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Post by anthony on Jun 29, 2019 0:05:14 GMT
What are your expectations for the Hollies right now. a lot of discussions I seem to have is What do you really expect from this band being a 60's band. I think maybe we as the more keen and devoted fans expect more. Maybe I'm going to easy on them in saying they are doing Ok, what's your problem. Maybe its me that's got it wrong. I would like to here your thoughts on what they need to do, what's going wrong if anything etc. Hope I get a few replies, you can be honest. I do really enjoy hearing other view points,
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Jun 29, 2019 7:00:48 GMT
Far, far too late to change anything now, should just gently fade away and leave us with our long time memories... Graham Nash is in concert in 2 weeks just 4 miles from where I live and while I love his music I just don't fancy it somehow... But Allan's new upcoming album will be greatly welcome then i'm sure that will be it, but hey, we've all had a bloody good run haven't we...?
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Post by distantlight on Jun 29, 2019 8:17:47 GMT
For me - as pointed out in the other thread - it is keeping most of the essence that made the music special alive. I find it is not enough to just play the songs competent and make no mistakes.
I know a lot of people don't care for this but I don't like it when 60s/70s musicians suddenly use very modern instruments that on the one hand don't look the part and on the other hand just sound too smooth and perfect. The charm of the old recordings was that not everything sounded perfect. Now the Hollies play their shows like it would be expected from a new pro band and not some cool Rock'n'Roll loving boys from Manchester. I know they aren't young anymore but trying to be too smooth and perfect doesn't do the trick for me. Distant Light is my favourite album also because it sounds a bit muddy and dirty - there's no dirt in this current line up. I think Paul McCartney and the Rolling STones are good examples of bands/acts who really keep a lot of the old spirit that made them great alive. I mean the Stones still sound a lot like their 60s selves - not a lot of perfection but a raw love for music and playing. Paul McCartney still plays his Höfner bass and all the band uses cool guitars that fit the style. So that for me is a big point.
We also had the setlist issue - when I would go to a concert I of course would love to hear some deep cuts but I understand that there's not much time for it. But also there - the Stones and Paul also play some obscure songs. And (especially in the case of Paul) they also write new material and so have a current creative edge without trying to be modern (although Paul fell for some traps, too).
But the biggest issue is the lead singing - if Allan still had his voice and would be with them, it would make up for so much. But a different voice is always very difficult and with Howarth they have someone very reliable and professional but as mentioned a lot of times before not someone who (to my ears) has an exceptional and exciting voice. It is a safe choice - Clarke compares to Howarth like say "Distant Light" compares to "5317704". Although they have two original members the way they do it is a bit more like a very professional cover band than a cool surviving 60s band. I mean there is still a kinda strong 60s/mod cult circle of younger people around and they still go to concerts by people like Derv Gordon (of the Equals who currently tours with a youngish garage band) or The Sonics (although they now also lost two key members) but they wouldn't go to see the Hollies. Because the current Hollies don't aim at the people who still like to see sweaty real bands playing in small clubs - they aim at people mostly going to one bigger show a year or seeing cover bands playing at the local 400 people club. So they just have a very different angle to their approach and that unfortunately doesn't interest me personally enough to go - as much as I love the Hollies and Tony and Bobby.
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Post by knut on Jun 29, 2019 17:42:28 GMT
I am really looking forward to the next tour of Norway and I will see all four concerts. I do not expect any major changes to the set list. I am confident that they will get a standing ovation at all shows and that most of the audience will go home feeling that they have had a good time. I hope that the upcoming Allan album will be good and the we get the Rarities vol 2 album soon.
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Post by anthony on Jun 29, 2019 21:38:58 GMT
Far, far too late to change anything now, should just gently fade away and leave us with our long time memories... Graham Nash is in concert in 2 weeks just 4 miles from where I live and while I love his music I just don't fancy it somehow... But Allan's new upcoming album will be greatly welcome then i'm sure that will be it, but hey, we've all had a bloody good run haven't we...? you are spot on re having a good run. I think one f the reasons I hold onto this line up because when they pull the plug its then gone forever. Thanks for your comments Tony.
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Post by anthony on Jun 29, 2019 21:53:31 GMT
For me - as pointed out in the other thread - it is keeping most of the essence that made the music special alive. I find it is not enough to just play the songs competent and make no mistakes. I know a lot of people don't care for this but I don't like it when 60s/70s musicians suddenly use very modern instruments that on the one hand don't look the part and on the other hand just sound too smooth and perfect. The charm of the old recordings was that not everything sounded perfect. Now the Hollies play their shows like it would be expected from a new pro band and not some cool Rock'n'Roll loving boys from Manchester. I know they aren't young anymore but trying to be too smooth and perfect doesn't do the trick for me. Distant Light is my favourite album also because it sounds a bit muddy and dirty - there's no dirt in this current line up. I think Paul McCartney and the Rolling STones are good examples of bands/acts who really keep a lot of the old spirit that made them great alive. I mean the Stones still sound a lot like their 60s selves - not a lot of perfection but a raw love for music and playing. Paul McCartney still plays his Höfner bass and all the band uses cool guitars that fit the style. So that for me is a big point. We also had the setlist issue - when I would go to a concert I of course would love to hear some deep cuts but I understand that there's not much time for it. But also there - the Stones and Paul also play some obscure songs. And (especially in the case of Paul) they also write new material and so have a current creative edge without trying to be modern (although Paul fell for some traps, too). But the biggest issue is the lead singing - if Allan still had his voice and would be with them, it would make up for so much. But a different voice is always very difficult and with Howarth they have someone very reliable and professional but as mentioned a lot of times before not someone who (to my ears) has an exceptional and exciting voice. It is a safe choice - Clarke compares to Howarth like say "Distant Light" compares to "5317704". Although they have two original members the way they do it is a bit more like a very professional cover band than a cool surviving 60s band. I mean there is still a kinda strong 60s/mod cult circle of younger people around and they still go to concerts by people like Derv Gordon (of the Equals who currently tours with a youngish garage band) or The Sonics (although they now also lost two key members) but they wouldn't go to see the Hollies. Because the current Hollies don't aim at the people who still like to see sweaty real bands playing in small clubs - they aim at people mostly going to one bigger show a year or seeing cover bands playing at the local 400 people club. So they just have a very different angle to their approach and that unfortunately doesn't interest me personally enough to go - as much as I love the Hollies and Tony and Bobby. I have to agree with you re changing songs to update them, they do on a carousel, not over keen on the start of the number but I love the end when Tony and Steve seem to have a guitar play off, its brilliant. The set list could have a few changes in it agree, would love to see the end of Yes I will. They do a newer song Weakness that goes down really well. they pop in a few newer songs on their sets list like Love the one your with also. Not great on the terms cover band, most bands that have gone any length of time have had multiple personal changers. Look at Fleetwood Mac, ACDC, Queen, Stones and the list goes on. The Hollies are only gonna appeal to the oldies market now really, Believe me shows don't always go to plain, think it was Birmingham last year when they had technical problems with Ian Parkers equipment.
Great comments from you, many thanks.
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Post by anthony on Jun 29, 2019 21:57:20 GMT
I am really looking forward to the next tour of Norway and I will see all four concerts. I do not expect any major changes to the set list. I am confident that they will get a standing ovation at all shows and that most of the audience will go home feeling that they have had a good time. I hope that the upcoming Allan album will be good and the we get the Rarities vol 2 album soon. I'm sure its gonna be great in Norway following the Hollies on Tour. In the end the Hollies give a great professional show and give the audience what they want, plenty of wonderful music memories. Yes Allan's album will be interesting, I'm thinking is his voice will be like it was on No Rules.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2019 6:34:59 GMT
I'd like to see them commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Hollies' most successful album ('Hollies Sing Dylan') by including a few songs from it in their setlist. Also, would love to see the return of 'Tiger Feet'.
Additionally, it would be nice if they invited Allan &/or Graham as occasional special guests, but I know that is very unlikely!
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Post by eric on Jun 30, 2019 8:09:40 GMT
I'd like to see them commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Hollies' most successful album ('Hollies Sing Dylan') by including a few songs from it in their setlist. This is a great suggestion Peter. The “Hollies Sing Dylan” (HSD) album was also a big seller in Australia and several of its tracks received strong airplay on local radio at the time. I remember “The Times They Are A Changing” as receiving regular airplay; it was very exciting driving around in my old Morris Minor hearing it being played on my transistor radio! No streaming in those days! Their 1970 Aussie set list included a number of songs from this album and they closed both their 1970 and 1975 concerts here with “Blowin’ In The Wind”. In 1970, they also played “You Ain’t Going Nowhere”, which did not feature on the HSD album. Wouldn’t it be incredible if there was a recording of this song in the vault and we could all hear it? As a point of interest, I have found over the many years since HSD was released, that HSD is probably the one Hollies album that is remembered most by non-diehard fans of The Hollies. Most couldn’t name another Hollies album.
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Post by anthony on Jul 1, 2019 6:04:12 GMT
I'd like to see them commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Hollies' most successful album ('Hollies Sing Dylan') by including a few songs from it in their setlist. Also, would love to see the return of 'Tiger Feet'. Additionally, it would be nice if they invited Allan &/or Graham as occasional special guests, but I know that is very unlikely! Great idea, I know a few years ago on a Stones tour, could have been a 50th anniversary they brought back Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor to paly on a few songs, thought that was great. Like the idea of Tiger Feet, that would put the spot light on Ray and get the place rockin. Thanks Peterc, great ideas
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Post by eric on Jul 1, 2019 10:47:00 GMT
I'd like to see them commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Hollies' most successful album ('Hollies Sing Dylan') by including a few songs from it in their setlist. Also, would love to see the return of 'Tiger Feet'. Like the idea of Tiger Feet, that would put the spot light on Ray and get the place rockin. Thanks Peterc, great ideas
They could do a version of Buddy Holly’s “Oh Boy”, a number 1 hit for Mud and a song that could have featured on their “Buddy Holly” album.
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Post by cameron on Jul 2, 2019 0:02:30 GMT
I think you have to accept that no band can go on forever with an unchanged lineup, and the Hollies surely go down in history for giving it a damn good try with Clarke/Hicks/Elliott. But now with a new lead singer and free from the constraints of what Allan could physically still sing back in the 1990s and perhaps what he wanted to sing, I wish they'd delve more into that amazing back catalogue. People go and see them year in year out to be presented with a setlist that has survived in tact more or less for nearly 15 years! I don't think many die-hard fans would moan so much about Peter Howarth if he was up there singing songs that the Hollies never attempted live with Allan Clarke. It would add a whole new dimension to the live show. I feel that's a real missed opportunity.
I'd also like them to find a new high harmony singer to bring that powerful soaring harmony back to their sound that Graham Nash, Terry Sylvester and Alan Coates all so well maintained, despite having different sounding voices. I think with the vocal balance restored, it would take the heat off Peter Howarth to keep it all together. Allan Clarke always leaned on Graham/Terry vocally. It seems to me that Peter is out on his own as the very much solo front man. Tony's lower vocals have always naturally been quiet in the mix, and he seems to be concentrating so hard on his intricate guitar parts sometimes that he's not really thinking about singing, which you can forgive him for.
On the plus side, Ian Parker seems to bring the best keyboard accompaniment that they've ever had. Far more subtle than Pete Wingfield and some of the players they had in the 1970s, and he's even got quite technical recently with dropping in the original solos for 'Carrie Anne' and 'King Midas' from the original session tapes, which is a nice touch. Ray Stiles is a very agile bass player, far more akin to Eric Haydock than Bernie Calvert. And how can we not mention Tony Hicks finally letting his hair down and enjoying some guitar solos, which by far are the highlights for me. I could listen to him play all day. And Bobby too seems to have his mojo back in recent years. From their point of view, the deterioration of Allan Clarke's vocals and the ensuing lacklustre response from the audience must have been quite demoralising for them. The big tragedy in all this is Allan losing his voice, but he really pushed himself hard back in the day and didn't have a careful vocal technique and admits to never warming his voice up. It was destined to happen, unfortunately. But I have high hopes for his new material and the voice really can recover well.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 20, 2019 15:20:26 GMT
I'd like to see them commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Hollies' most successful album ('Hollies Sing Dylan') by including a few songs from it in their setlist. Also, would love to see the return of 'Tiger Feet'. Additionally, it would be nice if they invited Allan &/or Graham as occasional special guests, but I know that is very unlikely! Great idea, I know a few years ago on a Stones tour, could have been a 50th anniversary they brought back Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor to paly on a few songs, thought that was great. Like the idea of Tiger Feet, that would put the spot light on Ray and get the place rockin. Thanks Peterc, great ideas
The Dylan album was a jinx. After that, their LP sales went down in the UK. It's like the people who bought it regretted it, and frankly I don't blame them. It's a hard album to listen to all the way through.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2019 16:06:35 GMT
It is the ONLY post-Nash Hollies album that I regularly listen to all the way through, with mostly superb re-interpretations of Dylan's demo-like originals. Having said that, I do prefer Julie Driscoll's 'Wheels On Fire', The Tremeloes' 'I Shall Be Released' and Cher's 'All I Really Want To Do'.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 20, 2019 17:22:26 GMT
It is the ONLY post-Nash Hollies album that I regularly listen to all the way through, with mostly superb re-interpretations of Dylan's demo-like originals. Having said that, I do prefer Julie Driscoll's 'Wheels On Fire', The Tremeloes' 'I Shall Be Released' and Cher's 'All I Really Want To Do'. [br [br If you're such a Nash-era fan, that is peculiar, since the Dylan album was one of the reasons Nash left the band. He hated the project. The album did serious damage to their album credibility, at least in the UK. Conversely, US Epic kept the album in print for years afterwards, despite the fact that it didn't even make the Top 200 album chart in 1969.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 20, 2019 17:48:07 GMT
Expectations? I imagine them going on and on in their mediocre fashion. As long as people buy tickets, Tony and Bobby have nothing to lose; nothing, that is, except their reputation of quality.
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Post by knut on Jul 20, 2019 17:53:12 GMT
Moorlock you are really Trump in the Hollies camp.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2019 17:55:14 GMT
I don't give a damn whether or not Nash liked the project. I, and many, many others, love it, though I suspect it would've sounded even better if he had stuck around.
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Post by anthony on Jul 20, 2019 22:54:38 GMT
Moorlock you are really Trump in the Hollies camp. thanks Knut, its always very easy to knock. Forget the joy this group brings people, destroying its reputation, what rubbish. they should be thanked for keeping the Hollies name and songs still alive. Some here just want the Hollies to be remembered by a few diehard fans. Enjoy the next shows you see Knut, so much more enjoyable than sitting at home watching some old videos of the group from the early 70's. Life is about living the now not just the past.
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jul 21, 2019 10:24:06 GMT
A lot of people like Trump. Guess why that's why they voted him in as president.
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Post by anthony on Jul 21, 2019 13:50:52 GMT
A lot of people like Trump. Guess why that's why they voted him in as president. a very negative person, hey Trump could join up here and fit in very well, he may even hate this line up of the Hollies. Everyone including Trump is loved by someone. The odd person here may even like me, I would imagine a lot here would love to see the back of me. At times I wonder why I bother.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 21, 2019 15:38:16 GMT
For me - as pointed out in the other thread - it is keeping most of the essence that made the music special alive. I find it is not enough to just play the songs competent and make no mistakes. I know a lot of people don't care for this but I don't like it when 60s/70s musicians suddenly use very modern instruments that on the one hand don't look the part and on the other hand just sound too smooth and perfect. The charm of the old recordings was that not everything sounded perfect. Now the Hollies play their shows like it would be expected from a new pro band and not some cool Rock'n'Roll loving boys from Manchester. I know they aren't young anymore but trying to be too smooth and perfect doesn't do the trick for me. Distant Light is my favourite album also because it sounds a bit muddy and dirty - there's no dirt in this current line up. I think Paul McCartney and the Rolling STones are good examples of bands/acts who really keep a lot of the old spirit that made them great alive. I mean the Stones still sound a lot like their 60s selves - not a lot of perfection but a raw love for music and playing. Paul McCartney still plays his Höfner bass and all the band uses cool guitars that fit the style. So that for me is a big point. We also had the setlist issue - when I would go to a concert I of course would love to hear some deep cuts but I understand that there's not much time for it. But also there - the Stones and Paul also play some obscure songs. And (especially in the case of Paul) they also write new material and so have a current creative edge without trying to be modern (although Paul fell for some traps, too). But the biggest issue is the lead singing - if Allan still had his voice and would be with them, it would make up for so much. But a different voice is always very difficult and with Howarth they have someone very reliable and professional but as mentioned a lot of times before not someone who (to my ears) has an exceptional and exciting voice. It is a safe choice - Clarke compares to Howarth like say "Distant Light" compares to "5317704". Although they have two original members the way they do it is a bit more like a very professional cover band than a cool surviving 60s band. I mean there is still a kinda strong 60s/mod cult circle of younger people around and they still go to concerts by people like Derv Gordon (of the Equals who currently tours with a youngish garage band) or The Sonics (although they now also lost two key members) but they wouldn't go to see the Hollies. Because the current Hollies don't aim at the people who still like to see sweaty real bands playing in small clubs - they aim at people mostly going to one bigger show a year or seeing cover bands playing at the local 400 people club. So they just have a very different angle to their approach and that unfortunately doesn't interest me personally enough to go - as much as I love the Hollies and Tony and Bobby. "The biggest issue is the lead singing". Exactly.
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Post by anthony on Jul 21, 2019 22:38:01 GMT
Am I right in thinking this is the longest serving line up without any change to its personal, must be getting close to 15 years. If that's the case, amazing to think that a lot of so called better line up's haven't lasted the time, maybe to many egos, from what I have seen this group gets on really well together.
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timbo
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Post by timbo on Jul 26, 2019 8:36:35 GMT
The current line up is like a high class tribute act, but folk can still get to see Tony and Bobby. It doesn't remotely compare with the lineups of the Nash or Sylvester era's, but it's still fine entertainment and if Tony & Bobby want to carry on, and the public still want to see them, then good luck to them.
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Post by anthony on Jul 27, 2019 23:03:39 GMT
The current line up is like a high class tribute act, but folk can still get to see Tony and Bobby. It doesn't remotely compare with the lineups of the Nash or Sylvester era's, but it's still fine entertainment and if Tony & Bobby want to carry on, and the public still want to see them, then good luck to them. Hi Timbo, I think it would be very hard to find many groups with two members lasting over 50 years. Like your balanced view,
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