“W
Eknew‘Bus
Stop’was
goingtobe
a hitassoon
aswe’dcut
it,”recallsGrahamNash.“Wereallydid.
Justlistentoit – eventodayit sounds
likea hit!”Sureenough,onitsrelease
inJune1966,“BusStop”becameThe
Hollies’ninthTop 10 successintheUK.
Critically,though,thesongwasa major
breakthroughintheUS,peakinginthe
BillboardTop5, openingupa transatlantic
marketthathadsofarprovedelusive.
Theappealof“BusStop”wasobvious.
LedbyAllanClarke’svocals,it’spowered
byanirresistiblemelodyandrushing
three-wayharmonies,punctuatedby
a raga-likesolofromguitaristTony
HicksthatshuntsTheHolliesinto
BeatlesandByrdsterritory.Thesong
wastheworkofteenagerGraham
Gouldman,a fellowMancunianwho’d
already written a trio of major hits for The
Yardbirds:“ForYourLove”,“Heart Full Of
Soul”and“EvilHeartedYou”.
A yearearlier,TheHollieshadscored
a hitwithGouldman’s“LookThrough
AnyWindow”(co-writtenwithCharles
Silverman),theirfirstsingletoreach
theAmericanTop40.“BusStop”was
a significantstepupinmusicalterms,
presagingmoresophisticatedpieces
like“OnA Carousel”and“KingMidas
InReverse”.Ona lyricallevel,however,
it tolda simpletaleofromanceonthe
rainystreetsoftheirhomecity.“That
connection– ‘Pleasesharemyumbrella’
- wasunconscious,”musesGouldman.
“ButwhenI listentosomeofthestuff
I’vewritten,particularlyfromthose
earlydays,there’ssomething very
Mancunianaboutit.”
Gouldmanlaterrecorded“Bus
Stop”(“witha greatJohnPaulJones
arrangement”)onhis 1968 solodebut,The
GrahamGouldmanThing. Bytheearly’70s
he was enjoying hits in his own right as a
Roomforonemoreontop?Notthistime.ButGrahamGouldman’stune
would take the Manchester band to No 5 on both sides of the Atlantic...
Bus Stop
by The Hollies
foundermemberof10cc.Inthemeantime,
TheHolliescarriedthefighttoAmerica,
whereNashwouldsoonhavehishead
turnedbya wholenewsetofprospective
musical allies.ROB HUGHES
GRAHAMNASH:GrahamGouldman’s
familywerefriendsandneighboursof
MichaelCohen[TheHollies’ex-manager].
Hegaveustheaddresswherehelived–
I can’tquiterememberwherethehouse
wasinManchester– sowewentoverto
seethis15-year-oldkid.Hepickedupan
acousticguitarandplayedusthree songs,
oneofwhichwas“BusStop”.
ALLANCLARKE:Grahambroughtthis
songroundtome.I thinkhehadanother
oneaswell,“NoMilkToday”[latercovered
byHerman’sHermits] – andsaid,“I’vejust
beentoseethisyoungkid,hewasonly 13
or 14 yearsold.”ButGrahamGouldman
sayshewasactuallyworking when he
wrote“BusStop”.
BO B BYE LLI OTT:I rememberGraham
[Nash] talkingaboutthesong.We’dmet
Gouldmanbeforeandknewhimquitewell.
ThePhonographwasa clubinManchester
thatGeorgeBestusedtogoto,andI
rememberchattingtohimthereforthefirst
time.He’dalreadywritten“LookThrough
AnyWindow”forus.I wouldn’tsayhewas
akidthough,hewasa youngman.
GRAHAMGOULDMAN:Grahamcredits
mewithbeingyoungerthanI was. I was 19
whenI wrote“BusStop”.
NASH:Gouldmanactuallyhasa slightly
differentstoryabout“BusStop”.He
saysthatheshowedit toThe Hollies in
abathroomatsomegig.
GOULDMAN:I wasina groupwithKevin
GodleycalledTheMockingbirdsandwe
weresupportingTheHolliesatStoke
TownHall.I’dwritten“BusStop”andI
wantedtofindsomewherequietforme
toplayit toTony[Hicks] andGraham.
As far as I remember, we went into a loo.
KEY PLAYERS
K&
KULF
KRUGER
OHG/REDFERNS;
AMY
GRANTHAM;
CARSTEN WINDHORST; ROB HAYWOOD
Graham
Gouldman:writer
GrahamNash:
rhythmguitar,
vocals
AllanClarke:lead
vocals
TonyHicks:lead
guitar, vocals
BobbyElliott:
drums
TheHolliesin Hamburg,
1966:(l–r)TonyHicks,
BernieCalvert(front),
GrahamNash,Allan
Clarke (front), Bobby Elliott
