The Hollies are a British rock and roll band formed in the early 1960s.
They signed to Parlophone in 1963 as label-mates of The Beatles, and released their first album in the United States in 1964 as part of the first wave of British Invasion releases. They are commonly associated with Manchester, because several original Hollies came from the city and its outlying communities.
The Hollies had a squeaky-clean image, and were famous for their rich vocal harmonies, which rivalled those of The Beach Boys. They scored their first major British hit in 1964 with a cover of Maurice Williams and The Zodiac's "Stay" which hit #8 in the UK charts. They quickly followed with Doris Troy's "Just One Look". Frequent releases during the mid-60s included many cover versions of popular songs, as well as a few group-penned hits and many songs written especially for them by professional songwriters.
By 1965 The Hollies were established as one of Britain's pre-eminent singles bands, and they enjoyed huge chart success in many countries in the mid-Sixties, releasing a string of classic harmony-pop hits including " "Bus Stop"" (written by future 10CC member Graham Gouldman), " I'm Alive", a UK No. 1, " I Can't Let Go", " Stop Stop Stop", " Carrie Anne" (from which actress Carrie-Anne Moss got her name, having been born when the song was on the charts), " On A Carousel", " Look Through Any Window", and " Jennifer Eccles".
Drummer Bobby Elliot is also considered by many to be one of England's best drummers; together with longtime bassist Bernie Calvert, who replaced Eric Haydock in 1966, they enjoyed a solid, almost jazz-oriented backbeat. Tony Hicks and Graham Nash shared the guitar spotlight, Hicks even adding banjo occasionally as on "Stop Stop Stop", while frontman Allan Clarke sang in his distinctive nasal tenor.
