The Hollies material on his album, ‘Write On’, ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘A Crazy Steal’ all have excellent moments and Allan Clarke’s voice certainly has that AOR sound we all know and love.
Written by: Eric
ARTIST: The Hollies
ALBUM: Another Night
LABEL: Epic
SERIAL: PE 33387
YEAR: 1975
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Allan Clarke – vocals * Terry Sylvester – guitars, vocals * Tony Hicks – guitars, keyboards, vocals * Bernie Calvert – bass, keyboards * Bobby Elliott – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Another Night * 02 4th Of July, Astbury Park * 03 Lonely Hobo Lullabye * 04 Second Hand Hangups * 05 Time Machine Jive * 06 I’m Down * 07 Look Out Johnny * 08 Give Me Time * 09 You Gave Me Life (With That Look In Your Eyes) * 10 Lucy
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
For the history of The Hollies we need to go way back to 1963. Yes, a very long time ago but keep in mind The Hollies were one of the first British Invasion bands and arguably the most successful, only to be outdone by The Beatles.
Formed by childhood friends Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, The Hollies released a clutch of superb singles including ‘Bus Stop’, ‘On A Carousel’ and ‘Carrie-Anne’ to name a few, all with the trademark vocal harmonies that separated the band from other bands of the day.
Eventually Graham Nash would leave the fold finding fame and fortune with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young leaving Clarke as the main vocalist. By 1972, Clarke would leave the band and his timing couldn’t have been worse as The Hollies scored their biggest US hit with ‘Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)’ just after his departure.
Carrying on with Swedish vocalist Mikael Rikfors, the band released the excellent ‘Romany’ album, but Clarke returned a year later giving The Hollies another hit, the majestic ‘The Air That I Breathe’. Unfortunately, this song would be the last Hollies hit, but the band carried on throughout the 70’s, releasing fine albums and are still going strong today.
The Songs
‘Another Night’ is an album that most music fans passed on in 1975 which is a shame. I suppose The Hollies were seen as old and out of fashion but the truth is, they were trying new things and were in lock step with changing radio formats and the coming AOR movement.
In fact, The Hollies were one of the first bands to use material from the then up and coming New Jersey songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It’s well known that Allan Clarke recorded a demo of Springsteen’s ‘Blinded By The Light’ two years before Manfred Mann’s Earth Band had a hit with the same song.
Of course that song never made it to a Hollies album, but on ‘Another Night’ we have a cover of Springsteen’s ‘4th of July, Asbury Park’ which works, but lacks the grittiness of the original version which is not surprising since we are talking about The Hollies!
The rest of the material is classic Hollies. The title track should have been a hit single with its steady beat and catchy chorus while ‘You Gave Me Life (With That Look in Your Eyes)’ is a mid-tempo blues styled number with of all things, a sitar solo! There are a couple weaker tracks to be found on the album, but overall this is a good rock record and one of The Hollies best in a catalog of excellent music.
In Summary
I am an unabashed Hollies fan so its always surprised me how their late 70’s work has gone unnoticed among many in the AOR fraternity. This album, ‘Write On’, ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘A Crazy Steal’ all have excellent moments and Allan Clarke’s voice certainly has that AOR sound we all know and love. What are you waiting for?
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
