"
Bus Stop" is the title of a song recorded and released as a 7" 45rpm vinyl
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
by the British pop band
The HolliesThe Hollies are an English rock group from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British groups of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart...
. It became a hit in 1966, reaching #5 in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. It was the Hollies' first US top ten hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard charts in September 1966.
It was written by UK songwriter and future
10cc10cc is an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Initially comprising four musicians — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the “10cc” name in 1972.Two...
member
Graham GouldmanGraham Gouldman is an English songwriter and musician who is a long-time member of British band 10cc.-1960s pop career: 1963-1968:...
, who also penned major hits for
The YardbirdsThe Yardbirds are an English rock band, notable for starting the careers of three of rock's more famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, all of whom were in the top fifteen of Rolling Stones' 100 Top Guitarists list...
("
For Your LoveFor Your Love is the first U.S. album by English blues rock band The Yardbirds, released in August 1965. As a compilation of previous Yardbirds singles, it was only released in the U.S. , where it peaked at #96 on the charts...
") and
Herman's HermitsHerman's Hermits were an English pop band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's management and producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening and clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
("
No Milk Today"No Milk Today" is a song that was written by Graham Gouldman and originally recorded by British pop band Herman's Hermits. It was first released as a single by the Mancunian group in the UK in October 1966 and, with the B-side "My Reservation's Been Confirmed", enjoyed chart success, peaking at #7...
"), as well as The Hollies' first venture into the US top 40 with "
Look Through Any Window"Look Through Any Window" is the first American Top-40 hit for the British Invasion band The Hollies, peaking at #32 in January 1966. It reached #4 in their homeland...
".
Gouldman included a version of the song on his 1968 debut solo album,
The Graham Gouldman ThingThe Graham Gouldman Thing was the debut album by singer and songwriter Graham Gouldman. Gouldman had already written hit singles for Herman's Hermits , the Yardbirds , the Hollies and Wayne Fontana and on this album Gouldman delivered his own versions of some of those songs...
.
"
Bus Stop" is the title of a song recorded and released as a 7" 45rpm vinyl
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
by the British pop band
The HolliesThe Hollies are an English rock group from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British groups of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart...
. It became a hit in 1966, reaching #5 in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. It was the Hollies' first US top ten hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard charts in September 1966.
It was written by UK songwriter and future
10cc10cc is an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Initially comprising four musicians — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the “10cc” name in 1972.Two...
member
Graham GouldmanGraham Gouldman is an English songwriter and musician who is a long-time member of British band 10cc.-1960s pop career: 1963-1968:...
, who also penned major hits for
The YardbirdsThe Yardbirds are an English rock band, notable for starting the careers of three of rock's more famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, all of whom were in the top fifteen of Rolling Stones' 100 Top Guitarists list...
("
For Your LoveFor Your Love is the first U.S. album by English blues rock band The Yardbirds, released in August 1965. As a compilation of previous Yardbirds singles, it was only released in the U.S. , where it peaked at #96 on the charts...
") and
Herman's HermitsHerman's Hermits were an English pop band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's management and producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening and clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
("
No Milk Today"No Milk Today" is a song that was written by Graham Gouldman and originally recorded by British pop band Herman's Hermits. It was first released as a single by the Mancunian group in the UK in October 1966 and, with the B-side "My Reservation's Been Confirmed", enjoyed chart success, peaking at #7...
"), as well as The Hollies' first venture into the US top 40 with "
Look Through Any Window"Look Through Any Window" is the first American Top-40 hit for the British Invasion band The Hollies, peaking at #32 in January 1966. It reached #4 in their homeland...
".
Gouldman included a version of the song on his 1968 debut solo album,
The Graham Gouldman ThingThe Graham Gouldman Thing was the debut album by singer and songwriter Graham Gouldman. Gouldman had already written hit singles for Herman's Hermits , the Yardbirds , the Hollies and Wayne Fontana and on this album Gouldman delivered his own versions of some of those songs...
. It has also been recorded by
Herman's HermitsHerman's Hermits were an English pop band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's management and producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening and clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
and
Classics IVClassics IV was a pop rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, in 1965. The band and its lead singer Dennis Yost are principally known for the hits "Spooky" and "Stormy", both released in 1968 and both of which have become cover standards....
.
In a 1976 interview Gouldman said the idea for the song 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 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
thesaurusA thesaurus is a work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning , in contrast to a dictionary, which contains definitions and pronunciations...
as well and quite often, sometimes, he came up with titles for songs as well. '
No Milk Today"No Milk Today" is a song that was written by Graham Gouldman and originally recorded by British pop band Herman's Hermits. It was first released as a single by the Mancunian group in the UK in October 1966 and, with the B-side "My Reservation's Been Confirmed", enjoyed chart success, peaking at #7...
' is one of his titles, and also the
10cc10cc is an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Initially comprising four musicians — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the “10cc” name in 1972.Two...
song 'Art for Art's Sake'."
In a 2007 publication from Norway
An England-Traveller Crosses His Tracks, the author starts three chapters by citing lines from "Bus Stop".