The Hollies - King Midas In Reverse (Live on Top Gear, 22nd October 1967)

The Hollies performing their hit ’King Midas In Reverse’ on BBC’s Top Gear radio program on 22nd October, 1967. There’s an opening interview with Graham Nash, with drummer Bobby Elliott joining in. The track was recorded with 14 musicians conducted by Johnny Scott, who arranged the orchestral accompaniment on the track. This BBC version has never been released before anywhere. The Hollies recorded ’King Midas In Reverse’ on 3rd August, 1967. The backing track was laid down and vocals added. The effect on Bobby’s drum fills was achieved by speeding the tape up to record them, and on playback, they were much deeper in pitch, sounding more like timpani. On this BBC track, you can hear them overdubbed as they would have been live in the studio, without the tape varispeed effect. The next day, on 4th August, The Hollies fly to Sweden to begin a tour of the Folk Parks, debuting their latest psychedelic clothing. The same day, the 40 piece orchestral accompaniment arranged by Johnny Scott is added without the Hollies present, at Abbey Road studios. It was released as a single on 22nd September, 1967. This BBC performance was recorded on 13th October 1967, and broadcast on 22nd October, 1967. Other tracks recorded for the session were ’The Games We Play’, ’Step Inside’, ’Postcard’, ’Charlie And Fred’ and ’Away Away Away’. Due to Bobby Elliott’s illness during the start of 1967, this was their first BBC radio session of 1967. The first photos in the video during the interview are from that August tour of Sweden. The photos during the song are from the long lost performance of the single on Top Of The Pops. These are all the photos of the rehearsal for the filming (cameras weren’t allowed in during the actual filming, hence the Hollies’ relaxed attire) and the footage was wiped. Many of the photos here are grainy, but historically significant.