The Hollies are an English Beat group formed in the early 1960s. They are commonly associated with Manchester, as several original Hollies came from the city and its outlying communities.
The Manchester quintet, heavily influenced by the Everly Brothers, is known for rich three part harmonies rivalling those of The Beach Boys, ringing guitars, infectious melodies, jazz oriented backbeats and a squeaky-clean image. They have been called the British Everly Brothers. Nevertheless, The Hollies are one of the most commercially successful pop/rock acts of the British Invasion. While groups like the Beatles would sometimes toy with non-pop experiments, the Hollies kept their material catchy and appealing no matter what style they pursued; however, they tried easing into more sophisticated folk-rock and mildly psychedelic sounds as the decade wore on, especially on their albums. Their mass recognition is generally limited (especially in the United States) to a selection of perhaps a dozen hit songs, from 1964's "Just One Look" to 1974's "The Air That I Breathe". In reality, their recorded history started in 1963 and encompasses more than 350 songs, spread over dozens of albums, EPs and singles, across 33 years (Eder,1996).
