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The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north, in east Lancashire. Nash left the group in 1968 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash, though he has reunited with the Hollies on occasion. They enjoyed considerable popularity in the UK and Europe during the mid-1960s with a string of hits that included "Just One Look", "Here I Go Again" (both 1964), "I'm Alive" (1965; their first of two UK number ones), "Look Through Any Window" (1965) and "I Can't Let Go" (1966), although they did not achieve US chart success until "Bus Stop" was released in 1966. The group went on to have periodic success on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean over the next decade with hits such as "Stop Stop Stop" (1966), "On a Carousel", "Carrie Anne" (both 1967), "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (1969), "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" (1972) and "The Air That I Breathe" (1974). "He Ain't Heavy" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart following a 1988 re-release. Overall, the Hollies had over 30 charting singles reach the UK Singles Chart, 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and 21 on the chart of RPM magazine in Canada. The Hollies are one of the few UK groups of the early 1960s, along with the Rolling Stones, who have never disbanded and continue to record and perform. In recognition of their achievements, the Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Origin The Hollies originated as a duo formed by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, who were best friends from primary school and began performing together during the skiffle craze of the late 1950s. Eventually Clarke and Nash became a vocal-and-guitar duo modelled on American duo the Everly Brothers, working as "Ricky and Dane Young"; under this name they teamed up with a local band, the Fourtones, consisting of Pete Bocking on guitar, John 'Butch' Mepham on bass, Keith Bates on drums, and Derek Quinn on guitar. When Quinn quit to join Freddie and the Dreamers in 1962, Clarke and Nash also quit and joined another Manchester band, the Deltas, consisting of Vic Steele on lead guitar, Eric Haydock on bass guitar, and Don Rathbone on drums, which had just lost two members including Eric Stewart, who left to join a "professional" band, the Mindbenders. During these periods the group were managed and promoted by Michael Cohen, a music enthusiast and clothing retailer from Oldham. The Deltas first called themselves the Hollies for a December 1962 gig at the Oasis Club in Manchester. It has been suggested that Eric Haydock named the group in relation to a Christmas holly garland, though in a 2009 interview Graham Nash said that the group decided just prior to a performance to call themselves the Hollies because of their admiration for Buddy Holly. In 2009, Nash wrote, "We called ourselves The Hollies, after Buddy and Christmas." 1963–1968 In January 1963, the Hollies performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they were seen by Parlophone assistant producer Ron Richards, who had been involved in producing the first Beatles session. Richards offered them an audition with Parlophone, but Steele did not want to be a "professional" musician and left the band in April 1963. For the audition, they brought in Tony Hicks to replace the departing Steele. Hicks played in a Nelson band called the Dolphins, which also featured Bobby Elliott on drums and Bernie Calvert on bass. Not only were the Hollies signed by Richards, who continued to produce the band until 1976 and once more in 1979, but a song from the audition, a cover of the Coasters' 1961 single "(Ain't That) Just Like Me", was released as their debut single in May 1963 and hit No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart. Their second single, another Coasters cover, this time 1957's "Searchin'", hit No. 12. At this point, after recording only eight songs for Parlophone, Rathbone also decided to leave the band, and Hicks was able to arrange for his Dolphins bandmate Bobby Elliott to replace him as the Hollies' new drummer in August 1963. They then scored their first British Top 10 hit in early 1964 with a cover of Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay", which reached No. 8 in the UK. It was lifted from the band's Parlophone debut album, Stay with the Hollies, released on 1 January 1964, which went to No. 2 on the UK album chart. The Hollies became known for making cover versions, and they followed up with "Just One Look" (February 1964, UK No. 2), a song that had already had top 10 success in the US for Soul star Doris Troy. The hits continued with "Here I Go Again" (May 1964, UK No. 4). At this point, there was some North American interest in the group, and versions of Stay with the Hollies, with these two singles added, were issued in both Canada (by Capitol Records) and the US (by Imperial Records), with the title changed to Here I Go Again. Like their Parlophone labelmates the Beatles, the Hollies' albums released in North America remained very different from their UK counterparts. By this time, the Hollies were writing and performing a substantial amount of original material, written by the group's songwriting team of Clarke, Nash, and Hicks, and producer Richards finally permitted the group to release its first self-penned hit, "We're Through" (Sep. 1964, UK No. 7) (credited to a pseudonym, "L. Ransford", the name of Graham Nash's grandfather, as were all their early compositions). This was followed by two more cover versions, "Yes I Will" (Jan. 1965, UK No. 9) and finally the Clint Ballard, Jr.-penned "I'm Alive" (May 1965, the band's first UK No. 1, US No. 103, Canada No. 11). Their second album, In the Hollies Style (1964), did not feature in the Record Retailer top ten album chart, although it did reach the top ten of the New Musical Express chart. None of the tracks from the album were released in the US, although a version of it was released in Canada, with the addition of the British singles. Finally, the Hollies broke through in North America with an original song that they requested from Manchester's Graham Gouldman. "Look Through Any Window" (September 1965, UK No. 4) broke the Hollies into the US Top 40 (No. 32, Jan. 1966) and into the Canadian top 10 (No. 3, Jan. 1966), both for the first time. Their follow-up single, an original recording of George Harrison's new song "If I Needed Someone" (December 1965), was undercut when the Beatles decided to release their own version on the UK album Rubber Soul; it only reached No. 20 in the UK and was not released in North America. Their third album, simply called Hollies, hit No. 8 in the UK in 1965 but, under the name Hear! Here!, failed to chart in the US despite its inclusion of "Look Through Any Window" and "I'm Alive". The Holl.... Discover the Sandy Ransford popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sandy Ransford books.