With special thanks to Rachel Banham of the  
for the following Preview and Review of the Ipswich show at The Regent, 5th March 1998

THEY'RE COMING YOUR WAY: 

Picture: Rob Haywood

The Hollies have established their place in musical history.

Popular for more than three decades, they are now set to bring their show to the Ipswich Regent tomorrow night.

The band has had 34 years of hit records, and now seeks to combine Hollies hits with the best of today's technology.

The Hollies may have been in the music business since before some of their fans were born, but the attraction of performing live is as strong as ever.

In 1996 they played more than 50 theatres in the UK, and did their first-ever tour of South Affica.

Bobby Elliott, the band's drummer explained: "That's how we started out all those years ago. lts just a joy to get on stage and work."

"We have quite an extensive back catalogue. We're never short of numbers."

"It's fun. As long as it's fun and as long as people want to see us, we will carry on."

In the 1960s, The Hollies were snapped up by EMI, the label who had previously signed The Beatles.

Ploneering

For the young Bobby Elliott, who had started drumming on chocolate tins in his mum Edna's grocers shop, music was a dream job.

'We started out playing live - we served our apprenticeship playing live around Manchester and Liverpool," he said.

It was a very exciting time in the sense that we were pioneering. There was no do-it yourself music in those days."

"Bands had not really started recording in a big way. Then the music scene in England exploded. It was great for us. It was just one huge adventure."

"We were doing what we loved more than anything - travelling around the north of England and getting paid for doing a hobby. It was a good escape from a humdrum lifestyle."

But he admitted:  "Because I lived through it, it did not seem that special. I was so close to it. It was just like a blur in a way. It was new territory. It was a natural progression and it was not big business. It was all done for love, basically."

The band recorded 10 studio albums in the 1970s and a live set LP.

Another album and US tour followed in the 1980s, and the re-released He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, reached number one in the British charts in 1988.

To say the drummer's cv is impressive would be an understatement. But Bobby has kept in touch with school friends, and now lives near Skipton just six miles from Burnley, where he was born and grew up. And when he has time off he is still bitten by the "playing live" bug.

"If we have time off I play with jazz groups in the north of England, just for fun."

Whether the band plays theatres or outside venues, the fan base is solid.

"We find we have got a nucleus of followers. Some people come to every single show - from the US, Holland and Germany. lt's very flattering," said Bobby.

"The fans are indispensable. The longer you go on and the longer they stick by you, you start to appreciate it. Sometimes the light catches their faces and the same lot are there at the front - that's brilliant."

One fan, a prison officer, even named his home "The Hollies."

With such a vast back catalogue, it's not easy to single out Hollies high points.

But Bobby, now 56, is particularly proud of his Ivor Novello award, won four years ago, and he has good memories of the first fiine he went to the USA in 1965, meeting Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, and other legends.

Now he's Jooking forward to this tour with the same enthusiasm that catapulted the band to success in the 1960s.

The Ipswich audience will be treated to plugged and unplugged numbers during a two-hour set by the Hollies.

It's a good gig, the Regent. It's quite a good big theatre," said Bobby.

"Get in there early! We're going to keep it interesting. We're looking forward to it!"

By Rachel Banham

                      Return To Spring Tour dates.

And a review of the concert by Rachel .

CROWD PLEASERS: The Hollies singing on stage at the Regent in lpswich last night. Pictures: JOHN KERR

All harmony as Hollies keep rocking

The Hollies, lpswich Regent last night

                  Return To Spring Tour dates.