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Bus Stop – Wet Day!
“Bus Stop” was written by UK songwriter and future 10cc member Graham Gouldman, who also penned major hits for The Yardbirds (“For Your Love”) and Herman’s Hermits (“No Milk Today”), as well as the Hollies’ first venture into the US top 40 with “Look Through Any Window”. With the release of “Bus Stop” as a single in June 1966, the Hollies joined the trend known as raga rock, a subgenre first popularised by the Beatles, the Byrds and the Kinks. Musicologist William Echard highlights the guitar solo and its sitar-like sound as an indicator of the Indian musical element evident in the song.
I’d love to see Mona and Lisa try some more Graham Gouldman penned songs. It seems his father helped out with lyrics when he was stuck, just like Papa Rudi does with MLT songs.
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18 Replies
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In a 1976 interview Gouldman said the idea for “Bus Stop” had come while he was riding home from work on a bus. The opening lines were written by his father, playwright Hyme Gouldman. Graham Gouldman continued with the rest of the song in his bedroom, apart from the middle-eight, which he finished while riding to work – a men’s outfitters – on the bus the next day.
Thirty years later he elaborated on the song’s beginnings: “‘Bus Stop’, I had the title and I came home one day and he (Hyme) said ‘I’ve started something on that Bus Stop idea you had, and I’m going to play it for you. He’d written Bus stop, wet day, she’s there, I say please share my umbrella and it’s like when you get a really great part of a lyric or, I also had this nice riff as well, and when you have such a great start to a song it’s kind of like the rest is easy. It’s like finding your way onto a road and when you get onto the right route, you just follow it.
“My late father was a writer. He was great to have around. I would write something and always show him the lyric and he would fix it for me. You know, he’d say ‘There’s a better word than this’ – he was kind of like a walking thesaurus as well and quite often, sometimes, he came up with titles for songs as well. ‘No Milk Today’ is one of his titles, and also the 10cc song ‘Art for Art’s Sake’.”
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“Look Through Any Window” – The Hollies
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Cool story of Bus Stop Lyrics origins… ????️??
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Pardon me, but I just can’t help thinking this would be another perfect Graham Gouldman song for the MLT. Just think how much fun Mona and Lisa could have with milk in a video in their ”Bus Stop” fashion. I tend to think Mona would come off second best.
No Milk Today – Herman’s Hermits
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Yes, I can see it now. Lisa pouring milk on Mona or running away with it all so there is none left for Mona. Serving her dry cereal because she drank all the milk. When I saw the latest picture I knew it had gone too far. Driving in that convertible Lisa didn’t just knock Mona’s hat off – she took it! I think that might explain the look on Mona’s face. “I want my hat back”.
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Lol… Such vivid imaginations and imagery Howard and John… I ‘m now going to have those visions stuck in my head now. Thanks a lot you two???
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For Your Love – The Yardbirds
“Gouldman wrote this song at the age of 18 while working by day in a gentlemen’s outfitters near Salford Docks and playing by night with the semi-professional Manchester band the Mockingbirds. He explained: “I was sleeping most of the time because I’d been gigging with the Mockingbirds the night before, and then during the day when I’d got any spare time I’d write in the shop. I used to shut up the shop at lunch time and sit in the back writing.” He had been influenced by the song writing style of the Beatles.
This was the last Yardbirds recording featuring Eric Clapton on guitar. He wasn’t happy with their change from Blues to a more commercial Beatlesque sound. The recording also featured a harpsichord, which was very unusual for pop music in 1965. The Beatles’ influence can be clearly seen with the double-time middle break section.
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LOVE The Hollies… Look Through Any Window is my favorite!
I love The Yardbirds too… and they were great with Clapton, but from a commercial standpoint, his leaving was probably the best thing that ever could have happened from several aspects: Clapton went on to create Cream and achieve immortality: The Yardbirds went on to great success, and launched Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page into the stratospheres; and after the implosion of The Yardbirds… from the ashes rose Led Zeppelin! How different the musical landscape could have been had Eric remained???
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I’ve always thought that “No Milk Today” had a musical sophistication to it that most Herman’s Hermits songs lacked. Interesting to learn that it was written by the “Bus Stop” composer.
Coincidentally, the “Wings of Pegasus” guy just posted an analysis of this very performance today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43qj5ePXYhY
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Good catch David. Thanks for sharing it. That’s a wonderful analysis from the Pegasus guy, especially honing in on the guitarist’s mistake and recovery. I’ve always liked Herman’s Hermits and remember them well as a teenager in the sixties. Interesting that he mentions the single had a different ‘B’/ ‘A’ side in America, with “There’s a Kind of a Hush”, another favourite of mine and another song I’d love to see the MLT cover. Although it isn’t a Gouldman composition and not totally within the theme of this Topic, I’ve included a version here.
The original version was by ‘The New Vaudeville Band’ and ‘The Carpenters’ had a major cover in 1976.
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I’m a fan of Herman’s Hermits too, Howard. They’re a great feel-good group. I’ve seen Peter Noone in concert twice (most recently just over a year ago), and the Hermits without Herman once.
I just found out that Graham Gouldman also wrote their song “Listen People”.
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Yeppers, I too like Herman ‘s Hermits stuff…. Even had a crush on Peter Noone as a kid back in the 70s when I first heard of/saw them on TV and radio…
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The Yardbirds also recorded several Graham Gouldman songs. As well as “For Your Love“ (March 1965), there were the following:
Heart Full of Soul – Yardbirds (featuring Jeff Beck), June 1965
Evil Hearted You – Yardbirds (featuring Jeff Beck), October 1965
Tallyman – Jeff Beck (1967)
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Evil Hearted You – Yardbirds (featuring Jeff Beck)
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