The sound of the crowd (The Human League) (LP 4386)

The Human League  Dare   (Vinyl, Virgin Records, 1981) ****  

Genre: Synth pop 

Places I remember: Jacky's record collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Things That Dreams Are made Of

Gear costume: Don't You Want Me, Seconds

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: I can remember three records Jacky had when I met her in 1983: The War of the Worlds, a Duran Duran album and The Human League's Dare.

It was hard to avoid The Human League in the early eighties. Their singles were all over the radio: The Sound of the Crowd; Love Action; Open Your Heart; and the megahit - Don't You Want Me. 

Those radio friendly, catchy pop hits weren't really me, as such, but they were (and remain) extremely catchy, commercial pop songs.

The AllMusic critic makes a good point: The self-conscious detachment enhances the postmodern sense of emotional isolation, obsession with form over content, and love of modernity for its own sake. That's why Dare! struck a chord with listeners who didn't like synth pop or the new romantics in 1981, and why it still sounds startlingly original decades after its original release -- the technology may have dated, synths and drum machines may have become more advanced, but few have manipulated technology in such an emotionally effective way.

Where do they all belong? Dare remains the only album in my collection by The Human League. Jacky and I are still married btw.

Love in a car (The House of Love) (LP 4377 - 4385)

The House of Love  The House of Love (CD, Creation Records, 1988) ****  

The House of Love  The House of Love (CD, Fontana Records, 1990) **** 

The House of Love  The House of Love (CD, Fontana Records, 1990) ***  

The House of Love  The German Album (CD, Renascent Records, 2007) ****  

The House of Love  The John Peel Sessions 1988:1989 (CD, BBC Records, 2001) ****  

The House of Love  The House of Love (CD, Fontana Records, 1992) *****   

The House of Love  Audience with the Mind (CD, Fontana Records, 1993) ** 

The House of Love  She Paints Words In Red (CD, Cherry Red Records, 2013) **** 

The House of Love  A State of Grace (CD, Cherry Red Records, 2022) *** 

Genre: Pop-rock, indie rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Fopp, HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: You Don't Understand

Gear costume: Christine, Shine On, Beatles and the Stones, Crush Me

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The House of Love is an indie rock band from London that I love. They were formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Guy Chadwick and co-founder and lead guitarist Terry Bickers. The other members on their debut album were Chris Groothuizen - bass guitar and Pete Evans - drums.

I have no idea why, but their albums are invariably just called The House of Love, which makes their discography a tad tricky to say the least. 

The debut is great. It kicks off with Christine and the band sound is tight and focused throughout. The highlights are Guy's vocals and Terry's guitars.

Second album, the one with the butterfly on the cover, had a bit of a tortured birth - taking around 2 years to record. Nevertheless, it is another excellent set of songs. The highlights for me are Beatles and the Stones, Never, Shine On (a rerecording of their debut single), and I Don't Know Why I Love You. Sadly, Terry Bickers quit the band after this one due to all sorts of conflicts, real and imagined.

A compilation, also called The House of Love (a.k.a. The Spy in the House of Love because of the cover) came out before their third proper album.

It's made up of various B-sides and other unreleased studio tracks from the period after album 2 and before album 3 (a.k.a. Babe Rainbow). The band were in a rich vein of form as most of these songs sound as wonderful as anything on the first two albums. At the time they were rejected and it's hard to understand why when I play this album.

Creation also released a compilation of singles and B-sides called The German Album. My copy is a 2007 reissue from Renascent of the 1987 Rough Trade Germany/Creation Records release, with added tracks and different track order.

Like similar albums by The Smiths (Hatful of Hollow) and Oasis (The Masterplan) - it's a terrific collection creating an alternative House of Love mosaic.

The John Peel Sessions 1988: 1989 is yet another compilation which also presents an alternative view of the band. Like The German Album it is an excellent entry point for the band as it has great songs from their prime years. The stripped back versions of some songs like Beatles and the Stones and Christine are superb!

Simon Walker replaced Terry for the third album - also called The House of Love (but known as Babe Rainbow because of the cover). This would be his only album with The House of Love. He'd be replaced by Simon Mawby.

This is the first album I owned and as such it has a special place in my affections - hence the extra star. You Don't Understand is a mighty lead off song and the rest of the album doesn't let up the quality control. This made three stunning albums in a row!

Audience with the Mind was their fourth studio album. Finally, it had a distinguishing title! Simon Mawby had departed by this time and so Guy Chadwick performed most of the guitar parts. It shows too. The songs aren't memorable, his vocals are pretty lackadaisical and the lyrics are off! 

Not surprising then, that the band would split up after its release, until 2005 when they reunited. I don't have their first album as a new House of Love band with Terry Bickers back in the band - that was Day's Run Away in 2005.

She Paints in Red (2013) was my next album by The House of Love - their sixth studio album. It's again with Terry Bickers providing his wonderful guitar and Pete Evans still on drums. Matt Jury was the latest bassist. As they've aged, the sound has become much more mellow, which is great.

AllMusic summed up the album well: House of Love are comfortable in their skin without being complacent, sounding happy, even grateful, to be writing and playing again, winding up with a record that stands alongside their '80s and '90s work quite nicely.

The final album on my list is A State of Grace, released in 2022. Only Guy Chadwick appears from the original band. The back end of the album is more like She Paints in Red, while the first half is noisy and bleak. Weird. 

Guy's lyrics are back to Audience with the Mind level cringey at times as well, but a least he's still out there, doing it, I guess. This is an album I probably wouldn't have bought if I'd heard it first. But, then again, it could have been as good as She Paints in Red, so it was worth the effort.

Where do they all belong? I'm not a completist but I'd be keen to find their first reunion album - Day's Run Away. It has Terry Bickers on it so it could be good.

My silver lining (First Aid Kit) (LP 4376)

First Aid Kit  Stay Gold (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 2014) ****  

Genre: Indie folk, Americana 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Cedar Lane. My Silver Lining

Gear costume: The Bell

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: This is my second First Aid Kit album (their third). I was first hooked by Palomino in 2024.

Stay Gold was released in 2014, but it sounds very similar to Palomino, and is as good as that album, in my opinion. The sisters have that sibling thing where their voices gel superbly. The music is often genre blending - part country, part folk - hence the Americana tag.

There are plenty of great songs on Stay Gold. With a few more listens (I've just bought it), I'm picking it will get up to classic five-star status.

Where do they all belong? Two excellent First Aid Kit albums squared away!

Star (The Hollies) (LP 4373 - 4375)

The Hollies  Hollies Live Hits (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1977) ****  

The Hollies  The Hollies Live at the BBC (CD, BBC Records, 2018) ****  

The Hollies  Live in London (Vinyl, Immortal Records, 2013) ***  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Bus Stop (Live Hits)

Gear costume: 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (Live Hits)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Hollies Live Hits was made up of songs performed at some New Zealand shows in January 1976. My fellow Kiwis (and I) have always had a soft spot for The Hollies!

It's a terrific set, with The Hollies choosing some brilliant songs from throughout their career - they have a truly amazing catalogue of hits to draw from. The Nu Zild crowd could be a tad more enthusiastic but that's us to a tee in the seventies.

Live at the BBC is a terrific set of early, sixties, appearances on the Beeb Beeb Ceeb. The young Hollies tear into some great rock numbers like She Said Yeah with gusto!

The Hollies Live in London is from the late sixties, after Nash had left. The Dylan covers come across well but the song selection is patchy. It's 1969 so A Taste of Honey and Stewball are odd choices.

The guys are dressed in matching suits and ties. Again - guys - it's 1969!

Where do they all belong? A great way to finish. The Hollies could deliver live!

Don't give up easily (The Hollies) (LP 4362 - 4372)

The Hollies  Hollies Sing Dylan (Vinyl, Parlophone Records, 1969) ** 

The Hollies  Hollies Sing Hollies (CD, Parlophone Records, 1969) ***  

The Hollies  Confessions of the Mind (Vinyl, Parlophone Records, 1970) **** 

The Hollies  Distant Light (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1971) ***

The Hollies  Romany (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1972) ***

The Hollies  Another Night (Vinyl, Parlophone Records, 1975) *****

The Hollies  Write On (Vinyl, Parlophone Records, 1975) ****

The Hollies  A Crazy Steal (Vinyl, Parlophone Records, 1978) ***

The Hollies  Five Three One - Double Seven O Four (Vinyl, Parlophone Records, 1979) **

The Hollies  What Goes Around... (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1983) **

The Hollies  Then, Now, Always (CD, EMI Records, 2010) **

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Vinyl Countdown, HMV, Real Groovy Records, Amoeba Music.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Too Young To Be Married (Confessions of the Mind)

Gear costume: Lonely Hobo Lullabye (Another Night) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: If you thought the album name variations would cease post 1968, think again. The American/ Canadian versions again had different names and/or different track listings throughout the seventies.

Hollies Sing Dylan was renamed Words and Music by Bob Dylan in America. Bizarre. What? - did they think Americans didn't know who Dylan was?

The record itself is something of a regression back to cover songs. The style of the covers is at times weird too - a jaunty When the Ship Comes In anyone? A cabaret style Blowin' In the Wind? That said, it's not a bad album at all - just a bit of a strange one. Nash had left, so this was Terry Sylvester's first album as one of The Hollies.

Hollies Sing Hollies was a clever, re-centering title for this second album of 1969. The cover image bizarrely returns the band to a pre-psychedelic look with the matchy matchy outfits and Allan's hand is in a really awkward place. What were they thinking? Compare the cover to Crosby Stills Nash - also of 1969! 

The American version was again in a different format. This one was titled He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, to cash in the successful single, and with a different cover photo.

It's not an altogether convincing reboot for The Hollies post Nash. It still feels like they are looking for a direction to go in.

My favourite track is Marigold/ Gloria Swansong which is a folk-rock opus that works for me. They don't try too hard and the more relaxed pace suits them and Allan Clarke's distinctive voice. The lighter pop rock songs like You Love 'Cos You Like It are pleasant but this wasn't a sustainable sound as the sixties ended.

Confessions of the Mind (released bizarrely in America as Moving Finger with a different track sequence) was their tenth album. It's a return to the simpler style used at times on Butterfly/ Evolution with Tony Hicks' guitars to the fore on many tracks. The trademark harmony vocals are terrific throughout as well. Isn't it Nice is a great example of this more relaxed sound.

Distant Light saw the band in something of a holding pattern. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress was a palpable hit but the rest of the album is good without being great. It is going for a rockier approach but doesn't fully commit. For once - a great cover though.

Allan Clarke left the band briefly to launch a solo career. The album he recorded (My Real Name is 'Arold) was okay but not great so he returned to The Hollies in time for their album after Romany.

Romany instead has a new vocalist - Swedish singer Mikael Rickfors. He does an okay job, but The Hollies without Allan Clarke? Not the same distinctive Hollies sound. That said, the beefed up guitar sound is welcome, Magic Woman Touch is a good pop single, and the songs are good attempts at modern rock. It's a solid album - certainly not an embarrassment without Clarke on board.

Another Night was the second album of the new Allan Clarke era. It features all original songs apart from a superb Springsteen cover. Those original songs finally present another coherent picture of the band in the seventies. There are some top songs like the title track, I'm Down, Give Me Time and Lonely Hobo Lullabye.

Actually, it's a pretty awesome collection. AllMusic summed up the songs well as 'the group's best body of rock songs ever, almost all solidly memorable, beautifully hook-laden numbers, harmony-driven but mostly not as soft as past releases often were. And while the harmonies were impeccable, the songs they were part of usually kept a great beat or solid rocking guitar (mostly courtesy of Tony Hicks')'.

The follow up was the nearly as strong Write On. All of The Hollies distinctive tropes are on display - Tony Hicks' guitar prowess (always serves the song), tuneful songs/ melodies, Allan Clarke's distinctive lead vocal, and those Hollies harmonies. Highlights: Star; Write On; Sweet Country Calling. 

A Crazy Steal was another solid seventies album by the band - membership intact at this stage. Again, it was an album that was well received in New Zealand - we never lost our love affair with The Hollies. 

Boulder to Birmingham, a cover of the Emmylou Harris song, was a standout but the whole album had strong material by the Clarke/ Hicks/ Sylvester writing team.

The weirdly titled Five Three One - Double Seven O Four was their 19th studio album (UK's versions that is). The awkward title is the band's name upside down in digital number view (it would appear like this: hOLLIES or 5317704). Mostly terrible covers were a feature of the band throughout their career.

It's a downbeat kind of a record, aside from the poppy opening track - Say It Ain't So Jo. It sounds a little perfunctory - as if the band is going through the motions a bit. Uninspired in a word. Allan Clarke had briefly left again after A Crazy Steal, but was back again - so that may explain the mood on the album.

Another covers album came out next, in 1980. This time focusing on Buddy Holly. I've never seen it for sale anywhere and I'm not that enthusiastically inclined to find it. The band drifted apart in 1981, with Sylvester and Calvert leaving the band.

By 1983 the three remaining Hollies invited Graham Nash back for some sessions and What Goes Around... was the result. It turned into a meh album as there are no original songs by band members and the heavy synth sound lodges the album firmly into 1983. The one bright spot is their terrific cover of Stop In The Name Of Love.

The final studio album on my list is one from 2009 - 2010. By this time Allan Clarke was replaced by Peter Howarth. Bobby and Tony Hicks were still on board. Then, Now, Always is an okay pop/rock album, but, like Romany, it doesn't really sound like The Hollies.

Where do they all belong? Missing albums from the post Nash era: Out on the Road (1973) - a second album with Rickfors; Hollies (1974) - first album of Clarke's return; Russian Roulette (1976).

Next up - Live albums.

It's only make believe (The Hollies) (LP 4354 - 4361)

The Hollies Stay With The Hollies (CD, Parlophone Records, 1964) ***  

The Hollies In The Hollies Style (CD, Parlophone Records, 1964) ****  

The Hollies Reflections (Vinyl, EMI/ Regal Starline Records, 1969 originally released as Hollies 1965) ****  

The Hollies For Certain Because (Vinyl, EMI/ World Record Club Records, 1965) **** 

The Hollies Stop! Stop! Stop! (Vinyl, EMI/ Starline Records, 1967) **** 

The Hollies Pay You Back With Interest (Vinyl, Liberty Records, 1967) **** 

The Hollies Evolution (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1967) ***** 

The Hollies Butterfly (CD, Epic Records, 1967) ****

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: HMV, For the Record, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Pay You Back With Interest (For Certain Because) 

Gear costume: Dear Eloise (Butterfly)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors:For this edition, I'll concentrate on the Graham Nash years, so 1963 to1968.

 Stay With The Hollies is their debut album. As with The Beatles, the American and Canadian releases went by different names and track listings which adds to the confusion. In America this was called Here I Go Again. There are also multiple versions including either stereo or mono. As I said, in the first post on The Hollies - it's a nightmare.

Again, as per the fashion of the day, the album features covers of well-known R&B songs. Talkin' Bout You was also done by The Rolling Stones (with Jagger's menace a feature - whereas The Hollies version is squeaky clean), and Mr. Moonlight was also covered by The Beatles.

Ron Richards, an assistant to George Martin. was the producer on early Hollies' albums. In the wake of The Beatles' success, he'd visited Liverpool and seen The Hollies (actually from a short drive away in Manchester) at The Cavern. He signed them up to Parlophone - so EMI had two cracking hit makers - the fabs and The Hollies.

The essential point of differences to the fabs (and others) are the vocal sound that Clarke, Hicks, and Nash eventually made together and the original songs were slower to emerge from The Hollies. On the debut they include only one original song and that vocal blend was yet to fully emerge, but the signs were good and it was a commercial success.

In The Hollies Style, also from 1964, included some covers as well, but also had seven of the twelve songs written by the band. The vocal style had now locked in as well, so the growth in the band in ten months was tremendous. Weirdly this second album wasn't released in America at the time.

Reflections was the first album I bought with my own money in 1970. It appeared on the EMI budget label - Starline, and for decades (until just now in fact) I'd always presumed it was a compilation. But no! It was a released version of their album from 1965, then called Hollies (a.k.a. Hollies '65). The reissue was in stereo, whereas the original was in mono. To add to the confusion, it was released in America as Here! Here!

That will explain why it felt dated to me in 1970 (The Beatles Hey Jude album was also a new record - a Christmas present). When I put it on now, I am immediately transported back to my bedroom at 18 Korma Ave., in Auckland.

There were still quite a few covers on Reflections - Lawdy Miss Claudy and Fortune Teller notably, but also a number of Hollies compositions (under their Ransford pretend name). These also dated it but made it cool to me in 1970.

For Certain Because was their second album of 1966 (I don't have the first - Would You Believe?). In America it was called Stop! Stop! Stop! It also appears under the reissued title Pay You Back With Interest on the Liberty label.

 

My copy is from The World Record Club and comes in a different cover as pictured above. I do hope you're keeping up!

All these changes certainly caught me out - I bought all three albums at various times, thinking I was buying different albums!

Whatever it's called and whatever terrible sleeve design is used, the songs show a new level of depth and an interest in diversifying their sound. The folk-rock sound on some songs is welcomed, but I'm less inclined towards the big production numbers with brass and a whiff of cabaret about them. Of note is the fact that, for the first time, there are no covers on the album.

My copy of their sixth album - Evolution, also of 1967, is an American one. By a small miracle, it was also called Evolution, but the tracks were different to the UK version (of course they were).

Although there were no hits on this album (Carrie Anne was only released as a single in America), only original Hollies songs on this one too.  

It's a terrific album from start to finish with a unity or purpose that had alluded them to this point.

Staying in 1967, the follow up, Butterfly, was the last to have Graham Nash on it, and he left on a high (pardon the pun). In the US and Canada, Epic Records released an alternate version of the album as Dear Eloise / King Midas in Reverse , featuring a different track selection/order and alternate artwork. So - no change there, then.

Where do they all belong? I'm not really a completist for The Hollies - I don't want to collect all the variations out there, but I am missing one key record from this period: Would You Believe? (1966) a.k.a. Bus Stop as it was called overseas. Next up - the Terry Sylvester years.

Here I go again (The Hollies) (LP 4348 - 4353)

The Hollies  The Hollies at Abbey Road 1963 to 1966 (CD, EMI Records, 1997) *****  

The Hollies  The Hollies at Abbey Road 1966 to 1970 (CD, EMI Records, 1998) *****  

The Hollies  The Hollies at Abbey Road 1973 to 1989 (CD, EMI Records, 1998) *****  

The Hollies  He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (CD, EMI Records, 1992) ****

The Hollies  The Air That I Breathe: The Very Best of The Hollies (CD, EMI Records, 1993) ****

The Hollies  The Hollies (Vinyl, EMI/ Regal Records, 1992) ****

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Remainder store in Onehunga Mall, Real Groovy Records.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Look Through Any Window

Gear costume: Hey Willy 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Hollies discography is a nightmare. 

There are so many compilations, so many various versions of the albums for various markets. So many repackaged budget albums. It's a nightmare.

It's such a mess, I'll need to split my Hollies collection into various sections and in a break with tradition I'm actually going to start with compilations so that we have some sort of chronological overview to kick us off.

The three albums released in the late nineties do a great job doing that by journeying from 1963 to 1989. 

The big songs are all there, but so are the lesser-known songs from B sides and deep album cuts. There are even songs that have been previously unissued. 

All of that, plus terrific liner notes about each song makes these three albums must haves to get a clear picture of the band's studio work.

The judicious inclusion of studio banter and false starts only add to the archeological thrill of following their progress from Everly Brothers/Beatles wannabes to that signature Hollies sound.

The first volume shows the Graham Nash/ Allan Clarke harmonies developing in leaps and bounds - what a combination of great voices! Apart from Nash and Clarke, the band in these early sixties up to 1966 was Tony Hicks (lead guitar), Bobby Elliott (drums) and Eric Haydock (bass).   

Highlights from 1963 to 1966: Just One Look; I'm Alive; Look Through Any Window; Bus Stop; Stop, Stop, Stop.

Volume 2 sees the departure of Haydock and the introduction of Bernie Calvert. He'd remain one of the Hollies until the eighties. Graham Nash remained until 1968 and then left to join Crosby and Stills in America. Terry Sylvester would replace him.

The hits kept on coming during this period of 1966 to 1970. Highlights: Pay You Back With Interest; On A Carousel; Carrie Anne; He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother; Gasoline Alley Bred.

Volume 3 is from 1973 to 1989. Allan had left the band and rejoined in 1973 (The Hollies kept going with a replacement -Mikael Rikfors, during the interlude). So, this album continues with the stable line-up of Clarke, Hicks, Elliott, Calvert, and Sylvester. That is until the eighties when the band becomes a trio of Clarke, Hicks, and Elliott.

Highlights: The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee; The Air That I Breathe; 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).

I've mentioned before how I love budget compilations. I have two of those for The Hollies. He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother is a 20 track compilation which ranges all over their catalogue in a non-chronological way. It's wonderfully chaotic.

The Air That I Breathe: The Very Best of The Hollies (love the random tree on the cover) is a 26 track compilation. This one has Hey Willy on it - my first single purchase ever. The album has pretty much all you need of the hits and near misses.

The Hollies compiles songs from 1964 to 1966.

Where do they all belong? The Air That I Breathe: The Very Best of The Hollies has 26 great songs - value for money and a great place to start if you wanting an overview.