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Post by stuball on Jan 25, 2020 17:18:08 GMT
All this talk about the relative value of different versions (and eras) of The Hollies' long and seemingly endless career, got me to thinking: when did your own personal Hollies worship (perhaps addiction might be a better term) peak?
Having broached the subject, perhaps it's only fair I go first. My period of absolute 'everything Hollies' was from about 1968 through to about 1975. Prior to that I liked individual songs by the group, but was not a collector of all things Hollies. After '75, I still bought a lot of their current product, and was still a big fan, but the Hollies became only one of several competing interests that took up my free time.
But during that '68-'75 peak, I don't think a day went by when the group did not enter my thoughts. Always searching for their records, playing Hollies records constantly, searching out magazine articles and clipping them out, hoping for a tour, etc. Just plain thinking about the group constantly. To say the group constantly monopolized my thoughts might be an overstatement, but it wasn't far wrong!
And after that high period, it's not that I lost interest, but along with the declining popularity of the group, there was less and less news and perhaps more critically, fewer and fewer releases. Plus I was maturing, and with that came responsibilities and new challenges. And to be honest, fewer and fewer people about, with whom I could share my addiction.
Until I went online and eventually found this website, I lived in my own little 'Hollies World'. And with precious few people to share it with! Of course, that's all in the past now, whereas today, we can all come together to share our addiction. But I'll always look back on that early 'late-60's-early-70's' period as the absolute height of my Hollie-madness!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2020 17:51:22 GMT
Today!
Seriously, I'm as enthusiastic now about most of the Nash era recordings as I've ever been.
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Post by baz on Jan 25, 2020 18:39:46 GMT
Good question. For me, it would be 1986 to 1990 my early to mid teens, a very good time to be getting into The Hollies as their Polydor albums were fairly easy to pick up cheaply. Funnily enough the one single I kept finding copies of was "Son Of A Rotten Gambler" which didn't surprise me as I didn't like that one! There was BGO reissuing the 60's albums as well and then of course came 1988 and "Heavy" getting to number one, the "All The Hits" and "Rarities" compilations. Couldn't get enough of 'em. "Find Me A Family" came and went and I was waiting for a new album. Little could I had guessed how long that wait would last... as that nor any new singles failed to appear until it was a bit too late as my interest waned but I've never stopped enjoying the 60's records. I've said it elsewhere in these pages that they made a huge mistake in 1989/1990 failing to capitalise on the new interest and listeners they gained in 1988, but... there we go.
I did keep the faith to the degree I did buy "Staying Power"... then sold it on shortly afterwards! I've no interest in what they're doing now,just content enough with what they did between 1963 and 1981 which keeps on giving me a great amount of pleasure.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2020 19:05:49 GMT
"Find Me A Family" came and went and I was waiting for a new album. Little could I had guessed how long that wait would last... as that nor any new singles failed to appear until it was a bit too late as my interest waned but I've never stopped enjoying the 60's records. I've said it elsewhere in these pages that they made a huge mistake in 1989/1990 failing to capitalise on the new interest and listeners they gained in 1988, but... there we go. I do wonder who's fault that is. Certainly Allan was still keen to write and record new material, as witnessed by his 1990 album. Did he offer these songs to Tony and Bobby, only to find they weren't interested? Or was he more interested in re-launching his solo career off the back of the No. 1 Hollies hit? |
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Post by cameron on Jan 25, 2020 20:57:10 GMT
From my prospective, I came along long after the Hollies' peak. I probably got into them around 2008/2009 when I was consciously trying to expand my music taste. The nice thing about collecting music retrospectively rather than living through it at the time (not that I'd not give my right arm to have been there at the time!) is that you can look at an artist's back catalogue as a whole body of work and be objective about it. For example, a lot of people overlook the Rolling Stones' 'Between The Buttons', because at the time it was slightly out of sync with the rest of the world and the Stones themselves dismissed it straight away. Fans who were there at the time forget about it, because that's what most people did when it was released, but looking at it objectively, it's one of their best and most consistent albums of the 1960s. At least starting to explore the music of the 1960s almost 50 years on gave me the advantage to see an artist's body of work objectively, not marred by opinions and the rapid changing pace of the 1960s to those who were there and could so easily let things pass them by.
Logically and factually, the Hollies offered a bigger, more extensive and more varied body of work than any of their contemporaries from their heyday in the 1960s. I generally start at the beginning and work through an artists' catalogue until I've exhausted it. I've still not picked apart the Hollies' albums and singles post-1977 to the point where I know them inside out like their early work. There's enough to sustain me elsewhere in their catalogue. I've not reached that saturation point yet with the Hollies of being bored of their music. To a degree, that's happened with just about everyone else. There's only really the Beatles and the Kinks that have the same hold for me.
Not a day goes by where the Hollies' music isn't on my mind, or on my record player. Even the hits, which we've all heard to death, still shine out in their magnificence to me. Just last night I found myself struck by the charm of the alternative version of 'Yes I Will', which I've always favoured over the original single. The tight harmonies, the pleading vocal line, Bobby's energetic drum fills... the whole thing still jumping out to me as being something special and worth carefully listening to, when I must have heard it at least a million times already! THAT to me is what makes the Hollies my favourite, I'm still struck by their brilliance and reminded of it regularly.
In terms of 'Holliemania', once the only new releases to look forward to became all greatest hits packages, I lost a bit of interest. The last truly exciting thing for me was the 'Clarke Hicks & Nash Years' in 2011 and the 'Look Through Any Window' DVD a while later. I have all their LPs now and a few worldwide variations that offer alternative mixes, artwork or a better pressing quality. I don't consciously collect their singles, nor CDs, there's an awful lot of gaps in my collection. I collect their cassettes and 8-tracks as we have both players in some of our classic cars. I've never grabbed tour guides, magazines or newspaper clippings. Any new material that the current line up puts out doesn't really interest me either. I might buy a magazine if it's new and I know there's a new interview in it - but there hasn't been one of those since 'Shindig!' in 2009!! For me, it's just all about the music. I have far too many other hobbies demanding my time/money to make obsessing over buying anything with 'the Hollies' written on it a priority for me personally.
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Post by anthony on Jan 25, 2020 22:02:53 GMT
Great topic Stuball. I've had two times when the Hollies have peaked for me. early to mid 70's, it's when I got into the Hollies, Too young to be married was a big number 1 and was played all the time on the radio, often they would cut out Tony's solo. I got a Hollies greatest hits and loved the music, they were going to tour early 1975 and I asked a mate did he want to go and he did, saw the show, I remember Tony nodding his head up and down playing that Too Young To Be Married solo, plus I remember them playing Blown in the wind and Bobs drum solo and Let it be all like they happened yesterday, The group was in the papers, on TV and radio, it was magical. I use to go the second hand record stores and buy all these old Hollies albums, it was all new to me. Early 76 another tour off I went again.
Then thanks to living in Oz you would hear nothing hollies till you heard on the radio Hollies to tour, hey days of no internet back then, I didn't even know they were still going.
fast forward to the 2000's hey got a computer, wow I joined myspace (I think it was called) found out you could join groups of people that were Hollies fans, it was the Carl Wayne era. saw them in Melbourne 2001, then booked to see a couple of concerts in the UK 2002 but Carl got sick and that tour was cancelled, sadly Carl passed away. Enter Peter Howarth. Booked to see two concerts in the UK 2011, had a great time saw different parts of the UK. Then my greatest Hollies moment,2013, went back to see three concerts, booked tickets for Liverpool, sat next to an English couple, they said your Anthony from Australia, saw me on facebook, started having a good chat, then after the show they invited me to the pub, Knut was also at the pub and in walked Bob and Peter, had a great chat with both, really nice guys. Here am I talking to Bob in the pub surrounded with wonderful group of Hollies fans, doesn't get any better. Saw the Hollies again in 2018 on their UK tour, chattered with members, Bobby was always happy to have a chat, he has an amazing memory. Funny after the last concert of the 2018 tour in Harrogate I was talking to Bob again at the pub and he suggested that I have tea at Bettys tea rooms, said it can be hard to get into, well next morning took his advice. Had tea and cake. Big mention to Ian Parker too, you couldn't meet a nicer person. To be honest these chats may have only been 5 or so minutes, but to a big fan they seemed to go on forever.
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jan 25, 2020 23:00:57 GMT
For me it would be the period between Would You Believe & Another Night.
Always liked the Hollies from day dot but was an album purchaser not a 45 purchaser (the reason I never had any money as a young guy). First LP was For Certain Because (because a friend had just bought it and we listened to it at his place). Loved it and I immediately went backwards and got all the earlier ones. Pretty easy to do as they only had a couple at LPs at that stage except I had to import the first two LPs as they were no longer available in Australia. Then purchased each LP upon release.
I have always been mainly an LP collector but in the 70s got into trading and importing as many 45s and EPs that I could. Those trading days in the 70s & 80s day were a lot of fun.
There are bits of everyones comments that fit with my Hollies obsession. I'm a bit like Cam as I didn't get into all the memoribillia like printed material, tour books or even videos etc.
Anthony the reason for the guitar edit in TYTBM was that the OZ 45 in mono had it edited out making it a better time fit for radio. FM radio changed all that. Doubt you will ever hear the edited one these days. I do have a stereo version of the 45 edit that I think was going to be used on a Raven Record rarities but that LP didn't make it as EMI did their own one. The Raven one was definitely going to be vastly different to the EMI one.
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Post by kingmidasinrever5e on Jan 26, 2020 3:39:21 GMT
Hello stuball,
Hi everyone I'm new here and I think this is an interesting topic. I'm about to be 29 next month but I'm a Hollies' fan (not so long ago, really) since I was 23. First of all, as a 'millenial' girl, I've been a former "Beatle-maniac" but for unknown reasons I stopped collecting everything Beatles by now. One day I stepped out to find a copy of "The Piper at The Gates Of Dawn" by Pink Floyd and don't know why but it did it when I listened to that album I suddenly were out of the Beatle cloud LOL I remember exploring some new PF & older Syd Barrett stuff when I came across the Gilmour/Nash connection I couldn't believe it! i hadn't no idea who Graham Nash was but I thought THIS if Gilmour have invited him to join doing backing vocals in "On an Island" then the guy must have done something incredibly good. So i've started looking for everything - Nash LOL and then I was instantly into Hollie-mania. I'm into this, collecting everything Hollies all of the time It's so insane xd, I needed to find a copy of Evolution bc It was LOVE at first sound what a beautiful appealing joyous pop sound! However it's been very difficult to get Hollies vinyls, mags and even CDs maybe bc They weren't so popular in my country such other 60s bands as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and even... The Monkees. so I guess that, NOW is my peak, and, that's it, hope it lasts. to me is the most pure and magical 'addiction', i could ever had. LOL
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jan 26, 2020 4:31:16 GMT
kingmidasinrever5e what country are you in/from?
Good to see in the responses there are young people out there sharing the same passion I had for the band maybe about 50 years ago. I am still a fan.
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Post by kingmidasinrever5e on Jan 26, 2020 5:48:15 GMT
Hi dirtyfaz, I'm from Mexico. It is a bit strange, since - even southern countries as Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Chile etc did release The Hollies' early discography (back in the 60s when Graham was in) while in Mex.Capitol recordsj only released random EP's with mainly the US 'hits' like. "Look Through Any Window", "Bus Stop", "On a Carousel", "Sorry Suzanne", "He Ain't Heavy" until the famous "Long Cool Woman"which became a HUGE hit here, so Capitol started releasing their albums unfortunately) the last on that label before they switch to Polydor aw, but apparently nothing c came m more popular than “Long Cool Woman"after its release, so there are plenty r records,cds of their greatest hits all around but nothingfrom their studio albums
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Post by dirtyfaz on Jan 26, 2020 8:34:57 GMT
I do have a couple of Mexican EPs. You would know best but I am guessing Mexico wasn't a country that was a record market. I assume very small.
If you don't have, I would recommend the 3 multi CD sets that cover almost all the Hollies career from 1963 to 1988. That covers almost all of their recording history. Ebay would be a good starting point to try to get these as a lot of sellers give free postage. Vinyl is more difficult to get and can become very expensive.
Good luck with your collecting.
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Jan 26, 2020 8:39:55 GMT
Hi dirtyfaz, I'm from Mexico. It is a bit strange, since - even southern countries as Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Chile etc did release The Hollies' early discography (back in the 60s when Graham was in) while in Mex.Capitol recordsj only released random EP's with mainly the US 'hits' like. "Look Through Any Window", "Bus Stop", "On a Carousel", "Sorry Suzanne", "He Ain't Heavy" until the famous "Long Cool Woman"which became a HUGE hit here, so Capitol started releasing their albums unfortunately) the last on that label before they switch to Polydor aw, but apparently nothing c came m more popular than “Long Cool Woman"after its release, so there are plenty r records,cds of their greatest hits all around but nothingfrom their studio albums Happy exploring...... Take a look at www.facebook.com/groups/386151471428653/ www.facebook.com/groups/335394863294983/ |
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Post by moorlock2003 on Feb 1, 2020 22:01:22 GMT
UK? Your guess is as good as mine. US? That's easy; 1972.
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poco
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Post by poco on Feb 2, 2020 4:21:10 GMT
Moorlock Man, Yes it was late October 1972. I remember hearing "Long Dark Road" in front of McDonald's on Thomaston Avenue around 9PM with my buddies. We were all on leave from the service.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Feb 5, 2020 21:45:34 GMT
Moorlock Man, Yes it was late October 1972. I remember hearing "Long Dark Road" in front of McDonald's on Thomaston Avenue around 9PM with my buddies. We were all on leave from the service. That's ironic, poco man, since my first job out of high school was at McDonald's and I remember my dad driving me to work one day while "Long Dark Road" was on KHJ AM (the biggest radio station here at the time). My dad also drove me to The Hollies concert on Nov. 22, 1972. Thanks dad (the best thing he ever did for me. Ha!) |
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poco
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Post by poco on Feb 5, 2020 22:10:16 GMT
"Long Dark Road" Large with a medium Coke. LOL
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Post by moorlock2003 on Feb 5, 2020 23:44:15 GMT
Hi dirtyfaz, I'm from Mexico. It is a bit strange, since - even southern countries as Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Chile etc did release The Hollies' early discography (back in the 60s when Graham was in) while in Mex.Capitol recordsj only released random EP's with mainly the US 'hits' like. "Look Through Any Window", "Bus Stop", "On a Carousel", "Sorry Suzanne", "He Ain't Heavy" until the famous "Long Cool Woman"which became a HUGE hit here, so Capitol started releasing their albums unfortunately) the last on that label before they switch to Polydor aw, but apparently nothing c came m more popular than “Long Cool Woman"after its release, so there are plenty r records,cds of their greatest hits all around but nothingfrom their studio albums Hello Kingmidas in Mexico! I have some Mexican pressings on Capitol; the "Dear Eloise" EP, Hey Willy, Long Dark Road. Also Mexican Polydor "Romany" EP and LP. |
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Post by endric on Mar 30, 2020 21:25:16 GMT
Hi everybody, I'd like to introduce myself as Hollies addict from The Netherlands. When I was about nine years old I saw a group named The Hollies singing a song called Carrie Anne on Dutch tv in '68 and I immediately became hooked because I loved the vocal harmonies on that song. There and then I decided that they would be my favourite band, knocking Dave Berry of the throne. In the mean time we migrated to Perth, Australia where I completely forgot about The Hollies due to all the new impressions I was making. But around 1970/71 my parents went and bought our very first record player. They also had a folder with about twenty record titels to go with it and we could choose in turn every month a record from that folder. There just happened to be one pop/rock record in it and that was amazingly enough a record from The Hollies (The Hollies 1965). That's the one I wanted and got (my parents paid). And I was struck once again,jumping up and down on the couch with a tennis racket as guitar in my hand, loving this great record. The next time round we didn't have to choose from that folder (luckily) and to my parents dismay I saw Confessions of the Mind in the store and just had to buy it because I knew it would be a great record and it was, again! After this we had to pay for our own records but when I saw Distant Light a year later, all of my birthday money was well spent and year after year I was gladdend by a new Hollies release. Just about every album of theirs had at least few absolute great songs. Especialy the ballads I loved. A couple albums I found,unfotunately, difficult to like; Russian Roulette, 5317704 and Buddy Holly. But the others enriched my life. While my friends in the 70s were listening to, for me boring, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, etc. I was getting high on music that always was interresting, had great melodies, always varied and beautifully played and produced. Thanks for letting me share this with people that understand.
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