“This album was monumental. The Air That I Breathe was the first big hit single that I’d ever had, other than Money by Pink Floyd. The Hollies were a joy to work with. They were always on time, always kind and good-natured, full of humour. They respected their producer, Ron Richards, and their engineer, which was me, of course.

“It was basic stuff to create a track with bass, drums, guitars, keyboards and so on, and then we’d send a mix off to an arranger to work with. In this case, it was a very celebrated arranger named Chris Gunning. Through a conversation with Ron Richards, he went off and did the arrangement, and we recorded it all in one afternoon in the Number 3 studio at Abbey Road. I think we mixed it the same day.

“I heard the Phil Everly version of The Air That I Breathe, and I remember Ron telling the band, ‘This will be the biggest hit you’ve ever had.’ Of course, he was dead right. He could pick a song out of a hundred and say, ‘This will be a hit.’ Very few people can do that. You have to have the right set of ears.”