It's New to Me: Bus Stop/Stop! Stop! Stop! by the Hollies (1966)

Cover illustration of Armour and Company by Ogden J. Armour, 1918

When I get a CD that has two different albums compiled together, I usually pick one of the albums to write about. In the case of this BGO two-fer containing the Hollies' LPs Bus Stop and Stop! Stop! Stop!, though, I'm interested in comparing them. They were released in the US just months apart at the end of 1966 - Bus Stop was a cash-in compilation of stuff that hadn't been released yet in the US anchored by the hit "Bus Stop". Stop! Stop! Stop! was the US version of the UK LP For Certain Because..., which also featured a big hit single in its title. It took me a while to get around to getting these particular Hollies releases because the two title hits are not my favorites - the "under my umbrella" hook in "Bus Stop" always bugs me for some reason, and "Stop! Stop! Stop!" is just shrill and headache-inducing all the way around - but I enjoy hearing these LPs back to back to get a sense of what US Hollies fans experienced in 1966.

There is a huge stylistic gap between Bus Stop and Stop! Stop! Stop!, accentuated of course by the fact that some of the material on Bus Stop was already quite old. But even the more recent recordings on Bus Stop have a pretty basic Merseybeat pop sound, and the new stylistic touches are often not "value adds" - I'm thinking in particular of the gong that starts the unfortunately-titled "Oriental Sadness". Stop! Stop! Stop! on the other hand, displays a much higher sense of confidence and adventurousness. From the banjo that pops up on "What's Wrong With the Way I Live" and the title track to the processed piano on "Pay You Back in Interest", there are interesting production touches in just about every song, matching the Hollies' more confident songwriting (Stop! Stop! Stop! was their first album of all originals, I think).

Even the Byrds-imitating track "Suspicious Look in Your Eyes" puts an interesting twist on that sound with bubblegum "bap-bap-bap" backing vocals. It's just funny that Hollies fans in the US saw this huge jump in releases that came just a couple months apart - I imagine a lot of people said, "Wow, this band just got a lot more interesting."

"Suspicious Look in Your Eyes" by the Hollies