A Long Dark Road

Will he be performing on March 15th? Photo from Terry Sylvester’s website.

I was able to convince the Illinois Entertainer (the music publication I’ve been writing for since 1987) to let me do a short piece on The Hollies being inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It appears in the March issue, under the File section.

Finding information as to which Hollies were going to be on hand to accept the honor this March 15th was nearly impossible. I did receive an e-mail from drummer Bobby Elliott, (he and guitarist Tony Hicks are the only original members who still perform with the current Hollies) explaining that the band will not be able to make the ceremony because they’ll be performing in London that night. Elliott said he and Hicks, “are happy for Graham [Nash] to collect the awards on our behalf.” A big thank you to Mr. Elliott for responding to my e-mail query.

Aside from Nash, it gets a bit sketchy as to who else will be showing up. Terry Sylvester, who replaced Nash in 1969 and left in 1981, was recently interviewed on the Strange Dave Internet radio program, and gave the impression that he was joining Nash at the ceremony, along with original lead vocalist Allan Clarke, who retired in 2000. He was kind of vague as to whether any of them would be performing, although his website notes, “Terry and The Hollies - - - will be singing two songs, yet to be decided.”

The Official Hollies website has had virtually nothing to say about the honor, other than to provide a link to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame website. As I mentioned yesterday, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame site is where you’ll learn that Little Steven Van Zandt will be inducting The Hollies. I’m a long-time Hollies fan, but what this group doesn’t know about self-promotion and marketing could fill the London Palladium. Come on, guys, celebrate a little and maybe even print up a few t shirts.

Note: The line in my Illinois Entertainer piece that says “As bands dilute lineups but continue to tour, admission to the history books becomes a sticky issue” was an editorial addition, and was not written by me.