Just one look

Before CSN, there were the Hollies. If you appreciate the harmony of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash singing together, then you will also appreciate the equally tight harmony of the British group, the Hollies.

Nash is the common thread running through both groups. He started out in 1962 as a founding and integral member of the Hollies together with Allan Clarke. And the group was pretty successful till about 1968 or so, with one hit after another racing up the British pop charts and of course, here in Malaysia too.

But by 1968, Nash had become disillusioned with his stay in the Hollies. The final straw came when his bandmates wanted to record a selection of Bob Dylan songs - quite the fashion in those days - but he didn't want to. By this time, he had become firm friends with Crosby and Stills, with whom he found greater appreciation of his songs. So he left the Hollies and crossed the Atlantic to join up with them. The rest, as they say, is history.

To the credit of the Hollies, their musical career did not suffer without Nash. The group just simply carried on with other chart-topping hits. But it was this song, Just One Look, released in February 1964, that made me sit back and really appreciate the great harmony of the Hollies. It reached as high as Number Two on the British charts.