Magazine Articles

In Swinging Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter

Peter Noone swings high on a chandelier amidst the melee of a free-for-all fight in an English pub in "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," tuneful comedy of today's groovy generation, starring Herman's Hermits. The famous singing group introduce eight of their songs in the swinging MGM musical entertainment filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor.

What's Behind Those Esoteric Names Groups Like Herman's Hermits Have?

Since they do not lead secluded lives and not one of them was christened Herman, why does the world-famous pop group call itself Herman's Hermits?
Peter Noone, lead vocalist of the group, who are currently starring with Stanley Holloway in the swinging musical, "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," Allen Klein production for MGM, explains how they came by their name.
"We got the name, 'Hermits' from a man in a bar in Manchester," he related. "We had just started as a group and couldn't decide what to call ourselves. One day we were sitting in the bar having a drink when this man, who was a bit drunk, started to insult us.
"I suppose our clothes and long hair looked a bit odd to him. Anyway, we certainly seemed to upset him. He just sat there in a corner mumbling to himself about today's teenagers and every now and again he would point at us and shout, 'Hermits, that's what you look like. With all that hair you ought to be hermits.' We all thought this was a terrific name and decided that we would be The Hermits.
"But then we felt that it wasn't quite strong enough on its own and as we loved Sherman on the Bullwinkle TV Show, we played around with Sherman's Hermits. But that didn't sound quite right, so we knocked the S off Sherman and made it Herman's Hermits. You need a name which will be remembered and Herman went well with Hermits."
Now that sounds reasonable, but a London psychiatrist recently stated that there were deeper motives behind the choice of pop-group names.
When asked to give his opinion on why a group would call themselves "The Electric Prunes," as does one English aggregation, he said, "Electricity is a power symbol. And here we have young men of an age when they are throwing off parental chains and beginning to realize their potential as men. They want to demonstrate this in some way. As for the prunes, they are a symbol of childhood. Most people as children have been forced to eat prunes on the grounds that they are good for them. So the prune becomes a symbol of parental control. When you connect the two words, 'electric' and 'prunes,' you have in effect a statement saying, 'Look at me, I'm a man now, I make my own decisions.'"
And what did he think was the hidden symbolism behind Herman's Hermits?
"A hermit is usually regarded as a wise man," he said, "a man who lives a lonely scholastic life and I see this as a group who want to appeal on a more intellectual level."
Peter Noone laughed when he was told of the psychiatrist's views.
"That's rubbish," he declared. "I think some of the names of the new groups are just great. No one is likely to forget a group called 'The Jefferson Airplane' or 'The Grateful Dead.' There isn't any hidden meaning in the names. The boys just try to think of the most way-out name possible. In any case, no matter how unusual the name, if the sound is wrong no group will succeed. It boils down to talent in the long run."
Nine million-selling singles and three million-selling albums are proof of the success of Herman's Hermits. They probably would have done just as well as Peter Noone, Barry Whitwam, Keith Hopwood, Karl Green and Derek Leckenby - their real names!

Barry Whitwam (bottom left), Peter Noone, Derek Leckenby, Karl Green, Keith Hopwood and Sheila White put their hopes (and money) on a racing greyhound in "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," tuneful comedy of today's groovy generation, starring Herman's Hermits. The famous singing group introduce eight of their songs in MGM's swinging musical adventure, filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor, which also features Stanley Holloway.

Pop-star Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, currently starring in MGM's swinging musical, "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," recently made his parents a gift of a twenty-bedroom hotel, the St. George on the east coast of England in Herne Bay, Kent.
Since its opening, the hotel, run by Peter's father, Denis Noone, a retired accountant, has done sell-out business. The owner happily admits that much of this is due to the fact that guests hope to catch a glimpse of his famous son.
And they often can. For Peter Noone has spent some of recent free time at the hotel, serving behind the bar!

Peter Noone puts his racing greyhound into the care of kennel maid Sheila Lovell in this scene from "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," tuneful comedy of today's groovy generation, starring Herman's Hermits. The famous singing group introduce eight of their songs in MGM's swinging musical adventure in Panavision and Metrocolor, also featuring Stanley Holloway.

Previous | Misc Mag Index | Next




Peter Noone swings high on a chandelier amidst the melee of a free-for-all fight in an English pub in "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," tuneful comedy of today's groovy generation, starring Herman's Hermits. The famous singing group introduce eight of their songs in the swinging MGM musical entertainment filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor.


Since they do not lead secluded lives and not one of them was christened Herman, why does the world-famous pop group call itself Herman's Hermits? Peter Noone, lead vocalist of the group, who are currently starring with Stanley Holloway in the swinging musical, "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," Allen Klein production for MGM, explains how they came by their name. "We got the name, 'Hermits' from a man in a bar in Manchester," he related. "We had just started as a group and couldn't decide what to call ourselves. One day we were sitting in the bar having a drink when this man, who was a bit drunk, started to insult us. "I suppose our clothes and long hair looked a bit odd to him. Anyway, we certainly seemed to upset him. He just sat there in a corner mumbling to himself about today's teenagers and every now and again he would point at us and shout, 'Hermits, that's what you look like. With all that hair you ought to be hermits.' We all thought this was a terrific name and decided that we would be The Hermits. "But then we felt that it wasn't quite strong enough on its own and as we loved Sherman on the Bullwinkle TV Show, we played around with Sherman's Hermits. But that didn't sound quite right, so we knocked the S off Sherman and made it Herman's Hermits. You need a name which will be remembered and Herman went well with Hermits." Now that sounds reasonable, but a London psychiatrist recently stated that there were deeper motives behind the choice of pop-group names. When asked to give his opinion on why a group would call themselves "The Electric Prunes," as does one English aggregation, he said, "Electricity is a power symbol. And here we have young men of an age when they are throwing off parental chains and beginning to realize their potential as men. They want to demonstrate this in some way. As for the prunes, they are a symbol of childhood. Most people as children have been forced to eat prunes on the grounds that they are good for them. So the prune becomes a symbol of parental control. When you connect the two words, 'electric' and 'prunes,' you have in effect a statement saying, 'Look at me, I'm a man now, I make my own decisions.'"		And what did he think was the hidden symbolism behind Herman's Hermits? "A hermit is usually regarded as a wise man," he said, "a man who lives a lonely scholastic life and I see this as a group who want to appeal on a more intellectual level." Peter Noone laughed when he was told of the psychiatrist's views. "That's rubbish," he declared. "I think some of the names of the new groups are just great. No one is likely to forget a group called 'The Jefferson Airplane' or 'The Grateful Dead.' There isn't any hidden meaning in the names. The boys just try to think of the most way-out name possible. In any case, no matter how unusual the name, if the sound is wrong no group will succeed. It boils down to talent in the long run." Nine million-selling singles and three million-selling albums are proof of the success of Herman's Hermits. They probably would have done just as well as Peter Noone, Barry Whitwam, Keith Hopwood, Karl Green and Derek Leckenby - their real names! Barry Whitwam (bottom left), Peter Noone, Derek Leckenby, Karl Green, Keith Hopwood and Sheila White put their hopes (and money) on a racing greyhound in "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," tuneful comedy of today's groovy generation, starring Herman's Hermits. The famous singing group introduce eight of their songs in MGM's swinging musical adventure, filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor, which also features Stanley Holloway.