Everyone raves about Beatles, Stones, Who, Led Zep, Dylan, Kinks, Queen...

Quite rightly but listening to Dale today he played - at No1 in 1988 - He Ain't Heavy by The Hollies and I thought - they really are the most under estimated group ever.

Their vocals and harmonies and arrangements were superb.
They had dozens of hits, many of which are classics.
Anyone else agree?

As opposed to, say, Oasis or Blur - nowhere near so good yet constantly praised above their worth.

I agree. I was a massive fan of The Beatles and also of The Hollies. The 60's were THE music decade!

The Hollies? Criminally under-rated!

Immaculate harmonies, some great songwriting (they tended to write most of their B' sides which rivalled the A' sides in terms of quality) and an ability to find great material... guitarist Tony Hicks went shopping for a new song in 1969 and was finding nothing suitable. One publisher he visited witheld one song demo, claiming it was "not suitable" for The Hollies but Hicks insisted he played it, and there it was - "He Ain't Heavy"! They certainly understood how important it was to have bloody good songs.

Their drummer Bobby Elliott is also under-rated - a magnificent drummer. Easily one of the best ever.

I think The Hollies biggest problem was their image... rather confused at times, especially during the psychedelic era, and like The Tremeloes, they ended up playing a fair bit in Cabaret in the late 60's which didn't help their hipness factor either. No major public scandals or punch ups, hence they weren't really producing "good stories".

They lacked that notoriety factor and didn't have management like Andrew Oldham to hype them up and get them publicity, so they just generally went along in their own gentle way releasing great single after great single. Unfortunately when they covered "If I Needed Someone", George Harrison was very vocal about how he disliked their version and John Lennon openly loathed The Hollies which I don't think could had helped much.

There's a great legacy of material there for younger bands to explore and take inspiration from. The fact the "Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame" haven't bothered to consider inducting them doesn't help either, especially given the success they enjoyed in America.

Ultimately, it's the music that matters and most of The Hollies work stands up extremely well. If one look at their list of hits and those of Oasis and Blur's I'm certain you could sing lines or hum melodies from more Hollies songs than the other two. I love 'em!

I have to say, pound for pound, the most-under lauded,despised at home yet phenomenally talented and successful has got to be

The Bee-Gees

"He Ain't Heavy" is a great song, but the tuning of the vocals on the Hollies' rendition is painful.

Donny Hathaway's version is easily the best.

I know I have typed this story out before, but there are new readers and it is relevent to the thread.

On a gig with a lot of bands on the bill, I accidently left my clothes in the wrong dressing room.
I thought the best thing to do was go in there and get changed and take no notice of the situation.
A band were working out harmonies, so I just joined in and put a top line on them whilst putting a jacket on.
They stopped and said, "yeah that`s what we need, you do that one!"
So we ran the number again and I left the room for my stage slot.

My mate was outside the room with his mouth wide open waiting for me and said the epic line, "Are you actually going on stage with the Hollies????"

I honestly had no idea who they were, just some very nice people.

I must write this book I have been planning on these little incidents......

Bee Gees? Yes, brilliant, but I'm not sure under rated. I think most would put them up there in the top ten.

Animals? Brilliant at their best.

I love The Bee Gees but do agree with JK since they have won many awards and been given the rightful recognition their stellar talents deserved. They've become legends in their own lifetimes whereas Mart's tale says it all about The Hollies... you could pass them on the street and wouldn't notice who they are.

Thanks for that story Mart... that's lovely - I envy you!

One thing that I would love to know regarding The Hollies and that's the current activities and whereabouts of original lead singer Allan Clarke. He had to retire at the end of 1999 for a variety of reasons and sadly his voice had deteriorated greatly over the 1990s. Whilst I'm sure he is enjoying a happy retirement, it would be nice to see or hear something of him every once in a while. At his peak he was one of our finest lead singers.

The man who replaced him did a brilliant and brave job - the late Carl Wayne - but sadly during his 4 years in the band they only recorded just one track and not a very good one at that. A real shame we cannot enjoy more of Carl's time in The Hollies. They were a great band live.

I feel very sorry for any singer whose voice trails away in later life a bit, obviously including the lovely Alan Clarke, great singers are born to sing and they start off just doing it for themselves.

I always thought the band It Bites, (now on tour, again) have been incredibly under-rated except by musicians.
And don`t forget Jellyfish. Sadly the same problem, they were "musicians` musicians" even though they created excellent pop tunes.

Also, people seem to forget that the mega selling The Sweet, were actually and excellent live band and the version of them that I believe that is still going, will be as well.