Allan Clarke

Singer/guitarist/songwriter Allan Clarke is one of the founders of <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a>; intermittently, he also has maintained a solo career. Clarke and his childhood friend, <a href="spotify:artist:2E6Roj0oQnJIm2BeXwDica">Graham Nash</a>, began singing together in Manchester in the '50s. Adding <a href="spotify:artist:3gJD8txlb1yz2ksXz7lKoL">Eric Haydock</a> (bass) and Don Rathbone (drums) (replaced by Bobby Elliott in 1963), they became the Fourtones in 1961 and then <a href="spotify:artist:2xM3IxtsKfNK0ki7uNZ7mP">the Deltas</a> in 1962. By early 1963, when they added Tony Hicks (guitar) and signed a record contract, they had become <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a>. Their initial repertoire consisted of American R&B songs (though they soon began to write original material), and their defining characteristic was a strong vocal style, usually with Clarke in the lead and <a href="spotify:artist:2E6Roj0oQnJIm2BeXwDica">Nash</a> and Hicks providing harmonies. In the U.K., <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a> enjoyed consistent singles success, starting with "Just Like Me," the first of 29 chart singles, 17 of which made the Top Ten, with two -- "I'm Alive" and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" -- reaching number one. Their appearances on the U.S. charts were less successful, though they managed to rack up 23 chart singles, six of which hit the Top Ten. <a href="spotify:artist:2E6Roj0oQnJIm2BeXwDica">Nash</a> decamped at the end of 1968 to form <a href="spotify:artist:2pdvghEHZJtgSXZ7cvNLou">Crosby, Stills, and Nash</a>, but <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a> continued.

Clarke quit in August 1971 and launched a solo career, during which he made three albums: My Name Is 'arold (1972), Headroom (1973), and Allan Clarke (1974). He rejoined <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a> in July 1973, but maintained his solo career, releasing I've Got Time in 1976. He left a second time in March 1978 and made I Wasn't Born Yesterday (1978), but returned in August. His subsequent albums included Legendary Heroes (1979) and The Only One (1980), plus a Best Of compilation in 1981. In 1983, <a href="spotify:artist:2E6Roj0oQnJIm2BeXwDica">Nash</a> rejoined Clarke, Elliott, and Hicks in <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a> for the album What Goes Around ... and a reunion tour, after which Clarke, Elliott, and Hicks carried on as <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a>. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi