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Anthony Post subject: Russian Roulette
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Hi all,
What a fantastic Album Russian Roulette was from 1976. Okay I know it's not everybody's cup of tea, I hear you say it's their Disco Album, what were they doing? I love it and I hate disco. I'm not good at reviews but what the heck I'll give it a go.

Wiggle that wotsit- what a fantastic dance number, forget the words remember many of the Beatles songs had strange lyrics and we love them.

48 Hour parole-I think this is another hard edge number, great beat

Thanks for the memories-just a nice number, typical of the songs at the time.
My Love-same as previous song
Lady of the night-" " "

Russian Roulette- What a great story of a night at the roulette wheel, really sets the mood of a packed casino just waiting for that one lucky throw of the dice. I think the Hollies should have keep going with more of these great faster numbers.

Draggin' my heels- I have to admit I love this number live far better, gives all the group a chance to prove how great they are behind their music instruments

Louise-Another R'n'R number, I can hear shads of shakin' Stevens in Allan's voice, could have been great in Saturday Night Fever.

Be with you-Wow, fantastic harmonies but really it has to be one of the Hollies most boring songs, what does it really say, nothing.

Daddy don't mind-Back on the dance floor gang, what brilliant words great harmonies and brilliant guitar work by Tony, a nice up tempo song about two young lovers. A great video clip also, who was the model that does the intro, sorry the minds gone blank, hey what's new. I hope you have a good copy of the film clip for the Hollies DVD you are thinking of putting together Rob as mine is shocking quality.

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PostPosted:Tue Sep 21, 2004 13:18 pm
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Distant Light Post subject:


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A lot of people use to call this the Hollies "Disco" album. I really don't think that's right... I'd rather call it one of the most rocking Hollies albums!
To the songs: we have 2 Rock'n'Roll numbers, 48 Hour Parole and Louise, one great Hard Rock number with fantastic playing and singing by the whole group and an interesting storyline, the title track and two songs, that's why they say it's disco, which are are mixture between disco music and Rock'n'Roll but they are far more rooted in rock than in disco music: Wiggle That Wotsit and Daddy Don't Mind which were the two singles released from that album but didn't make it in the charts. The first one has a cool use of brass which gives the song a lot of energy.
My Love is a Pop/Rock song which people expect from Hollies. From the other 4 songs two are harder edged ballads and two are softer ones which aren't that impressive but they are quite enjoyable while listening to them. All in all it's one of the most underrated Hollies albums (...hmm if I think of it most of them are underrated which is a real shame) but that doesn't make it worse. It has a lot of energy and drive unlike the following one.

Best songs: Wiggle That Wotsit, Russian Roulette, Daddy Don't Mind

Worst songs: Be With You (but it's not really bad)

Rating: I would give it a strong 9 out of 10
PostPosted:Tue Sep 21, 2004 18:14 pm
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Susie Hewett Post subject:
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Hi Guys!

Russian Roulette is also one of my favourite Hollies albums. I love every song on it. Smile The best tracks on it are Wiggle That Wotsit, Daddy Don't Mind, Draggin' My Heels and Be With You Very Happy

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Draggin' My Heels is the only song from this album the Band still perform today Wink

Rating: 9 out of 10

All The Best

Susie

Cool Rolling Eyes
PostPosted:Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:35 am
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Anthony Post subject:
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I remember at one of the Hollies Melbourne shows maybe 1987 the band said they had a double R'N'R album and played one of their faster songs. I thought the Hollies played some of the best R'N'R about, I feel it's a pity they did not attempt more. Thats why I think I loved this album so much.

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PostPosted:Sat Oct 02, 2004 0:38 am
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speedwaybloke Post subject: Russian Roulette
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Location: Point Clare, NSW, Australia

I like this album but it does have a couple of weak points.

My major criticism is with ‘Wiggle That Wotsit’. The tune has a good rock & roll dance sound but the lyrics are rubbish. In New Zealand ‘Wiggle That Wotsit’ got some airplay and was roundly condemned. I believe it was a bad choice as a single release and contributed to the end of the band’s run of chart success. ’48 Hour Parole’ is a far stronger song and is one of three songs, in my opinion, that would have done well in the charts. When you consider the first two tracks and the rest of side one you get a great example of the versatility of the Hollies. ‘Thanks For The Memories’ is a poignant song of lost love, ‘Ooh My Love’ perhaps the precursor of a new relationship. ‘Lady Of The Night’ rounds out side one.

I see the title track ‘Russian Roulette’ as the perfect opening number to a Hollies show. Imagine the stage in darkness and the sound of the roulette ball starts. A spotlight picks out each band member in turn as the song starts. Then over the music the sound of the ball bouncing and coming to a halt as the stage explodes into light “Back street dive down in New Orleans…”. Can you picture it? I am sure that this song would have made the top 10. I like ‘Draggin My Heels’ with its beat. When I saw the Hollies in 1983 and 1987 this was the only Clarke/Hicks/Sylvester composition they played. In the 1983 show it had a big instrumental break in the middle. ‘Louise’ is another great rocking dance number but I think the lyrics don’t measure up to past standards. ‘Be With You’ is another gentle song, less urgent than ‘Ooh My Love’. The final song, and another contender for single release, is ‘Daddy Don’t Mind’. In this song there is the start of the relationship that could have continued in the previously released ‘Too Young To Be Married’. It is a social commentary song with great tune and lyrics.

I would like to have heard less of the horns on some songs, more guitar and better use of harmony vocals but overall this is a very good album. And doesn’t Terry look dapper with a bow tie?
PostPosted:Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:44 am
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Dennis Post subject:
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Russian Roulette: A spotty album, but slightly better than the previous effort, "Write On", mainly due to the title track and "Draggin' My Heels". I'd rather hear the band with a bit of an edge like on this album; the problem is I just don't care for too much of the material.
PostPosted:Thu Mar 02, 2006 19:27 pm
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SpartyScott Post subject: Re: Russian Roulette
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The best songs of the LP, to me, are:

1. My Love

2. Be With You

3. Russian Roulette

4. Daddy Don't Mind


After that, I'm hard-pressed to name a song that I really like. Most assuredly, I do NOT enjoy Wiggle.


Laughing I see "The Wiggles" enough on television, now that I'm a father -- that's the only time I want to hear that word.
PostPosted:Fri Mar 03, 2006 23:48 pm
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SpartyScott Post subject: 1977 Review from Rolling Stone Magazine
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Rolling Stone, May 19, 1977

Hollies go lightly to new heights


By Charley Walters

More than most other survivors of the British Invasion, the Hollies have remained recognizably themselves: clear harmonies, bright guitars, memorable tunes. All of this may have done them in, not because they didn’t change but because it seemed that they couldn’t. Sure, they came up occasional jewels but more often they relied on undistinguished lightweight ballads or rewritten versions of “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress).”

So the freshness and variety of the new Russian Roulette (Polydor SUPER 2383 421, British) is all the more startling. Producing themselves, the Hollies play with the confident enthusiasm of a much younger group, without their recent glossy excesses. The five experiment gingerly but workably with salsa and disco. The hard-rocking “48 Hour Parole” is meatier than one might expect, and “Lady of the Night” and “Daddy Don’t Mind” display uncharacteristically haunting edges. There are occasional weak spots lurking, like “Louise,” which comes on too quickly and eagerly. But they are usually the kind of mistakes that makes the group’s spirit wonderfully apparent. Not only can an old group teach itself new riffs, it can make them sound good as well.
PostPosted:Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:29 am
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Dennis Post subject:
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I remember that Rolling Stone review. I agree with one of the opinions above about "Draggin' My Heels" sounding better live; it gave the band room to do a nice extended jam. They should have explored this avenue further with other songs. The trouble with The Hollies is that they couldn't make up their minds whether to concentrate on ballads or rockers, leaving the public somewhat puzzled. I think this worked against them. The next LPs, "A Crazy Steal" and "5317704" were ballad-heavy and sounded out of place in the midst of high-energy disco and New wave Rock of the late '70s.
PostPosted:Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:21 am
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James Towill Post subject:
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Perhaps we could have had some high-energy 'pub-rock' from the band along the lines of Dr Feelgood? Wink

Clarkey could sure do a mean blues harp in the same vein as Lee Brilleaux.

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PostPosted:Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:29 am
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Dennis Post subject:
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James Towill wrote:
Perhaps we could have had some high-energy 'pub-rock' from the band along the lines of Dr Feelgood? Wink

Clarkey could sure do a mean blues harp in the same vein as Lee Brilleaux.


It's a shame that they didn't tour the "Hollies" (1974) LP properly. Those songs with the harmonica in them would have been great to hear live. From what I read, after Clarke rejoined and they did that album, they were back to "playing the hits", with barely a nod to this fine album. I also wonder why they never played "Hey Willy" live. A terrific rocker, and another one that could have developed into a band workout on stage.
PostPosted:Sat Jun 17, 2006 15:52 pm
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James Towill Post subject:
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Good points, Dennis. Hey Willy is a terrific rock track.

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PostPosted:Sat Jun 17, 2006 22:43 pm
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Dennis Post subject:
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James Towill wrote:
Good points, Dennis. Hey Willy is a terrific rock track.


I heard "Hey Willy" on FM radio back in '71, here in Los Angeles.

It baffles me why Epic didn't get them to tour when Clarke rejoined. You don't sell many records when you don't get the artist in front of the public. The "Hollies" ('74) LP made it to No. 28 in the US. It could have gone higher had they toured.
PostPosted:Sun Jun 18, 2006 1:50 am
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SpartyScott Post subject:
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Well, I'm in for it now - my five year old son's favorite song in the world for now is "Wiggle The Wotsit."

I made the mistake of putting on the Russian Roulette album with him in the room, and he fell in love with the song.

So far, we've heard "Wiggle" about twenty times in the last two days.
PostPosted:Sat Oct 13, 2007 14:58 pm
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Dennis Post subject:
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SpartyScott wrote:
Well, I'm in for it now - my five year old son's favorite song in the world for now is "Wiggle The Wotsit."

I made the mistake of putting on the Russian Roulette album with him in the room, and he fell in love with the song.

So far, we've heard "Wiggle" about twenty times in the last two days.


Maybe that kids group called The Wiggles could cover it? Not a bad idea Idea

I think "Russian Roulette" was a step in the right direction; I just wish they had recorded a few outside compositions, as they were always great interpreters of other writers, and dumped several of the weaker songs, "Wiggle.." especially. It doesn't bode well for the album when such a silly tune opens it. It would have been better had they begun the LP with the title track. But it's definitely the band's most energetic album from the last half of the '70s. I give it a 7 out of 10 rating.
PostPosted:Sat Oct 13, 2007 15:38 pm
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