A Look at the Hollies

I seem to be getting more and more excited about the Hollies. Therefore I decided to watch a DVD called Look Through Any Window 1963–1975. I got this DVD years ago but noticed that I never actually watched it from beginning to end with all the interviews and stuff. This is part of the British Invasion series, although this one wasn't shown on TV at least in Finland.

The DVD is a nice cross-section of the Hollies style and TV live performances from the early days of channeling the Everly Brothers to their last major hits such as Long Cool Woman and The Air That I Breathe in the 70s. Some of the most interesting footage includes Clarke, Hicks and Nash doing three-part harmonies in the studio, apparently captured by George Martin's film crew.

Clarke, Hicks, Nash and Elliott give wonderful interviews in which they describe the joy, creativity and innovativeness of the Hollies, and how fantastic songs they wrote and realized in the studio and live. The self-praise is clearly justified. The Hollies wrote songs for instance about memorable events (Stop Stop Stop), women they adored (Carrie Anne), and sometimes beautiful words would just magically appear out of nowhere (Wings). In the arrangement section the Hollies were always trying to come up with something different, otherwise they would have gotten bored. The guys didn't even regard material such as King Midas in Reverse as “pop” which reflects the ambition of pushing the boundaries of their music.

The guys also give a rather positive impression on Nash's sad departure from the band in late 1968 and how the change after all turned out for the best for everybody. Nash found his place among Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Hollies continued their streak of hits (including no less than the overwhelming beauty of He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, 1969) with Terry Sylvester replacing Nash.

All in all, a very nice DVD, even though many of the songs aren't actually played live. The guys do look like they are having fun (even though the following video is of more serious character).

Staying with the Hollies

My fondness for the Hollies seems to develop in stages. I started by listening to a greatest hits collection many years ago and later moved on to some whole albums. The current situation involves a rather comprehensive view of the Hollies' early years.

It wasn't quite yesterday but when I heard about a new Hollies box set Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years (The Complete Hollies April 1963 - October 1968) I just had to get it. The box contains probably every song recorded during this time period, also conveniently including rarities released throughout the years on different compilations. Despite being very compact the box set includes nearly 160 songs and there are not all that many misses. I have been listening to this set for months and there are still lots of songs that deserve more attention.

“The Beatles were the first through the door and they opened up the door for us and every other band to run through” (Graham Nash in an interview for the box set)

There is no big mystery behind the Hollies concept. Like many others, Clarke, Hicks and Nash had done their homework on American rock & roll and soon they were “selling [the music] back to the Americans as the British invasion”. The Hollies wrote many of their hit singles and stood out from the rest with their merrily sounding unique three-part harmony. The presence of the happiest vocal trio of all time often added with Allan Clarke's lead vocals makes for something really special. And as we know, the Hollies were also very skilled musicians in other areas than singing.

There is a very strong r & b presence especially in the earlier material. Little by little the blues seems to subside giving room to other kinds of nuances, including experimentations on different arrangements and orchestrations, and psychedelia. In any case the songwriting trio was amazingly prolific right from the start, even though “there was never any time put aside purely to write songs” as Nash states in the same interview. That is just incredible.

Most often I find myself listening to the first couple of CD's because they are generally the most energetic ones, radiating both primitive energy and good cheer. Moving on to the other CD's, there are always surprises and many interesting things to hear, and music on Stay with the Hollies (1964) is definitely different from the music on Butterfly (1967). This kind of a complete chronological set is great exactly because you can notice the overall high quality of the work: the Hollies weren't just a singles band but put a lot of effort to all of their songs. There must be a reason to why record companies don't release similar complete sets from all bands!

Awesome Bubble-Beat by “Dave Dee, Dozy & What-Was-It-Again?”

Here is my latest 60s favorite: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, a British band that existed from 1964 to 1972. My first contact to this band occurred when I was record shopping on the Internet and a best of CD by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (later referred to as DDDBMT) was recommended to me. I read reviews and decided to order the CD – it hardly cost anything. When I got the CD it ended up in my CD shelf and I never really came around to listen to it. I probably listened to a couple of songs, thought “sounds weird” and decided to put it away and listen to it some time later. Strangely, this is what happens to quite many CDs I purchase...

Not very many years later I decided to give DDDBMT another chance. I remembered hearing Hold Tight! in Tarantino's Death Proof and that the song was really one of the nicest things in the movie. In fact, I also have a friend who was interested in this band long before me but it didn't result in anything further – until about a month ago. I simply decided to give The Very Best of DDDBMT a try and put it in my mp3 player. I listened to it and instantly enjoyed it a lot. When I had listened to the whole CD (18 songs) several times I noticed it wasn't just any 60s band. It was a fun, happy-sounding, creative and talented band that never seemed to be afraid of trying different styles, sophisticated instrumentation, big vocal harmonies and big sounds, and most importantly, never afraid (or incapable) to perform amazingly catchy songs.

DDDBMT was a group of friends from Wiltshire, originally called Dave Dee and the Bostons. The band started working with songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, changed the name, and it didn't take too long for the boys to score million-selling hit singles, including The Legend of Xanadu.

Musically DDDBMT are closer to bubblegum than beat music – two concepts that of course have a lot in common (therefore the title “Bubble-Beat”). As a result, one could argue that there were also some bubblegum aspects about the Searchers and the Hollies but an even better comparison to DDDBMT would be the Monkees, or, in my opinion, why not a band like Gary Lewis & the Playboys. By the way, why do vocalists from all of the British bands mentioned sound just like each other? I really enjoy all of them, of course...

The really important part is that DDDMBT performed some first-class catchy pop that always makes my day. When I think about the melodic complexity of the chorus of Wreck of the Antoinette (and the harmonies..), or the gorgeous feel of Snake in the Grass, Okay!, You Make It Move, Don Juan (not to mention the awesome sunshine pop of Last Night in Soho!) I can't help thinking to myself: this is how it's really done – do the same if you can, I dare you!

All in all, I had no choice but to order myself some more stuff by DDDBMT. Gee, I never get tired of happy 60s pop... I want more! The good news is, there is plenty of stuff to choose from.

Coolest 60s Summer Music – Part 2

The Hollies: Evolution (1967)

They made so many albums in the sixties, and I’m finding it hard just to stop listening to Just One Look on repeat.. It’s quite hard to say yet which album I like best. Evolution is very good. Water on the Brain, Have You Ever Loved Somebody?, and You Need Love are some of the songs I tend to listen to the most at the moment. When Your Light’s Turned On, to me, sounds like a typical example of power pop before power pop.

The Association: Just The Right Sound - The Association Anthology

Enjoyable, sophisticated sunshine/baroque pop (It’s quite difficult to tell what it really is – it’s probably both most of the time) from a band who worked a lot with Curt Boettcher as their producer. This music certainly has some Beach Boys vibes in its harmonies. This is a huge 2CD collection, I still have a lot more to listen.

The Byrds: The Sweetheart of Rodeo (1968)

This is a very, very nice country album. It has great sounds, great songs, peacefulness and lots of melancholy. I always enjoy listening to this. In a way, it’s a bit hard to believe this is The Byrds, the same band that performed songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better because the stuff sounds so different.. But it’s awesome that they decided to do some country, too.

The Turtles: 20 Greatest Hits

Pop, or should I say folk-pop from a cool American band with nice harmonies, energy, and awesome songs like Happy Together and Love in the City. However, You Baby is the ultimate hit song on this CD. Glorious falsetto wailing is something I can’t live without – at least for long.

Tommy James & The Shondells: Anthology

The new last.fm is not as good as the old one in some ways but the new recommendations function is brilliant! The recommendations are already starting to control my life.. There are so many great bands recommended that checking them out is really keeping me busy. I’m generally a very slow music listener (I listen to everything a hundred times before I think I can say I’m familiar with the music), but I really want to hear new stuff all the time, so it’s quite tough to keep up with all good music.

Tommy James & The Shondells is one of the nicest new things I’ve found through last.fm. The songs are awesome, and I Think We’re Alone Now is a wonderful song (I had only heard the Rubinoos version before). Timeless music, stuff you never get tired of listening to.

Help! British Invasion Has Invaded Me!

It’s summer – what would be a better way to spend it than listening to awesome 60s pop? British Invasion is hot stuff (Beatles and DC5 are pretty good bands..), but this invasion isn’t really limited to just British music. This is an American Invasion, too, and maybe a bit Australian. My latest passion #1: The Hollies.

I found The Hollies three years ago. I listened to their stuff a bit and noticed they had some excellent pop tunes and harmonies. Also, I noticed they had one amazing lead singer, Allan Clarke. The result was utter bliss and happiness. The hype subsided after some time but I think it’s about to start again..

I can’t help it. I love nasal male pop singers – their voices, I mean.. But I guess you just can’t help loving the person a bit, too, for having such a great voice. Unfortunately, representatives of this wonderful talent seem to be very few and far between. Or maybe I’ve just missed all the best nasal singers somehow. If this is true, I really hope someone will tell me where they (and their recordings) are..

On the other hand, there might be a huge number of nasal male singers right behind the corner. I’ve even found some already – there really seem to be quite a few Japanese male singers with nasal voices! But but.. Whether they sing pop music or not is another thing.

The Hollies have lots of brilliant tunes: I’m Alive, Here I Go Again, On a Carousel, Bus Stop, Just One Look, Would You Believe, Look Through Any Window, Stay, Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress). The Air That I Breathe is one of the most heavenly tunes ever, and He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother is beautiful. So good, so amazing stuff.. I have to have some more right now!

The Hollies Website