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HERMAN'S HERMITS arrived on the Air India flight from New York and there was some confusion as the Prime Minister of India was on the same flight - so Press conferences got rather mixed up. After the usual drag of customs (doesn't London airport have some strange ancient customs?) Herman emerged onto the concourse looking bright but pale. The usual "Hi Ric!" I asked him what had happened to the Californian sun-tan. "It wore off in New York" was the sad reply. Several people shuffled us along to an awaiting press conference but on the way we passed the airport snack bar and that was it. "A cup of tea" he exclaimed and his eyes lit up as though it was very exotic. "Haven't had a cup of English char for two months" - so it was tea all round. "I've travelled on so many planes recently that my ears pop thinking about it" was Herman's remark on the plane. At Manchester it was a riot. A car was waiting on the tarmac but Herman insisted on going through the terminal to meet the hundreds of fans who had taken the day off to welcome him home. It was chaotic with travellers of all ages joining in the excitement and crowding round to see the wandering idol. It took ages for me to get him into our car bound for Liverpool. We finally made it but this is where it really got hectic. His home was like a railway station. Friends, reporters and fans, were everywhere and the phone rang on like an endless record. Herman was really puzzled that so many people were around. "How did so many people find out my address and telephone number??" he asked. But it all answered the question which he had asked on the plane "Am I still popular in Britain?" He must have been joking, but he doesn't take anything for granted. |
During the course of the evening he related stories of surfing, water ski-ing and swimming - but don't get the wrong idea, it was no holiday. Because of the terrific heat he was swimming nearly every day. "Nearly every hotel we went to had a swimming pool" he said, "so every afternoon we spent hours in the pool. It was a good way to relax and it got the temperature down." Yes, it seemed that one of the main things Herman didn't like was the fantastic heat. He told me that everything was air-conditioned to about 40 degrees. But every time he went out the immense heat hit him and he nearly fainted. "Going out of an air-conditioned place knocked you out" he said. Even the coach was air-conditioned - and Herman found that the heat was so bad that he couldn't get out of the coach and kept sending people out to get him cokes. "Outside our New York hotel thousands of fans stopped the traffic singing our next U.S. single "Henry The Eighth" he said. Incidentally, the number is on his British L.P. He told me how they had flogged - out three station wagons on their 60,000 mile tour, as well as travelling by charter plane, helicopter and ... canoe? The best way to sum up is simply to say: To Herman it's a WONDERFUL WORLD, but with a new record in the can, can it be possible that it's JUST A LITTLE BIT BETTER! |
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HERMAN the HERMIT - otherwise known as Peter Blair Noone dropped into the M.E. Liverpool office the other day on his way to Manchester where he'd fixed a trial run in a new 3.8 Jaguar. Now he's looking for a young driver as he's waiting for his own license. Peter's looking forward to his ballroom tour soon - "I like ballrooms," he said, "prefer them to concerts." Asked whether he'd like to answer the Stones' criticism of his act, he answered: "No, just thank them for the publicity." |