The Hollies: On the touring carousel again
Although excited about another visit to New Zealand, The Hollies’ drummer Bobby Elliott admits to being slightly sad about the scheduling.
The now 77-year-old percussionist and his bandmates embark on one of their biggest tours to our shores in years next week. He’s delighted to see places like Invercargill and Hamilton again but he jokes about feeling a little regret. ‘‘We’re disappointed that we’re not playing any vineyards or wineries,’’ he cackles down the phoneline from his home just north of Manchester.
‘‘We’ve done them in the past and we always look forward to them. Not just because of the wines, but also the open air feel and the freedom.
‘‘We also usually get invited up to the chateau and get a bit of supper and sample the local fare.
‘‘Your wines are the best in the world – certainly the sauvignon blancs, but also the lighter reds. Apart from filming Lord of the Rings there, I think wine is what really has put New Zealand on the global map.’’
Seemingly almost annual visitors to New Zealand since the start of the 1970s, touring here has generated a lot of great memories for the now 57-year-old band, says Elliott.
‘‘In 1976, we did five or six nights at the Christchurch Town Hall and the record company EMI brought down a 16-track machine from either Wellington or Auckland to record us for a live album which went to No 1.
‘‘We also had hits down there that weren’t anywhere else. Too Young To Be Married was an album track, but EMI wanted to put it out as a single and it went to the top of the charts.’’
Elliott, who is currently working on a biography tentatively titled It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Story: My Life in The Hollies, says he has kept a diary ever since he was a boy, although he wishes he’d written down more details during the band’s heyday in the 1960s.
He is grateful for having retained the copyright
(with guitarist Tony Hicks) for all the band’s hits, from On a Carousel to Carrie Ann.
‘‘I feel we’ve been quite lucky to keep a hold of them when so many other bands have let them slip through their fingers. We’re always getting inquiries from film companies wanting to licence He Ain’t Heavy or Air That I Breathe or others from our back catalogue – it’s almost like a fulltime job.’’
Elliot says there are loads of covers of their songs that he likes and he fondly remembers how a lager commercial helped propel Air That I Breathe toNo1 in Britain in 1988 – helping right a near 20-year ‘‘injustice’’. ‘‘The first time around in 1969, it was prevented from reaching the top by a cartoon band called The Archies singing Sugar, Sugar – that was disappointing.’’
Still a fan of touring, Elliott says he particularly enjoys performing Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress during their concerts. ‘‘I’m a bit of a rocker at heart so that’s the one I like to get stuck into.
‘‘Then there’s He Ain’t Heavy
– that’s quite moving sometimes when you can see the front rows and people getting quite emotional while singing along. It’s a song that affects people in different ways.’’
One newer song that the band regularly perform now is a tune that’s very personal to Elliott. Penned in conjunction with lead singer Peter Howarth, Priceless
is ‘‘straight from the heart’’.
‘‘Some years ago I lost my wife and then a few years later I found another lady and at one point she said to me, ‘this relationship is priceless’, and that’s what inspired the song.’’
Much to Elliott’s delight, he says it now often goes down as well as He Ain’t Heavy – ‘‘which is quite moving’’. He says Kiwi audiences can expect a few surprises during their more-than two-hour set, however they also certainly won’t be stingy when it comes to playing the hits.
‘‘We’re not fools, we know what the audience wants.’’
The Hollies’ The Road is Long Tour begins at Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena on February 24, before heading to Invercargill (Feb 25), Dunedin (Feb 26), Nelson (Feb 27), New Plymouth (March 1), Wellington (March 2), Auckland (March 3) and Hamilton (March 4). For ticketing and venues, see hollies.co.uk