Everyone knows English singer, songwriter, and guitarist Graham Nash from the band he formed in 1968: Crosby, Stills & Nash. But before that, he was a member of The Hollies, singing on classics such as "Carrie Anne" and "On A Carousel." Among music's greatest blunders, The Hollies rejected a number of his songs that became monster hits for Crosby, Stills & Nash, including "Teach Your Children," "Marrakesh Express," and "Our House." Nash released a string of solo records in the 70s, including several with his longtime collaborator David Crosby. I think most people would agree that his 1971 debut album, "Songs For Beginners," remains among his best work. It gave him his first two charting singles, "Chicago" (#35) and "Military Madness" (#73). His last chart appearance was in 1986 when "Innocent Eyes," a rather excellent tune that features Kenny Loggins on backing vocals, peaked at #84. Sounding more like The Beatles here, Nash shines on "Be Yourself," a tune from his debut record that did not chart...but should have.
The pop rock band, The Hollies, formed by Graham Nash and Allan Clarke, had a string of hits through the late 60s and early 70s. Their big breakthrough came with the classic "Bus Stop," which stopped at #5 in 1966, quickly followed with another "stop" song: "Stop Stop Stop," which hit #7. The band scored several more top 10 hits, but never landed at #1. The closest they got was "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)," which hit #2 for 2 weeks in 1972. The magic of the Hollies had run its course by 1975, when "Another Night" topped out at #71. The band would reunite to score one more chart hit in 1983 with a cover of the Eddie Holland-written song "Stop In The Name Of Love," which they took to #29. "Hey Willy" is a jamming tune that reminds me of Bread when they were rocking out. Released in 1971, it failed to break into the top 100.
Glass Moon is a little known pop rock group that made a minor splash in 1982 with their lone chart appearance, a cover of "On A Carousel" originally done by The Hollies. Their version got to #50, but the album from which it came, "Growing In The Dark," is filled with catchy synth and guitar anthems worth checking out if you enjoy 80s AOR. "She's On" is one of many highlights from this underrated record. Seemingly just another generic song about some hot chick, it detours into a verse that describes the object of his affection reading a bedtime fairytale to her baby girl. That's when "she's on." Sweet.
