When 10cc came in March, it was an easy calculation: 25 per cent of the original members was present. When the Hollies arrived on the New Theatre stage last Friday, there were two of the five originals (Tony Hicks on lead guitar, Bobby Elliot on drums), which would have meant 40 per cent, had the current line-up not actually run to six members (they didn’t bother with a keyboard player in the 1960s — Parlophone would just have booked an orchestra to come into the Abbey Road studios!).

But how good it was for the residual Hollies to continue by themselves and not subsume into Golden Sixties tours. And the ‘new’ members have real ped-igree: bass player Ray Stiles was in Mud and guitarist Steve Lauri has backed Cliff Richard. A solid Oxford audience (stalls and circle full) paid correct homage to them, plus main vocalist Peter Howarth and Ian Parker on those keyboards.

I spent most of the time watching Hicks. If Allan Clarke or Graham Nash had been present, I’d have watched them as well, but you might as well stick with the man who looks eerily good 45 years after constantly appearing on Top of the Pops.

And he still plays confidently: big guitar solos hold no threats. Elliott still wears a hat and drums accurately — unlike, for example, Brian Bennett of The Shadows, he is not accorded a separate starring ‘drum solo’.

The hardest worker was Peter Howarth. He doesn’t have the personality and sly smile of Clarke, but he has a clarion mainstream pop voice and put his all into the hits.

The group paced their material well and gave tremendous value — no warm up, and two full hours of playing. Carrie Anne, I specifically waited for and enjoyed; the audience remembered and revelled in their early hit Stay; I’m Alive was whipped through rather quickly.

Just as quickly as the great Hicks left after the show: sadly no chance of an autograph!