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“Bus Stop” was the Go Song for The Hollies
That’s when this Brit band raced up the international charts
The British band The Hollies started out as a collaboration between Allan Clarke and Graham Nash who modeled themselves after The Everly Brothers in the late 1950s. After joining other musicians and playing under different band names, they became “The Hollies” in late 1962. The name was a tribute to Buddy Holly along with a reference to the traditional Christmas garland, a holly.
Early on, The Hollies were primarily a cover band whose music didn’t reach much beyond the UK. Their debut single, released in 1963, was a cover of the Coasters song, “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me,” charting in the UK at #25. Trading on that success, The Hollies released another Coasters cover, “Searchin’,” which reached #12, followed by “Stay” (originally by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs), which broke through into the Top Ten at #8 in the UK.
The Hollies did even better with the 1964 cover, “Just One Look” (#2); then trying their hand at an original song, “Here I Go Again,” they hit #4. Other hits followed, but they only charted in the UK.
Finally in 1965–66, The Hollies started to gain traction in North America with a song written by Graham Gouldman, who penned the smash hit “For Your Love” by The Yardbirds, called…
