Harold "Allan" Clarke was born on April 5, 1942 in Salford, England.

Allan met Graham Nash at the Ordsall Primary School in Manchester when they were both five years old. They quickly became close friends. They first sang together in the school's choir rendition of The Lord Is My Shepherd. They were caught up in the skiffle craze and began to perform outside of school. They adopted a number of names under which they performed. These included The Two Teens, The Levins, the Guytones (based on the brand of guitar they used) and the Fourtones. As they moved from skiffle to rock'n'roll, the duo became entranced with the harmonies of the Everly Brothers and decided to emulate them. They tried to pass themselves off now as a brother act - Ricky and Dane Young. It was in this incarnation that they were approached by Eric Haydock to join the Deltas. The Deltas soon transformed into the Dominators

of Rhythm and finally into the Hollies.

In the early days, Allan typically sang lead vocals with Graham on harmony. Tony Hicks was later added to the vocal mix. Allan also contributed on the harmonica on a number of songs.

The hit Long Cool Woman was an atypical Hollies song for two reasons. First Allan played lead guitar on the track. Second, Allan's vocals were the only ones; there were no harmony vocals. By the time this song had become a hit Allan had already left the group in pursuit of a solo career. This was after the release of the album Distant Light.

Allan Clarke on embarking on his solo career: "I saw how well Graham Nash was doing in the States, and I thought, I'd like a little bit of that. It

wasn't that I was trapped in the Hollies, but I wanted to try and create

something different, that didn't sound like the rest of the group. So I

approached the rest of the boys with the idea that I should do a solo album. Their reaction, quite rightly, was that if I wanted to make a solo album, I should leave the group. I didn't want to leave; I had no idea if I would be successful. But I decided to take a chance, signed with RCA and made the album called My Real Name Is Harold, which was me stripping myself bare of the past."

My Real Name Is Harold did not gain commercial success, and neither did the follow-up album, Headroom.

Allan Clarke on his solo career: "I wanted to be famous in my own right. I

think everybody does if they're honest. Originally, I was trying to get away

from the Hollies sound, which is difficult as I'm the lead singer."

On August 7, 1973, Allan was back in studio recording with the Hollies.

Their first song together, Mexico Gold was unreleased until the Rarities

album came out. The next song, penned by Allan, was The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee. It was a distinct attempt to capture the sound of their last hit, Long Cool Woman. Curly Billy was released in October of 1973 and reached #24 in the UK.

Allan Clarke on rejoining the Hollies: "I left London and moved back up

north, and when I was there, Tony met me for a drink and asked me if I'd

like to rejoin. I was in two minds, because I still wanted to do solo work.

The agreement we made was that I could do what I wanted outside the group; but actually, when I went back we had a couple of hits, so the Hollies ended up taking most of my time."

Allan Clarke on performing: "Singing isn't hard work physically. We always

travel in comfort, but mentally after a show, the adrenaline is guzzing and we come back to the hotel and can't get any food and we find we're full of energy half way through the night. It gets into my bloodstream and when I get home I'm pacing around at midnight and impossible to live with. You take time to wind down and then you have to wind up when you're off again."

After finishing the recording of A Crazy Steal in August of 1977, Allan once

again left the Hollies. This time, the band waited for him to return.

Allan's solo album I Wasn't Born Yesterday was released in May 1978. It was not until August of 1978 that Allan rejoined and the Hollies started to work on their next album, 5317704.

Allan sang the vocals to the Allan Parsons Project hit Breakdown on the I,

Robot album.

Allan's latest solo effort, Reasons To Believe, was released in 1990.

Quote

"Music should bring forth emotion. I hope listening to ours brings you some; a smile and a feeling of love. Because that's what the Hollies believe in."

Clarke Fun Facts

.Allan had recorded a version of Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run before 'The Boss' did. However, his record company delayed in releasing. They finally put it out the week Bruce released his own version. .Allan was a cowboy at heart. He would organize mock gun battles and quick draw contests among the members of the group. The authentic-looking six-guns would be drawn from solid leather holsters and would fire small steel balls powered by compressed air. .Allan's wife is Jennifer and his children are Tim, Piper and Tobe. .The name of the music publisher, TIMTOBE, is from the names of Allan's sons, Tim and Tobe. .Allan produced the 1969 LP I'll Be Proud Of You by Warm Sensation. .Allan played harmonica on one track for Blue Mink's 1972

album A Time of Change. .Allan produced Hello, How Are You by Gary Walker in 1974. .In 1979, Allan played harmonica on I Got a Thing About You Baby By Swampfox and sang backing vocals on Poor Cheater by Buckeye.

Albums

Solo

My Real Name Is Harold (72)

Headroom (73)

Allan Clarke (74)

I've Got Time (76)

I Wasn't Born Yesterday (78)

The Only One (80)

Legendary Heroes (80)

Best of Allan Clarke (81)

Reasons To Believe (90)

I Was'n't Born Yesterday/The Only One (97)

Heroes & Survivors... Allan Clarke (The Aura Anthology 1978-1981 (2004)

with Alan Parsons Project

I, Robot 7777

Allan Clarke have recording 2 CD-singles in 2000/2001 with a German Duo called "Et Cetera".

Allan Clarke played guitar and sing on two Hollies songs "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" (2000) and He Ain't Heavy - He's my Brocher (2001)

Singles

Solo

You're Losing Me

Coward By Name72 {a} Ruby

You're Losing me72 {g}72 {k} Who

I Look In Your Eyes73 {b} Sideshow

Don't Let Me Down Again7475 {l} Born To Run

Why Don't You Call75 Living In Love

People Of That Kind76 If You Think You Know How To Love Me

Light A Light76 {h} I Don't Know When I'm Beat

The Passenger78 {c} I'm Betting My Life On You

I Wasn't Born Yesterday78 I'm Betting My Life On You

Who's Going Out The Back Door78 {i} I Wasn't Born Yesterday

The Man Who Manufactures Daydreams 78 Shadow In The Street

The Passenger78 Shadow In The Street

No Prisoner Taken79 {d} I Wasn't Born Yesterday

New Blood79 Slipstream

Imagination's Child80 {e}80 {j}80 {m} The Only One

Driving The Doomsday Cars80 The Only Ones

The Survivor80 {d} Walls

Baby Blue81 Born To Run

If I Were The Priest81 Shadow In the Street

If You Walked Away82 Someone Else Will

Castles In The Wind82 {f} Reasons To Believe In

Without Love90 {n} Spellbound

Love Moves In Strange Ways90 {a} RCA

{b} EMI

{c} Polydor

{d} Aura

{e} Electra

{f} Forever {g} Epic

{h} Asylum

{i} Atlantic

{j} Electra {k} RCA

{l} EMI

{m} Mercury

{n} Polydor