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 the British Invasion was at its height. The first US Number 1 of 1965 had been by Petula Clark. The Beatles, Freddie & The Dreamers, The Rolling Stones and Wayne Fontana all logged Stateside chart-toppers early in the year. Then, on August 7, Herman’s Hermits planted the Union Jack at the top of the US listings with I’m Henry VIII, I Am, a comical song from 1911 popularised by music hall comedian Harry Champion.British ears found singer Peter “Herman” Noone mixing his native Mancunian accent with Cockneyisms (“I’m ‘er eighth old man nymed ‘Enery, ‘Enery the eighth I am!”) odd, as they did when Dick Van Dyke did chirpy in Mary Poppins a year earlier. But when the clean-cut Hermits performed it on Ed Sullivan in front of painted representations of Tudor houses, no heads rolled. The Hermits had topped the Billboard listings in May with Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter. Claims Hermits drummer Barry Whitwam, “On both Mrs. Brown and Henry, our producer Mickie Most told MGM Records: ‘Let’s wait for advanced sales of a million before we put the single out.’ When the records came out they both went straight to Number 1. Both records were initially just album tracks that got played on the radio.”  Neither Mrs. Brown or Henry VIII was released in the Hermits’ homeland. Ian Whitcomb, a singer and music historian from Woking who had three US hits in 1965 recalls: “There was even talk in the trade mags there about a Vaudeville revival – in 1966 there’d be a final wheeze of such songs like Winchester Cathedral, Lady Godiva and those Mystery Tour songs like Your Mother Should Know. I revived Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night at that time.” |
Hermits guitarist Keith Hopwood adds: “It was the pure Britishness of Henry. In those days, an English accent was a great novelty in the States.” One time Coronation Street actor Noone agrees the song’s Englishness, and the way they performed it, gave the band an edge in America. Certainly the Hermits were up there with The Beatles and the Stones in 1965. “At the Pasadena Rose Bowl, we played to 34,000 people,” he recalls. “While we were there we received a gold disc for Mrs. Brown and one for a million dollars’ worth of sales for our second album, .Herman’s Hermits On Tour. While Henry VIII was still ruling the US, the Hermits filmed two segments for the Connie Francis film When The Boys Meet The Girls. Whitwam recalls, “Then we were due to fly home, but Colonel Tom Parker rang and said, ‘Elvis wants to meet the band.’ I cancelled my flight and so did Peter. We went down to the beach to meet Elvis, who was filming Paradise Hawaiian Style. Suddenly we heard this great roar and about 15 motorcycles were coming up the beach, Elvis in the middle with outriders either side. All Harley-Davidsons – it was brilliant.” While there, Noone interviewed Elvis and asked him to name his favourite groups apart from the Beatles, only to be told “The Boston Pops and The Boston Symphony”. “How did you make it without long hair?” posed Noone. “I had long sideburns,” countered Presley. “Elvis said how much he liked our records,” recalled Noone, “and Colonel Tom chimed in and said that his wife was always singing Henry VIII.” Some bemoaned the Hermits’ success, pointing out that Joe Brown had used Henry VIII in his act for some time. “Everyone said Herman nicked our number,” said Joe, “but I’d pinched it off Harry Champion in the first place. If Herman had the enterprise to record it, then good luck to him.” |
