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 Left-to-right it's Keith, "Lek", Peter (Herman), Karl and Barry. |
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Since the bloomin' British Beatles crossed the blighty and blew the roof off American show business, the air has been full of English singers and groups. It seems that every plane that touches our shore from the land of fog disgorges another group of mop-haired music maulers; complete with guitars and drums and screaming fans. The Beatles are good. They've got a rhythm, a sound, and a sense of humor. Most of the street-gangs-turned-musicians that have followed them are odious (they stink). This is why POPULAR MOVIE Magazine welcomes the group called Herman's Hermits with bells ringing and flags flying. At last, the Queen of England has sent another good sound to the colonies. Herman and his group have often been compared to the famous Beatles. Herman (real name: Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone) doesn't mind at all. In fact, he told me he likes it. "I think the Beatles are great and I'm always pleased to be compared to them. It's being compared to some of the other groups that sets me off a bit." The Hermits have everything the Beatles have, but Herman's group is younger. They are all more playful and therefore more in contact with the teenaged fans. Of course, not all their fans are teenagers. There's hardly a mother of one of their teenaged fans who doesn't want to mother-love the five shy-looking boys from merry old Manchester. The lads are shy and the lads are playful. Their playfulness, however is on a much less sophisticated level than that of the Beatles. The two groups don't consider each other rivals, but the music business is a really competitive one and if you're in it - you're rivals! The rivalry and competition between the two groups has been pointed up even further by the professional chart-makers. Whether the modern-day long-hairs have combed the curls out of their eyes long enough to notice it or not, the race is ON. The popularity charts are the thermometers of money-in-the-bank-ville and when the thermometer drops, it suddenly gets very cold out. The recent 21-city tour by Herman's Hermits showed that for them it is very hot. They are very very hot! When the Hermit fans got to rocking, local people thought it was an earthquake - and that was the story wherever they went! Thousands of screaming fans in Pasadena, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, Denver, Seattle, San francisco and other cities proved that the Hermits are on top. Besides their standing-room crowds of adoring fans in all the lucky cities around the country, and their socko appearances on such TVers as the "Danny Kaye Show"; "Merv Griffin Show" and "Fanfare", the five top teen talents have hit the record charts high with hot hit singles again and again. Every single released by the Hermits has gone straight to the charmed circle of the top five discs of the music charts. Tunes like "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII" are filling the airwaves with delightful sounds from England and proving that HERMANIA is here to stay. |
LPs put out by Herman's Hermits have zoomed to the top of the music industry also. The group has had the honor of having the only LP album to ever reach the Radio Active list (discs that get the most play on the air.) The record-breaking joy boys called Herman's Hermits got a slow start in ruddy old England. When they finally decided to get down to serious business they started to look for a really great name. The singers were watching a TV show about a character named Sherman the Hermit when the idea came to them - Herman And His Hermits. They later shortened it to Herman's Hermits. They may be Hermits, but they sure don't hide from their loving fans. When they were in New York, it took quick action by police and private guards to keep them from being ripped apart by the thousands of little girls who surrounded their hotel. For all the fans who have been asking for info on the popular Hermits, here's the scoop: Herman (called Peter) is blond and bright-eyed. He was born in 1947 and he turned to show business at an early age. The Hermit leader was on his way to a snappy career in British Telly-vision when he turned to making that Manchester sound of music. Karl Green is the bass guitarist - also vintage 1947. Karl got his first guitar at age 10 and taught himself how to strum it. Karl is the only other "old timer" in the group. He got into the Combo when it first organized and was called the Heartbeats. Derek Leckenby (known as "Lek") was born in 1943 (a real old man) and he comes on like the brain boy of the group. The lucky accident that started Lek in the Hermits was failing his exams at Manchester University. He was studying to be a civil engineer. Barry Whitwam has been pounding those drums since he was sweet thirteen (that's not so long ago because the lad came on the Manchester scene in the middle of 1946). When Barry isn't drumming, he likes to fiddle - with cars and boats. Keith Hopwood was almost kept out of the group by his father. After much begging papa finally gave grudging permission. When I recently asked Keith whether his dad was still unhappy, Herman cut in and told me, "Noo he's not a bit unhappy - we just bought him a bran' new auty-mobile!" Whatever the boys have, it sure is good. And when they get together and play, fans forget about all the other groups around. That's why Herman's Hermits hit the top and there they'll stay a while.  The extra Hermit is POPULAR MOVIE Editor, Marty David. |