The Boys Behind Herman  
Herman's Hermits ... They are a hip, lively foursome who have done plenty to help Herman in all the starry successes that have come his way since he first crashed on to the disc scene with "I'm Into Something Good". How did they come into the group? What kind of fellers are they when you get to know them? Well, we couldn't do better than ask Herman himself about this. Here is what he told us.


LEK LECKENBY - He is our lead guitarist (as I guess you know by now) and I guess you'll agree he's a gas of a player.
    Lek is the oldest among us. Because of that - and because he is a highly intelligent bloke as well - we are always glad to have his advice when making decisions.

    I first met Lek in Manchester Cavern - after we had started calling ourselves Herman and the Hermits. He was lead guitar with another group. I liked the way he played very much. So did Karl and Keith, who were with me. Later I asked Lek to join us - and he did!
    Though all of us are pretty fanatical about clothes, I reckon Lek wins by a mile in this respect. He's always glad to get to London so as to get a chance of nipping round the clothes shops there.
    So just as I get ideas for books from Karl, I get hints on where to get the best clobber from Lek. 		  KEITH HOPWOOD - He's the joker of the group. It may sound strange my saying that when I add that he doesn't horse around like the rest of us. But though he may sit quietly for quite a while - letting us get on with the clowning - he will then suddenly come out with some wonderfully funny crack to crease us all up.
    It was early in the summer of 1964 that Keith joined us - just as he was packing it in with another Manchester group.
    We are always borrowing discs from Keith. You can't blame us, he has such a smashing collection.
    Also, he is the maddest horror film fan you ever met. Sure, the rest of us often go with him to the movies. But he's the one who takes the lead when there's anything extra-horrific showing.
    So if you see us all going around looking scared out of our wits - Keith is the one to blame!
   KARL GREEN - He's the youngest Hermit. He was born on July 31, 1947. He joined us nearly three years ago when we were still known as the Heartbeats. We were cheesed off because previous bass players had kept dropping out. We were specially glad when Karl stayed put - with him being a good player and a real nice guy.
    Guess Karl and I have plenty in common in our outlook on life. We both play for the laughs most of the time.
    If I want to get a good book to read, I generally ask Karl to recommend one. He's a dead keen reader with a wide range of tastes, and if he tells me a book is interesting, I always find he's 100 per cent right.
    Karl's basic hobby is swimming - but he often has crazes, which last from a few minutes to a few weeks. Last one he got me on was yo-yo. I ended by somehow getting the yo-yo string round my neck and nearly strangling myself! 		  BARRY WHITWAM - I met him around the same time as I met Lek - 'cos they were both in this other group I mentioned. When he joined us we got one of the very top drummers in Manchester. Barry used to be a hairdresser - so the rest of us are OK if we want a quick trim in the dressing room at any time.
    He's the fighter of the group, Barry. Reckon he could lick the rest of us easy - but if any of the rest of us have a friendly fight with him, he always lets us win. Barry likes cars and boats. We go along with him a lot there. He also digs cave-ing. There we don't go along with him very much!

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