Interview with Tony Hicks of The Hollies

By creammagazine, January 3, 2017

The Hollies are renowned for delivering soaring songs with distinctive harmonies, many of which are enough to leave listeners in a teary state. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother… The Air That I Breathe… Too Young To Be Married… These are songs that have left their mark not only on the pop charts but the minds of lovers of ballads the world over. But there’s also been an ‘up’ side to their music with hits such as Bus Stop and I’m Alive a little more on the optimistic side.

Suffice to say, the band put on excellent shows live, and audiences of all generations go along to enjoy them. In February they tour Australia, bringing with them an amazing music and live show.

Singer, songwriter and lead guitarist Tony Hicks chats with Cream about what it’s been like to be in the music game for so long…

 

Interview by Antonino Tati

Transcription by Chris Prindiville

 

Hi Tony. It’s great to see you guys back on the road again. You’ve toured Australia before, yes?

We were first there in the mid ’60s, and we’ve been coming pretty regularly since then. In the last 10 years we’ve been about three times.

 

What memories do you have of our good nation?

It’s always a joy to come to Australia and New Zealand. We particularly enjoyed Perth. I remember in the ’60s we did Subiaco, the big stadium there. We stayed in a lovely hotel on the coast, where I used to walk across the road and swim. I remember been taken out on a boat and swimming with the rays; they also took us across to Rottnest. So Perth is the perfect venue for The Hollies.

 

The Hollies have been one of Britain’s best loved groups. How does it feel to know your songs have truly stood the test of time?

It’s always a bit of a surprise. We had our first hit in ’63, and at the time, we were hoping we could stretch it out for maybe two years because hit-makers only lasted that long, really. But we’ve managed to stretch it out for longer than that [laughs]. We’re very fortunate; as a band we get on really well, whereas in so many bands the people can’t stand the sight of each other and they stay in separate hotel rooms. We’ve never been like that.

 

What do you think is the secret to your longevity? How do you keep performing together after all these years?

Well, we don’t get together because of the money. We’ve continued performing for all those years purely for the love of doing it. When you drive home after doing a show that was appreciated by the audience, it’s a feeling that I think few people can experience. It’s a very warm feeling. And we’re still getting that, and as long we keep getting it, we’ll keep doing it.

 

You mentioned driving there. A lot of your songs have become associated with road trip music. What are some of the elements that make up a great road trip song?

I think for our audiences it is a combination of nostalgia and reminiscing. Whenever they hear those songs it takes them back. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. I think that’s what a lot of people get out of what we do. We’re always happy to play every hit song we’ve recorded: things like Too Young To Be Married – which was a big hit in Australia – and He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, The Air That I Breathe, Bus Stop, you name it.

 

There is a sad element to a lot of your songs. How do you react to those particular ones: do they sadden you or give you a sense of hope?

A sense of hope. Anyone who has seen us perform has seen the reaction we get at the end. It’s all hope, really. He Aint Heavy just struck a chord with many people. It’s also the melody of it. In all fairness, I think the first thing that attracts people to a song is the melody and the chord structure, and if you have a great lyric to go with that, then all the better.

 

If it’s good enough for k.d. to cover, it’s great enough a song, girls.

 

When it comes to performing your songs live, do you like to shake them up and do them differently, or are they performed in their original structure?

Both. We certainly change the structure every now and then. But more often that not we take it back to the original because sometimes the changes can make the audience uncomfortable. And we’re happy to do that. The main thing about our shows is that we’re happy to put quite a large budget into the production of it. One of those things is the lighting. Our lighting show is phenomenal. It isn’t just the case of arriving onstage with our guitars and a couple of amplifiers. All our equipment is top class; so it’s very 2017 what we present.

 

With a song like ‘He Aint Heavy’, it is often used to accompany images and videos of war memorials. How do you feel about that sort of association?

To be honest, I haven’t see those videos. It sounds sort of depressing to me. It certainly wasn’t recorded with those thoughts in mind. If it gives people satisfaction in doing that, then by all means they’re welcome to use them in that way.

 

What about when someone covers a Hollies song. What do you think of k.d. Lang’s version of ‘The Air That I Breathe’?

To be honest with you, I’ve never heard it. But it’s a form of flattery when people cover a song. I know that Mick Hucknall of Simply Red did a version of The Air That I Breathe. It just shows the quality of the song and I’m just happy we grabbed hold of it before anyone else did [laughs].

 

Going back in time, how would you describe the sound of the ’60s compared to today?

There was a magic about music in the ’60s. It was very natural, particularly the recording. All very instant. There was no multitracking back then; you had to sing and play live in the studio. You could record it all over again, but we tended not to do that because you lose some of the atmosphere. We tried to make sure once the red button went on for recording – that we knew what we were doing and tried to get it done in the first take. Two or three takes at the worst. So there was a definite magic in those days about the simplicity and naturalness of recording. But what goes around comes around, and people are now enjoying analogue music again.

 

Originally, The Hollies featured Graham Nash as a member, who left at the end of 1968, of course, to team up with Crosby and Stills. Was it sad to lose an original member to another band?

Graham had gone to America and liked what he saw going on there. He wanted to be there, whereas the rest of The Hollies didn’t want to be permanently based in the States. He was also having problems at home: he’d left his wife. To be honest, he wanted a complete change in his life and that’s what he got. And it worked out for him and it worked out for us. He’s still a great friend, and I’m sure one day – it could even be in Australia – he’ll be onstage with us again. He’s always very enthusiastic to do it.

 

Sounds promising. One last question. The name ‘The Hollies’, where did it come from? Was there ever a Christmas connection, you know, as in ‘hollies’ on reeves?

You know what, after all these years I’m still not sure what the story is behind the name. There is a rumour we were about to do a gig around the Christmas period and that we didn’t even have a name, so when somebody asked ‘What are you called?’ we looked around and there was some holly hanging around. I don’t know whether that’s true or not. It could have something to do with Buddy Holly, as we were all big fans of his. In fact, we did an album covering his songs many years ago, which we’re all proud of. So take your pick from one of those!

 

The Hollies bring their ‘Highway Of Hits’ tour to Australia in February. Dates and venues as follows:

 

Wednesday 8th February
CROWN THEATRE, PERTH
Bookings: Ticketmaster 136 100 www.ticketmaster.com.au

 

Friday 10th February
ADELAIDE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
Bookings: Ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au

 

Saturday 11th February
ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE
Bookings: 1300 182 183 www.ticketmaster.com.au

 

Sunday 12th February
DEAKIN’S COSTA HALL, GEELONG
Bookings: (03) 5225 1210

 

Tuesday 14th February
QPAC CONCERT HALL, BRISBANE
Bookings: QPAC 136 246 www.qpac.com.au

 

Thursday 16th February
WIN ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, WOLLONGONG
Bookings: 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au

 

Friday 17th + Saturday 18th February
STATE THEATRE, SYDNEY
Bookings: 1300 139 588 www.ticketmaster.com.au