Distant Light

Distant Light is a 1971 album by the Hollies. It is their 11th UK album, their last to be released before the brief departure of lead vocalist and founding member Allan Clarke (who was absent on the following album and returned for their 1974 self-titled album), and reputedly is the first album to have come out of AIR Studios. The album produced two hit singles: "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" (co-written by Allan Clarke), which peaked at number two in the US and number 32 in the UK; and "Long Dark Road" (co-written by Tony Hicks), which reached number 26 in the US. The US version of the album peaked at number 21 on the album chart. The summer scene portrayed on the cover would be rendered as a winter scene on the sleeve of the next Hollies album, Romany.

Release and reception

The band performed the first three songs from the album ("What a Life I've Led" and "Look What We've Got" and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress") live on the television show Meet the Hollies on 25 July 1971. Later, they performed "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" and "A Little Thing Like Love" again on another TV show, It's Lulu. The album was highly praised by critics – Record Mirror wrote that "You could use the word sensational about The Hollies' new album" – and it became the group's biggest success in America (including their records with Graham Nash). However, in their native UK, the LP was only a modest success for the band.

The album's biggest hit was the song "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", composed by Allan Clarke and Roger Cook (whose co-writer Roger Greenaway was also credited by verbal agreement between the two songwriters). The single reached No. 2 in the US, No. 1 in Canada and No. 32 in the UK; it was the Hollies' biggest American hit. The song "Long Dark Road" was also released as a single in the US and Canada, reaching No. 26 and No. 24 respectively.