The Haigs - Never Die (1966-68)

While there are many other Dutch '60s beat bands that are better known to the international collecting community, the Haigs were one of the better mid-'60s groups to emerge from Holland. This Dutch 10" vinyl reissue assembles ten songs from both sides of all five of their 45s, amounting to a neat document of their entire recorded output, though more details might escape readers from outside the Netherlands, as the liner notes are entirely in Dutch. Many Dutch bands took the R&B-based rock of the Pretty Things and Yardbirds as a primary inspiration, but the Haigs were more on the Beatles and Hollies side of things, though taking to the style with more guts than most Merseybeat imitators. "Never Die" in particular, their most famous track, is a pretty good blast of straightforward early Beatlesque pop, down to the John Lennon-esque bleating harmonica. None of the other songs here are quite as good, but they have their moments, with a bit of the Zombies' minor-key brilliance seeping into "That's the Way She Is," and quite good Beatles/Hollies-style harmonies come to the fore on a number of songs. The later material has heavier traces of soul (especially on a cover of Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night") and heavy rock, and isn't as enjoyable as the earlier singles, though those earlier 45s were no less derivative.

[02:12] . - A01 - Never Die

[02:05] . - A02 - That's The Way She Is

[01:51] . - A03 - Where To Run

[02:29] . - A04 - Separated

[02:18] . - A05 - From Now On

[02:39] . - B01 - Hey Baby

[02:02] . - B02 - Saturday Night

[02:01] . - B03 - You've Got It

[02:00] . - B04 - Poly Roly Martha

[02:35] . - B05 - Out Of Life

Thanks to Faintly Blowing