As of late I have been preoccupied by the chasm separating the stronger units within the First British Invasion and those that were absolutely pitiful. There couldn't have been much in between, huh? In reality there were many who resided somewhere in the void and one of them was The Hollies, a group who could never quite measure up to the magnificent quartet of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who but who were vastly superior to Herman's Hermits and Peter and Gordon.
But where do they fit in more precisely? I'd definitely put them above the Dave Clark Five but maybe just a notch below The Yardbirds (they had three lead guitarists, you know). I guess they belong in the mid-range tier along with Manfred Mann and The Troggs: respectable British pop groups who couldn't compare with the big acts but were streets ahead of the more throwaway types. This may not exactly scream 'future Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famers' but I'm all for groups overachieving. (But while we're on that note, for the love of God induct Blur!)
The acoustic guitar intro immediately made me think of "Classical Gas". It was, therefore, a surprise to discover that "Bus Stop" predates the Mason Williams standard by about two years — I suppose The Hollies deserve some credit as opposed to charges that they were ripping others off. And it sort of throws off what I was going to say, that they had borrowed from an influential folk song in order make their latest single appear to be deeper than it is. (Though he didn't write "Bus Stop", singer-guitarist Graham Nash would make a career out of appearing to have far more to say than he actually did) That said, it doesn't hurt having some nifty Tony Hicks finger picking as a bait-and-switch on what is otherwise pure, sunshine pop — even if the song's narrative is set in the midst of a downpour.
There are differing opinions as to the state of English weather during the summer of 1966. The normally clear-eyed Ian MacDonald has stated that it had been "particularly glorious" but other sources do not seem to agree. Although it has been a long time since I actually read it, I seem to recall Philip Norman noting in his once-definitive Beatles' biography Shout! that the the twin triumphs of England's World Cup win and the release of the Fabs' Revolver were the lone bright spots of a miserable summer. Trusty AI on Google seems to confirm this: while June was rather nice, July and August were wetter than usual.
Recorded in the middle of May, "Bus Stop" smartly anticipates the bulk of the summer being the shits. You could say songwriter Graham Gouldman was lucky but I'm sure he'd already lived through plenty of grey, rain-sodden August days to know that there was a reasonable chance another was on the way. In any event, The Hollies had a quintessentially English summer hit for everyone who happened to look as pasty as some of them appear on the cover of the single.
All-in-all, "Bus Stop" is an adorable creation, albeit in terms of all appreciation with little-to-no admiration. This isn't a major complaint — I'll take an enjoyable song over an influential one any day — but it does speak to The Hollies as relative lightweights in British pop. Nash was beginning to push cohorts Allan Clarke and Tony Hicks into songwriting but they were late to the game in that regard. (Their self-sufficiency largely dried up when Nash abruptly left to form Crosby, Stills and Nash in 1968, indicating that the others weren't completely comfortable in their role as songwriters) To be fair, Herman's Hermits were just as awful with Gouldman's material as they had been previously so it wasn't as if The Hollies themselves weren't contributing. The Beatles aside, there weren't any other British groups who could harmonize as well as them. And they were a surprisingly tight unit of overlooked but accomplished musicians: along with Hicks' guitar playing, Bobby Elliot on drums is a stand out.
Whether they were the best of the mediocre or the weakest of the elite is up for debate but I will say this to conclude: the British music scene was better off with The Hollies as a part of it which is more than can be said for some people.
Score: 7
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