AR: The Hollies; Multi-platinum, 30 odd hits the Hollies are great. Interview coming up.

AR: We'll be talking to someone with stories about Ghosts and things that he has experienced. How spiritualism has helped save his life and also a special message for somebody who runs a unique place to do with hedgehogs in Redcar.

AR: A conversation with the Hollies. A massive band, still going had tons of hits in the 60s and 70s... and the 80s oh and 90s and they had a hit not so long ago with their advert He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother on the big TV, adverts of all time. You'll recognise their songs no matter what age you are and you'll also hear some very cool ghost stories, and a quite disgusting thing about a tumour, there's a giant tumour story coming up.

AR: From a band that has sold more albums across the world than Madonna or Eminem. One of the great Super groups still in existence The Hollies later on, on tonight's Alan Robson's Night Owls.

Open with: Air That I Breathe

AR: (speaks over intro) Tonight in conversation with the Hollies

Air That I Breathe Played through.

AR: Now joined by somebody who is a legend, frankly, a legend. When you talk about Super groups people mention about people who have a hit, one hit and they're a Super group. Don't think so. But if you've had the number of hits that this mob have got I think that you can quite rightly justify yourself as "Living Legend" and we've got one with us now. Carl Wayne from the Hollies. Hello Carl

CW: Good grief that sounds odd doesn't it? Carl Wayne from the Hollies, people say no, no not Carl Wayne from the Hollies, Carl Wayne from the Move!

AR: Yeah

CW: Miss Diane, Crossroads and all that. But no, I'm with the Hollies and very proud to be.

AR: It must be strange though taking on the mantle of another band. Especially a band that has the kind of history that the Hollies have got.

CW: Tough decision, tough decision. It's er... do you cover Redcar by the way?

AR: Absolutely.

CW: I want to give a plug for Hog Haven. A friend of mine named Lynne (name?) Appleby. She rescues hedgehogs

AR: Right

CW: And she has a wonderful sanctuary they call 'Hog Haven'. So if anybody's got a hedgehog that's been in anyway tormented she's the girl to contact, she's a wonderful girl. I've got me plug in. Right, joining the Hollies. Well it was a bit of a shock, it was a coincidence really. My life seems to be full of coincidences. About 6 years ago I was working in... I was doing some Cabaret in a night club somewhere and a guy came in to dep. as a pianist and I said to him "what else do you do apart from this here?" And he's got a name; Ian Parker, he's with the group now. I [Ian] said "oh I'm with the Hollies". I was "good grief the Hollies, I love the Hollies," cause everybody loves the Hollies, I said "blimey I'd love to sing with them. How're they doing, is Allan with them?" [Ian:] Yes [Carl:] "If anything ever happens give us a call." Forgot about it. Never even thought it would. 3 Years later, I'm driving around London with my son Jack. Just come out of a night at Planet Hollywood, having a burger, the phone rings and it was the same guy and he says; "do you remember we worked together 3 years ago?" And I said "yeah." He said "got a few problems, Allan's got a few problems, his wife's not(?) ill and he's got some personal problems. I mentioned you to the management. They thought you might come and do a few gigs with us, what do you think?" And I said "yeah." And he said "you know the songs?" And I said "yeah" and I put the phone down and thought; 'do I? heck!' So I whipped round and said to my son Jack, "I've got to go and get the Hollies Greatest CD!" He said "who?" I said "the Hollies." So I went in and I bought the Hollies Greatest hits which was a package that was out at the that time, went home and realised that I said yes to this enormous task. And I started to listen and think how many hits have these boys had? It's extraordinary because I first saw them in 1963, 3 years before I formed the Move and Nashy was there, Allan Clarke; they were formidable you know in the early days 'Just One Look', 'Searchin'' and all that business.

AR: When you saw that Greatest Hits, there hasn't been a greatest hits like this new one that's come out, double CD

CW: No

AR: Absolutely, Chock a block so even if you'd learnt Greatest Hits 1 from back then, blimey, you still would be short because they've got so many great tunes.

CW: Well that's where they're crafty, the devils. Because when I joined they said "you know the hits don't you" and I said "yeah 'Sorry Suzanne', 'Jennifer Eccles', 'Carrie-Anne', 'On a Carousel', 'He Ain't Heavy' blblbl it went on and on and they said "yeah that's it- learn them". So I learnt them all, you see, before the "Audition" as we call it to see if I'd blended. Anyway, the first thing we did was they said "when's my first gig with you" and they said "we're doing a gig for Mercedes Benz "or Daimler-Chrysler as they're known these days in Stuttgart and I said "oh yeah?" And they said- "by the way we've had a lot of hits in Europe that you've never, won't be aware of." So the crafty devils, they sprung another 12 on me! So we do them on stage, some of them. We've, I mean the Hollies evening now is a phenomenal evening, it's wall-to-wall hits because you've got about 26 of theirs including two or three which they had as hits abroad, in fact 'Blowin' In the Wind', the great Bob Dylan classic, that was a number 1 throughout Europe. There's one called 'the Baby' which is a great song written by Chip Taylor who wrote 'Can't Let Go', I think, and 'Soldier's Song' which we of course we dedicate to our wonderful forces.

Plays Compilation: Soldier's Song/ I'm Alive/ Sorry Suzanne/ Here I go Again/ Look Through Any Window

AR: What is the worst pain, the most excruciating thing that's ever happened Carl Wayne body?

CW: The most excruciating pain is running a marathon. That is the most excruciating, I mean I recently, last year I had an operation that lasted 7 1/2 hours. But I, by virtue of modern medicine and the genius of surgeons and an anaesthetist in particular, I didn't really feel a lot about it till I came round and tried to walk in the following weeks and I couldn't.

AR: So what was it? What happened to you Carl?

CW: I had an obstruction in my stomach, in my oesophagus which was preventing me from eating. And so they had to, unfortunately because of where it was placed, they had to open me up and go in through the ribcage and I wont you know offend people with the details but it was 7 1/2 hours major operations, specialist, and it had to come out because I couldn't swallow and I couldn't eat properly.

AR: So what was in there? An old sock?

CW: Yeah haha. No it was a growth, a benign growth but what it was, it was obstructing me and my eating and I could only eat, getting to a stage where I could only eat fluids and I said could I do the tour? And they said no it's gotta come out otherwise you'll be emaciated. So recovering from that was one thing, but what enabled me to get through it and help me was the fact that I haven't smoked for 8 years, I used to smoke not every day but on a bad day and I stopped drinking about 4/5 years not because I was hard drinker but because I didn't find any benefit from it. I got bored and I found that things like Cranberry juice and I think it's called Almay or Arlmay(?) which is a herbal juice, were just as good substitutes and I've run for 30 years for Leukaemia research and I've done about 20 odd marathons and thousands of miles over the years. I mean I used to run 40/50 miles a week before my operation and the surgeon said if anything's going to get you through this operation this will, but, actually the most excruciating pain of all mentally or physically is to run a marathon so my hat goes off to all those people who would have run undoubtedly the London marathon last weekend but also to those who run the Great North Run which I'll hopefully do again this year.

Compilation: Gasoline Alley Bred/ Carrie-Anne/ Long Cool Woman

CW: I do believe that life goes on, the body obviously stops but I believe.. er when I was first told I had a major problem and I had to have a major operation, I went to see some wonderful spiritualists and they actually gave me the strength and resources to get through this nasty er debacle if you like. I've found great help in that. My mother on the other hand, Dorothy, was in service many years ago, some of your listeners will remember being in service and she was staying in this very cold, drafty old house when she was a young girl and she went to bed one night and it was a very cold, inhospitable place but she felt the weight of a body crawling over the bed and she never again slept in that bed for a number of years, 6 years afterwards until she left that house of service. But she believes in a great deal. And I believe they are around, I believe, I think they're called Kars (?). People who are trapped between the real world and the spiritual world but I have a great belief, certainly in the afterlife

Plays: Bus Stop

CW: I've never been frightened to fail but you don't know whether you're going to fail or succeed unless you try. And you know, I was never prepared to fail with the Hollies, I was prepared for people to say 'yes it's different' but I equally expected that with the amount of input that I was going to put, the hard work and the energy and the support of 5 wonderful musicians around me and really nice blokes. That we were going to make the new line-up work and we have and it's, you know, people are saying on tour that as live performance this is as good as it's ever been. I mean the reviews, people can get very cynical when they're reviewing, you see a group that's been going 40 years and you've got the catalogue to compare with, you can get very cynical when you come and see it but for them to say the things they are saying and for the audience to react as they have reacted, we must be doing something right and I'm very flattered by that and honoured by that but I'm also motivated by it and I'll give them 12 months to move on and if it hasn't moved on in 12 months then I might reflect and say that maybe I should put the energy which I've got and will have till the day I die into something else. (Says something and Alan Robson talks over, I couldn't pick out) But look at it in 12 months time.

AR: I think you've got the right idea though, but definitely to have the new line-up recorded makes absolute sense and you've got the talent and the people behind you to provide great songs. I think you'll take the Hollies into a brand new and very exciting future. Congratulations! Carl Wayne, good to talk to you.

CW: Alan, great to talk to you, thanks a million.

Compilation: Jennifer Eccles/ Just One Look/ On A Carousel/ Searchin'/ He Ain't Heavy, he's My Brother.