The Hollies :: View topic

Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 24 Location: DAGENHAM

I saw Cliff Richard on This Morning on 10th December and noticed Peter was one of his backing singers. Has there or is there ever likely to be a conflict of interest and if so what would happen? In the past a certain other bass guitarist had the same conflict of interest but The Hollies came off best as the bassman chose Ciff and Ray Stiles has been a Hollie ever since.Personally I find it ironic that a 'backing s
singer 'has a better vocal range than the artist he is backing. What do others think?

Happy Christmas to all Hollies fans
from Paul

Rythym Guitar Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Posts: 486 Location: UK

Peter has been backing Cliff since around 1988.

I don't know if there is a conflict of interest but I'm sure there is no harm is Peter continuing to work with the same person he has been for the last 20 or so years.

I do remember last year when Peter & Tony were giving radio interviews Peter said he had been asked to join The Hollies previously but contractually he couldn't take up the offer, whereas by 2004 he was able to join The Hollies. So maybe a deal was done which enabled Peter to continue to work with Cliff as well as be in The Hollies, I don't think it has caused any major problems so far.

Rythym Guitar Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 293

Peter Howarth has a better vocal range than Cliff ? I CAN'T AGREE!
I love The Hollies and I love Cliff Richard.
Cliff is a superstar with a trademark voice like Tom Jones or Elvis has one. He is a superstar and you can't compare one single singer with a whole group and I would say that an artist with a musical history of 50 years and hits in every decade can't be compared to a singer who joined a supergroup three years ago. It would be unusual and ironic to see trademark voice Allan Clarke backing up Cliff but not Pete. Pete is a great vocalist but cannot be compared to Cliff or Allan. Pete is a great vocalist but his voice has not the same trademark quality as Cliff's or Allan's voice. I saw Cliff last year here in Germany and Pete was in the backing vocal group and it wasn't strange for me at all.
Sorry, but I can see no irony in a new singer of The Hollies with one album of tracks he sang on backing up a superstar with a musical legacy of 50 years and a voice that is so recognizable and unique. If you listen to albums like "Something's Goin' On" and "Rock'n'Roll Juvenile" then you can hear that Cliff's voice can be soft like silk and rock very hard and that he has an EXCELLENT vocal range.
But don't get me wrong. I love them both. I'm even more of a Hollies fan than of a Cliff fan but Cliff is a bigger star than Peter Howarth (who doesn't stand for The Hollies as a supergroup with their great musical legacy).

Earlier this year I saw Pete with Cliff north of Oslo. They sang duet on the Barry Gibb song Fields of gold and both were fabulous. When the Hollies started their spring tour of UK shortly after, Pete jumped off the Cliff tour. I then saw him fronting the Hollies in Nottingham. Once again a delight. The only thing I have to say about current Hollies shows is that the songs off staying power tend to come across better than the old hits. Only exception would be the new medley that Steve does in a remarkably good way. I think Tony should do Too young to be married in shows, by the way, to get more original Hollies feel to the current shows.

Peter was again backing Sir Cliff this afternoon, 17th December, on TV in the Alan Titchmarsh Christmas Show.

Terry