23/3/2018 7:24 am  #1


Michael Holliday

Ken Crossland's excellent biography about Michael Holliday "The Man Who Would Be Bing" is now available as a Kindle book. See https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Would-Be-Bing-ebook/dp/B07BFDLH3Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1521110384&sr=8-2&keywords=the+man+who+would+be+bing

 

24/3/2018 8:12 am  #2


Re: Michael Holliday

A very interesting and informative book covering a rather tortured life. Michael Holliday hero-worshipped Bing to an extraordinary degree. Other singers acknowledged that they followed in Bing's footsteps but most went on from there and developed their own style and approach, singing their own material. Michael Holliday was possibly the supreme example of conscious imitation and seemed unable to succeed in developing in any way other than following Bing as faithfully as he could. Often not just the same songs, but songs sung in the same way with the same style tweeks. A sad story with very strong links to Bing.




 

 

28/3/2018 11:42 pm  #3


Re: Michael Holliday

I've always appreciated Michael Holliday's records but was somewhat puzzled by his obsession with singing not only like Bing but actually the same songs in exactly the same way that Bing had done them. I'm always surprised by this because, other than an obsession with sounding like your hero, I'm not sure to what legitimate end an artist may do this. You simply can't surpass Bing (or any other singer, for that matter) by doing things in exactly the same way as Bing. However, I do have several albums by Holliday and enjoy listening to them once in a while.

 

29/3/2018 8:21 pm  #4


Re: Michael Holliday

Interesting indeed! I'm not familiar with Holliday at all but it's amusing that he was coined the British Bing Crosby in the same way Matt Monro was stuck with the tag of being the British Frank Sinatra. 

I just took the opportunity to stream a little of Michael Holliday and on some songs he does sound uncannily like Bing. However I don't think this is true for Holliday's biggest hits. 

Allmusic has a very flattering write up of him and it seems that for a small stretch he was quite successful. I'm not sure whether it was sounding too much like Bing or just changing musical tastes that saw a decline in his fortunes.

I have to wonder if the reason he stuck so closely to Bing's style and repertoire was because he didn't evolve as a singer until maybe the late 40's or early 50's and that his experience at that time was in copying his idol. Also you have to wonder if his producer didn't capitalize on his talent to mimic Bing and  pushed for him to cover those songs imitating Bing as much as possible. 

From the songs I listened to I think if he had been given more songs not associated with Bing, people would still have commented on the similarities but not to the degree that they did. He may have been considered like someone like Perry Como, similar styles, maybe even more so but not a copy or impersonation.

Either way, the book is something I may have to pick up as it looks like a good read!

 

19/6/2024 8:06 pm  #5


Re: Michael Holliday

Sadly Michael Holliday like the Canadian singer Dick Todd sounded too much like Bing although on his biggest hits he actually sounded more like himself as well as Perry Como.

 

29/10/2024 7:34 pm  #6


Re: Michael Holliday

Oh meant to add Michael Holliday recorded a tribute album of Bing Crosby songs in 1962 , i  heard a track or two on the radio some years ago and when i heard one song now i can't remember which i thought it was Bing singing at first until i realized it was Holliday singing which was the problem with the singer he sounded too much like Bing that when the music scene was changing in 1963 the year Holliday sadly took his own life his style started to seem dated.

 

30/10/2024 5:35 pm  #7


Re: Michael Holliday

 
I discovered Michael Holliday recently on an ICC Online meeting when Ken Crossland put together a wonderful presentation that introduce me to Michael Holliday, and I have heard now many of his song including the 1962 album-tribute to Bing.
His voice resembles a lot the voice of Bing Crosby and I am convinced now that if he was born ten years earlier he would have become more famous. He didn’t try to impersonate Bing but to imitate his exact style of singing and with a similar voice that was possible. But in his best songs he was able to break from his hero style and showcase his own talent in phrasing and lyrics interpretation.
Mat Monroe (British Sinatra) had a wonderful baritone-clear voice and his career didn’t go far either. But Michael Holliday got a similar phrasing ability with Bing and he was a very talented performer (though Bing’s voice was better). It is very sad that my generation don’t even know his name. His premature death was a tragedy. That style of singing didn’t remain popular over the years, but I have quit the effort to understand the public’s developing taste (with possible few exceptions that I do not know have on my mind) to the worst.
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love is in my opinion his best song (though I haven’t heard them all). It is nice though that his legacy isn’t totally forgotten and still they are some people able to appreciate his work.
 

Last edited by Pantelis Kavouras (30/10/2024 5:37 pm)

 

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