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There are still problems, of course. Like getting up in the morning. When I saw Herman last week, he was running approximately three hours late due to oversleeping. "It's not so bad when I'm on tour," he said. "We've got managers, and they usually lift me head out of the bed and drop me into the bath to make sure I'm awake!" "Otherwise I'm hopeless. I stop at hotels where I know I can ask for an early call, but I go to sleep again right away. I usually end up by missing the coach or something, and I have to spend a fortune hiring taxis and maybe even flying somewhere to catch up." happyBut it's a very happy Herman these days. He's enjoying every moment of life."Perhaps that's why I can't get up in the mornings," he grinned. "I seldom get to bed before four o'clock in the morning. I suppose I've had about seven hours of sleep during the last four days." Herman enjoys the money he's earning. But he's not a spendthrift by any means, and he's keeping a |
"I'm stashing quite a bit away. You've got to think about what's going to happen, haven't you? I don't think anyone can last for more than 10 years in this business unless they're very lucky or very talented or both. "I don't really know what I'll do when I decide I've come to the end of my time as an artist. I think I might like to buy a night-club, and I'd like to look for some new talent and help them." Herman draws £100 a week to cover everything from travel and clothes to food and toothpaste. clothes"I run short sometimes," he confessed with another wide Herman grin. "Clothes and records are the things I really go mad on." He drew aside his coat lapels, and displayed a colourful green shirt with brown button-down tab collar. "Horrible, isn't it? You couldn't go into a shop and buy one like this. I have 'em made to my own specifications, and I like wearing something different."I've got about a thousand LPs now, I suppose, covering all sorts of pop artists and sounds. I don't believe in concentrating on one particular person or style for a record collection because I think it might begin to influence my own singing." |
 WITH heads ducked and arms flung wide open, New York and the rest of America was waiting to welcome the first groups from Manchester on Easter Monday. For chaos - in the nicest possible way, of course - has broken loose at the instant success here of Freddie and the Dreamers and Herman's Hermits. Not since the Beatles has so much enthusiasm been shown for - or so much encouragement been given - any group. It all started with Freddie and the Dreamers about three weeks ago and the explosion of "I'm telling You Now." Originally scheduled to fly straight to Chicago on April 20, press demands have been so great that Freddie and the Dreamers will come in a day earlier and spend the entire day of April 19 doing interviews and photo sessions. Almost the same impact has been scored by Herman's Hermits. Last week M.G.M. finally got the O.K. to release "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," from their first album, "Introducing Herman's Hermits" which is currently in the top five and still climbing. On a 425,000 advance order, the single flew into the "Billboard" Tp Twenty at Number 12. Never has the demand for any single from an album been so great. DJs all over the country culled the track for airplay and in several parts of the country the track was Number One on station playlists weeks before M.G.M. decided to release it as a single. As in England, Heran is fondly referred to by america's young set as "The one with the tooth." They also dig the fact he's only 17 which, in this country is a tremendous point in his favour. Herman, too, has secured a spot on the Ed Sullivan Show. He appears on June 6, and guests on "Hullabaloo" on May 4. They headline the Dick clark package from April 30 through June 2, and play independent dates both before and after. |