Herman (Peter Noone) vocals
Derek Leckenby guitar
Keith Hopwood guitar
Karl Green guitar
Barry Whitwam drums

    Herman formed the Hermits in Manchester in 1963. At that time the group was called the Heartbeats, changed later at the instigation of producer Mickie Most.
    Most had seen a picture of Herman, who had appeared as an actor in 'Coronation Street', in early 1964, 'thought he looked like John F. Kennedy', and decided he wanted to produce his records. Under Most's tutelage Herman became Little Boy Lost, the lonely pup who needed to be mothered, complete with buck teeth - sometimes he even stuck his fingers in his mouth when he sang. If this was a powerful selling image in the UK, it was doubly marketable in the States, where the

  Hermits were launched in 1965. Like the Dave Clark Five, the group were more popular over there than in the UK.
    Many groups in the Sixties used session men on their records, and the Hermits were no exception. They only played their instruments on three singles - "Mrs. Brown," "I'm Into Something Good," and "Henry VIII." Jimmy page and Big Jim Sullivan did the guitar work on the majority of their releases, and John Paul Jones (who with Page later formed Led Zeppelin) did all the arranging and bass playing.
    The Hermits were consistently in the charts throughout the Sixties, with ten records in the Top Twenty between 1964 and 1967. The group only made the Top Twenty once in 1967 - with "There's A Kind of Hush" in February - but this was only a temporary relapse and they continued to have frequent hits over the next few years.
    Herman has now become a solo singer under his real name.

        SINGLES
August '64 I'm Into Something Good/Your Hand In Mine/Columbia1
November '64 Show Me Girl/I Know Why/Columbia19
February '65 Silhouettes/Can't You Hear My Heartbeat?/Columbia3
April '65 Wonderful World/Dream On/Columbia7
August '65 Just A Little Bit Better/Take Love Give Love/Columbia 15
November '65 A Must To Avoid/Man With The Cigar/Columbia6
April '66 You Won't Be Leaving/Listen People/Columbia20
July '66 This Door Swings Both Ways/Columbia18
October '66 No Milk Today/Reservation Confirmed/Columbia7
November '66 East West/What Is Wrong/Columbia
February '67 There's A Kind of Hush/Gaslite Street/Columbia7
July '67 Museum/Moonshine Man/Columbia

        EPs
June '65 Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter/I Know Why/Show Me Girl/Your Hand In Mine/Columbia
October '65 Silhouettes/Wonderful World/ Can't

  You Hear My Heartbeat/I'm Into Something Good/Columbia
April '66 Must To Avoid/I'm Henry The Eighth I Am/Just A Little Bit Better/Walkin' With My Angel/Columbia
September '66 Hold On Where Were You/Hold On/George And The Dragon/All The Things I Do For You/Wild Love/A Must To Avoid/Columbia

        LPs
October '65 Heartbeat/Travelin' Light/I'll Never Dance Again/Walkin' With My Angel/Dream On/I Wonder/For Your Love/Don't Try To Hurt Me/Tell Me Baby/I'm Henry The Eighth I Am/The End of The World/Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter/Columbia
November '66 Both Sides Little Boy Sad/Story of My Life/My Reservation's Been Confirmed/Bus Stop/For Love/Where Were you?/All The Things I Do for You Baby/Leaning On A Lamp Post/Dial My Number/Ooee Baby/Je suis Anglais/Listen People/Columbia
October '67 A Kind of Hush Saturday's Child/If You're Thinkin'/You Won't Be Leaving/Dandy/ Jezebel/No Milk Today/Little Miss Sorrow/There's A Kind of Hush/Gaslite Street/Rattler/East West/Columbia


Previous | Misc British Mag Index