Pop Rock

Before Crosby, Stills, and Nash there was Clarke, Hicks, and Nash. The foreshadowing of the classic Sixties three-part harmony began with The Hollies. Following a string of hits, Hollies group members Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, and Graham Nash reworked an earlier song to create “Stop Stop Stop,” a unique, quirky, and very funny song about a man’s obsession with a belly dancer who appears weekly at a middle-eastern bar.

And the song sounds middle eastern. It is written in the Lydian mode (a scale based on F with no accidentals). That eerie mid-eastern sound is an electric banjo with a “slap back” tape echo played in true balalaika style by Tony Hicks. The banjo, lyrics and Lydian mode work together create a hypnotic portrait of sexual obsession personified in an exotic dancer (“Like a snake her body fascinates me.”)

In 1966, “Stop Stop Stop” went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and also became a worldwide hit reaching the top 10 in 8 countries, including at #1 in Canada. The Hollies are one of the few British Invasion groups that has never officially disbanded, even when Nash left in 1968, and they continue to perform today. In recognition of their achievements, the Hollies were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Here are the lyrics to “Stop Stop Stop” by The Hollies:

” See the girl with cymbals on her fingers
Entering through the door.
Ruby glistening from her navel
Shimmering around the floor.

Bells on feet go ting-a ling-a linging
Going through my head.
Sweat is falling just-a like-a tear drops
Running from her head.

Now she’s dancing, going through the movements
Swaying to and fro.
Body moving, bringing back a memory
Thoughts of long ago.

Blood is rushing, temperature is rising
Sweating from my brow.
Like a snake, her body fascinates me
I can’t look away now.

Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Give me time to breathe.
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Or I’ll have to leave.

Now she’s moving all around the tables
Luring all in sight.
But I know that she cannot see me
Hidden by the light.

Closer, closer, she is getting nearer
Soon she’ll be in reach.
As I enter into a spotlight
She stands lost for speech.

Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Give me time to breathe.
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Or I’ll have to leave.

Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Give me time to breathe.
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Or I’ll have to leave.

Now I hold her, people are staring
Don’t know what to think.
And we struggle knocking over tables
Spilling all the drinks.

Can’t they understand that I want her
Happens every week.
Heavy hand upon my collar
Throws me in the street.

Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Give me time to breathe.
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Or I’ll have to leave.”

For another song by The Hollies: “Bus Stop.”

Check Out The Groove Pad for More 1960s Music

The Pass the Paisley Groove Pad is a resting stop, a place to chill out and listen to the featured song on the stereo. If the mood strikes you, click on the juke box to access and listen to the 50+ free online songs there. The TV has several channels, with selections updated twice a week. Every now and then, Pass the Paisley hosts an all-request of 1960s and 1970s songs for a Be-In at the juke box in the Groove Pad. Keep on truckin’. Hope you enjoyed “Stop Stop Stop” by The Hollies.