Tony Hicks

Born: 16 December 1945 (age 79)
Website: www.hollies.co.uk

Anthony Christopher Hicks (born 16 December 1945) is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British pop group the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Early years

Hicks first had a taste of fame at age 12 as a member of Les Skifflettes when they were featured on the Carroll Levis talent show in 1957. By the early 1960s, he was a respected member of the Manchester music scene and had become the lead guitarist with Ricky Shaw and the Dolphins. When then local rivals the Hollies needed a replacement for their guitarist Vic Steele in February 1963, Hicks was approached to join the band. Although initially reluctant, he was finally convinced to join after listening to The Hollies through the air vent of the Twisted Wheel in Manchester. They had secured a test recording session with EMI's Parlophone label for staff producer Ron Richards, which Hicks duly attended as their new guitarist in April 1963 and which resulted in a recording contract with Parlophone.

With the Hollies

The Hollies soon became one of the most successful bands in Britain; they had a distinctive, breezy pop style built around the three-part harmony of Hicks (lower harmony) and bandmates Allan Clarke (lead vocals) and Graham Nash (high harmony). Hicks contributed his first solo composition for the group {"When I'm Not There"} to an EP release in 1964 and co-wrote a B-side {"Keep Off That Friend of Mine"} with drummer Bobby Elliott that year. Hicks then joined Clarke and Nash as the group's in-house songwriting team, who from 1964 to mid-1966 wrote as "Chester Mann" and "L. Ransford" before adopting the Clarke-Hicks-Nash banner. By the mid-1960s the threesome had become responsible for writing most of their songs, including singles hits such as "Stop! Stop! Stop!", "On A Carousel", "Carrie Anne" and "King Midas in Reverse". Hicks rarely sang lead vocals on Hollies songs, but was featured on "Look Through Any Window" (1965), and sang verse leads on "Too Much Monkey Business" (1964), "Carrie Anne" (a song he began for the band in Stavanger, Norway in 1967) and "Open Up Your Eyes" (1968). Hicks took solo lead vocals on his song "Pegasus" (1967), the Clarke-Sylvester-penned "Look at Life" (1969), his "Born A Man" (1973), "Hillsborough" (1989) and Bobby Elliott's "Then, Now, Always (Dolphin Days)" (2009).

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Look Through Any Window

Single by The Hollies
B-side: "So Lonely" (L. Ransford)
Released
UK: 27 August 1965
US: September 1965
Format: 7" single
Recorded: 30 June 1965, Abbey Road Studios
Genre: Pop rock, beat, jangle pop
Length: 2:14
Label: UK: Parlophone R5322
US: Imperial 66134
Songwriter(s): Graham Gouldman, Charles Silverman
Producer(s): Ron Richards

"Look Through Any Window" is a song by the British beat group The Hollies. It was the first American Billboard Top 40 hit for them, peaking at No. 32 on 22 January 1966 (Just One Look in 1964 had been their first American chart hit). It reached No. 4 in their native country and in Canada it made #3 in the RPM Magazine charts, as well as in South Africa. Written by songwriters Graham Gouldman and Charles Silverman, it features a distinctive 12-string guitar riff, soaring harmonies and Bobby Elliott’s explosive drumming. They also recorded a version in French ( titled "Regardez par des fenêtres" ) that was not officially released at the time but was included on the 1988 compilation Rarities.

First released as a single in the UK, it was included in the US version of their 1965 album Hollies titled Hear! Here! by their US label, Imperial Records.

The B-side, "So Lonely", later included on Hollies and Hear! Here!, was recorded by the Everly Brothers and released in July 1966 on their Two Yanks in England album.

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ForbiddenInGermany1
Published on Dec 27, 2009

HQ-Video. Hollies - Look Through Any Window (1966). Neu vertont von Audio-CD.

The Hollies - Look Through Any Window
959,486 views • Jan 14, 2013

rcpinsa
1.58K subscribers

The Hollies spot on Sunday Night At The London Palladium on 03/10/1965

subterranean engineer
Published on May 31, 2015

This French language version of one of their biggest hits was recorded around Christmas of 1965. After putting their best effort into this song trying to get ahead of any French copycats. EMI - France rejected it. This is a stereo monitor mix.