The Hollies Finest

[cameron]

Back in 2007, EMI put out 'Hollies Finest', a 44 track "alternative Best-of", which came along at just the right time for me personally. I was just discovering the Hollies, and I was finding it difficult to obtain anything other than greatest hits packages on CD. It was the same songs over and over, but thanks to this compilation, it turned me onto 'For Certain Because...', 'Evolution' and 'Butterfly' and the track 'To Do With Love' grabbed me so instantly that I rushed out and found 'Distant Light' to get perhaps the most pleasant surprise of my life with such a fine album. It spring-boarded my discovery of their amazing back catalogue, and I'm glad that some of these "deep cuts" are finding their way onto subsequent hits packages now. 

There packaging is great, the first of their attempts to re-create some of the 1960s LP styles with the cover, there' some brief but great liner notes from Bobby, nice photo selections and above all, a great selection of tracks. I wonder who chose them? Anyway, if you had 50 tracks to play with, what would your personal "Hollies Finest" moments be? Mine would be as follows: 

Disc One: 
1. Stay
2. Rockin' Robin
3. Just One Look
4. What Kind Of Boy
5. We're Through
6. You Know He Did
7. Yes I Will [Alternative Arrangement]
8. Honey And Wine
9. Look Through Any Window
10. So Lonely
11. Don't You Even Care (What's Gonna Happen To Me?)
12. I Can't Let Go
13. I Am A Rock
14. Don't Run And Hide
15. Bus Stop
16. Suspicious Look In Your Eyes
17. Pay You Back With Interest
18. Tell Me To My Face
19. When Your Light's Turned On
20. Then The Heartaches Begin
21. Heading For A Fall
22. Carrie Anne
23. Dear Eloise
24. Step Inside
25. Open Up Your Eyes

Disc Two: 
1. Man With No Expression (Horses Through A Rainstorm)
2. Listen To Me
3. Just Like A Woman
4. 'Cos You Like To Love Me
5. Please Let Me Please
6. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
7. I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top
8. Gasoline Alley Bred
9. Look What We've Got
10. To Do With Love
11. Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)
12. Touch
13. I Had A Dream
14. The Last Wind
15. Tip Of The Iceberg
16. The Air That I Breathe
17. Don't Let Me Down
18. Give Me Time
19. I'm Down
20. Star
21. Say It Ain't So Jo
22. Take My Love And Run
23. If The Lights Go Out
24. So Damn Beautiful 
25. Then, Now and Always 

[baz]

This may sound strange, but this is the first time I've ever heard of this "Finest" compilation! Unfortunately, no surprise as by then most record stores were closed down and it was only on visits to Manchester that I'd see great CD's that had recently been released, so this "Finest" one definitely slipped me by.

As for my own 50 tracks, that would change almost daily and 95% of the contents would span 1963 to 1974. Lots of gems on B sides and albums. Lately I've mainly been listening to "Butterfly" (my fave album) and "Distant Light".

[cameron]

Hollies finest is one of my favourite Hollies compilations. There's a nice balance of the hits that everyone knows and the B-sides and album tracks that blend seamlessly in terms of their quality

www.discogs.com/The-Hollies-Finest/release/2480249

[Deleted]

Similarly to you Cameron, the '80s 'Not The Hits Again' LP came at just the right time for me. Mostly featuring songs from their first 4 albums (+ the occasional oddity like 'Honey and Wine'), this was the first time I'd really discovered material outside the usual hits. Not long after this I bought 'Evolution' and 'For Certain Because', and within a couple of years I'd invested in every album from the Nash era + the 'Dylan' album.

As for my "finest"? Not quite sure, but it would include almost the entire 'Evolution' (perhaps omitting 'Lullaby For Tim'), as well as their gorgeous version of 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' and the similarly-arranged 'Dandelion Wine'.

[thejanitor]

I love making up these kind of compilation lists, but I'm gonna have to take some time to think of my choices and ordering and post again. I will say of album tracks and other non-hits I'd like to include, Mr. Moonlight, Oriental Sadness, Take Your Time, Then The Heartaches Begin, You Need Love, Would You Believe, Wings, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, Survival of The Fittest, Confessions of A Mind and Transatlantic Westbound Jet I think would be good selections.

[eric]

Cameron, you have compiled an excellent 50 song playlist for us all!

I was very pleased to see you include “Honey and Wine” in your list as it has been a lifetime favourite of mine, as have two of your other selections “Don’t You Even Care (What’s Gonna Happen To Me)” and “When Your Light’s Turned On”.

When I bought the “I’m Alive” EP in 1965 and heard H&W for the very first time it was like – WOW – what a band! It was such a powerful group performance which cried out; this band is no light weight vocal group. They had a tough edge about them which I really liked and admired at the time and, not surprisingly, I still do.

To me, “Don’t You Even Care (What’s Gonna Happen To Me” is a definitive Hollies performance. It is an outstanding group effort; one where each band member shines.

“When Your Light’s Turned On” is a standout track on the “Evolution” LP. It is another powerful group performance with super lead vocals from Nash and Clarke, brilliant group harmonies and soaring guitar throughout from Hicks. An absolute gem of a song!

I know some people have found fault with these songs but as it is said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and to me, they sound fantastic.

[cameron]

Thanks Eric, it was really hard sticking to just 50 songs and not just filling it with the hits. I was picking the songs that I remember really jumping out at me when I first heard them. 'What Kind of Boy', 'Honey And Wine', 'Don't Run And Hide' etc... were all quite a departure from the beat-boom norm during the era that they were released. They have a quality to them and a production value that most other groups could only dream of touching. Whereas the vast majority of British Invasion clearly dates from 1963-65 when you hear it, a lot of these early Hollies tunes have aged extremely well. I especially like the alternative arrangement of 'Yes I Will'. To me, Tony's jangly guitar on the original single version and Bobby's intro dates that track firmly to the British Invasion era with it's echoey beat boom sound, but I felt like their remake, which first appears on the 1968 'Hollies Greatest' LP by mistake, was a much slicker, much more powerful arrangement that could have been recorded as late as 1967. Why this version wasn't the single, I'll never know.

[albatros]

It's a good thing that not everyone has the same taste when it comes to their favorite songs and LPs of the Hollies. My favorite LPs are in the following order:

Another Night
Distant light
Out On The Road
For Certain Because

Hollies song pearls:

Man Without A Heart - the part of the orchestra is just great
I`m A Rock - There is no better version than that of the Hollies, according to Paul Simon
A Little Thing Like Love - that would have been a great successor to LCW
Do To With Love - a great song that catches the eye immediately - a hit song
Don`t Let Me Down - the sequel to The Air That I Breath a favorite song of the Brazilians
If The Lights Go Out - Version with Terry and Mike Batt 1979 - that would have been a hit in 1979
I Can`t Lie No More - also a Mike Batt song - great title - a hit song.
Second hand hang ups - one of my favorites - great orchestra

Unfortunately, the Hollies often had an unhappy hand when they released Singles 7 “- especially after the great hit - The Air That I Breath. After The Air - Sandy or I'm Down - that would have been hits. Son Of A Rotton Gambler was a total wrong decision - we say in Germany - a miscarriage. After that, the Hollies never got off their feet, especially in England.

[knut]

Very good choices, Albatros. I love Write on, Writing on the wall, So lonely, I am a rock, Stewball, Survival of the fittest, Russian roulette.