus his Aura Anthology whilst his first and to date last solo albums are a bit harder to locate now, tho' vinyl copies of 'Arold' can be found
Great that Allan is recording again after so long....
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Post by allanangel on Jul 3, 2018 14:29:27 GMT
Did you try a cut and paste that worked for me. Thank you! |
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Post by irelandcalling4 on Jul 7, 2018 12:14:23 GMT
Thank you so much all for such a wealth of information! This forum is a true goldmine; the Hollies are not written about or mythologised like the Beatles and finding information besides the banner wikipedia-like stuff on them is hard. Here though its like info direct from the source. I wonder sometimes are the band posting here under psuedonyms, such is the knowledge wealth on display Cheers all! |
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Post by knut on Jul 7, 2018 15:15:19 GMT
Many of the contributors here know more about the band's releases than the group members.
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Post by allanangel on Jul 8, 2018 21:01:20 GMT
Many, many thanks to DistantLight who sent me a link to a Canadian seller of My Real Name Is 'Arold. I have ordered that album.
I also found a Canadian seller on that site who has a copy of Reasons To Believe cd. I have ordered that, too.
Hollies fans are the greatest! I am so glad I found this forum!
Whooo-hooo!!! More Allan!!!!!
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Post by distantlight on Jul 8, 2018 21:17:14 GMT
You're welcome allanangel! Hope you like the record. My favourite Clarke solo record is actually I Wasn't Born Yesterday - he has written the best songs of his solo career for it... with Legendary Heroes coming second. I never really got into Headroom. Definitely have to give it another spin.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2018 4:47:28 GMT
Talking of Allan solo, that so called "fanclub" bootleg video that surfaced a while back (which included the full 1973 "In Concert", "Julie Felix Show", etc) lists this mysterious item:
SUPERSTARS OF ROCK (1972)
1.Ruby
Can anyone who has this confirm what this is exactly, is it a TV appearance or a promotional video? Better still, can you put it on youtube?
I've been researching Allan's solo TV appearances, and he doesn't seem to have done much at all to promote his solo work. Below is a list of all I've found details of so far (NOTE, not all of these still survive):
Early 1974 – Promo Video: Sideshow
23-05-74 – ‘45’ (UK): Sideshow
01-06-74 – ‘Top Pop’ (Holland): Sideshow
00-00-78 – Promo Video: I Wasn’t Born Yesterday
08-06-78 – ‘Dinah!’ (USA): He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother / I Wasn’t Born Yesterday (This appearance is unconfirmed)
24-06-80 – ‘Plattenküche’ (Germany): Slipstream
00-00-00 – Unknown TV Show #1 / Promo Video (Germany?): Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) – Et Cetera featuring Allan Clarke
00-00-00 – Unknown TV Show #2 (Germany): Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) – Et Cetera featuring Allan Clarke
00-00-00 – Unknown TV Show #3 (USA): Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) – Et Cetera featuring Allan Clarke
00-00-00 – Unknown TV Show #4 (Germany?): Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) – Et Cetera featuring Allan Clarke (Uncut “raw” footage, featuring 2 complete takes)
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Post by allanangel on Jul 9, 2018 17:41:15 GMT
The Julie Felix show video of the Hollies singing Going To The Zoo is absolutely hilarious!!!!
It is too bad that not all of those tv appearance videos have been released. I've seen a few of the Et Cetera videos with Allan playing with them. He still rocked those leather pants!!!!
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Post by allanangel on Jul 25, 2018 16:09:06 GMT
I finally received My Real Name Is 'Arold and Reasons to Believe that I ordered a couple of weeks ago.
I am thrilled with the condition that both are in. The sellers didn't misrepresent. Both are in very good condition.
The music.....wow....just, wow! How is he not a household name??? Boggles the mind. His music should be all over the radio. I really do not understand this. Classic rock stations are playing a lot of garbage compared to what Allan put out.
My solo Allan collection is complete. For now. Still waiting and hoping for a new cd.
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Post by gee on Aug 7, 2018 17:28:20 GMT
that 1974 performance of Sideshow
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Post by gee on Aug 7, 2018 17:35:19 GMT
and the original clip - thanks to Tony Wilkinson
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Post by gee on Aug 7, 2018 17:37:55 GMT
plus a nice Euro TOPPOP TV show Hollies Daddy Don't Mind
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Post by gee on Aug 7, 2018 17:56:55 GMT
and the rare unissued Hard To Forget from 1986 on 'Nightline' TV show - thanks to Anthony Strelly
the song performance begins at approx 5 mins 24 secs into the posting
the Lady presenter / interviewer is awful !
the song is very typical 80's with often needless over dominant keyboards interjecting, while (for me) the bridge section sounds as if it's a completely different song interrupting any 'flow' of the number, yet the tight Clarke-Hicks-Coates chorus harmonies and some snatches of guitar suggest a decent song was somewhere in there if only a proper arrangement not attempting to be so 'mega trendy' could have been put together keeping the song more direct and less so (excuse bad pun) Forgettably 80's !!!
the vocals are fine, Hicks and Coates guitars are great, Bobby's drumming is spot on, but any chance of a memorable song seems to be over crowded out by keyboards, production, and the arrangement making it's title all the more ironic...
besides critical opinions on the song why it never appeared as a single remains a latter day Hollies mystery though there was a rumour EMI wern't happy for some reason !
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2018 18:00:53 GMT
Re: Sideshow, the first performance posted (featuring the white suit) is the original promo video, while the more interesting 2nd performance is Dutch TV's 'Top Pop'.
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Post by gee on Aug 7, 2018 18:20:40 GMT
Here is Stand By Me - which charted in Germany
the posting early on has shades of both 'On A Carousel' and 'Magic Woman Touch' films !
tho' to be honest a straight film of the band performance minus all the visual 'clever bits' would have done for me...
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