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When a group gets real hot and has records all over the charts and starts riots everywhere they go and appears on all the TV channels and everything, their lives get pretty hectic. A singer can't even settle into a dentist's chair in peace. While he's sitting there with tubes and cotton and drills and fingers in his mouth someone is liable to come along and tell him he's just been chosen one of the ten best-dressed men in England and reporters want a statement from him right away. When all this happened to Peter "Her-man" Noone his first remark was undoubtedly, "Mffbzgx!" Then he removed the drills and fingers from his mouth and made a more normal statement. "Gods!" he exclaimed. "And all me clothes are missing!" His trunk was somehow misrouted or lost between London and Los Angeles and, as of this writing, has not been located. The panic was on--to find Herman a suit that fit, so that he could meet with the swarms of newsmen and photographers who wanted statements from him. Herman, sporting his new suit, but still with the toothache, continued his busy schedule which included taping appearances on the Al Hirt Show, "Fanfare" and "The Merv Griffin Show." Then the group, Herman's Hermits, began a nationwide tour of one-nighters playing to capacity houses in most of the major cities often causing a few riots along the way. The highlight of the tour was an appearance at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, which has a seating capacity of 100,000 screaming Hermaniacs. Lawmen around the country were startled that such a musically unwild, cool and sub-teen appealing group would necessitate the calling out of riot squads. Many police superintendents said they would no longer issue permits for "entertainment of this type." (Memo to H.H. fans at concerts: Don't blow your cool.) But even if Herman's Hermits have to curtail their in-person appearances, they'll be all over the movie screens. The five cute and cuddly singers make their cinema debut in MGM's "Where The Boys Meet The Girls," based on the George Gershwin musical "Girl Crazy." The group's recent increase in popularity prompted producer Sam Katzman to give Herman a speaking part. Herman was once a stage and film child actor, much in the style of Shirley Temple. He will portray one of the Cody College students in scenes with stars Connie Francis, Harve Presnell and Paul Anka.His presence at the fictional Nevada College is explained by identifying Herman as an exchange student from England. Another movie is still in the planning stages. Meanwhile, if your friendly local police chief has barred Herman's Hermits from your town, we offer as consolation these candid, behind-the-scenes Hit Parader exclusive photos of the group. We ran into them at radio station WMCA where they met Good Guys Jack Spector and Joe O'Brien and did a few station breaks like: "I'm Henry the VIII, I am, and you're listening to WMCA, you are!" We also covered their New York concert at the Academy of Music presented by Sid Bernstein. The audience was frantic, but they didn't riot. The kids in New York aren't that wild. For the latest precious utterances of Herman, we give you this tape recorded transcript of the group's most recent press conference: Q: What was your reaction when you were named one of England's top ten best-dressed men? H: I was at the dentists when all these newspapermen came around. I thought it was all a joke, 'cause I had me jeans on an everything.
Q: Do you know any of the other people on the list?
Q: Will it be published?
(Herman, at age 17, is the youngest person to receive the award.)
Q: Have you anything else to say about the award?
Q: Why?
Q: What do you wear in general? |
H: Well, at press conferences anything, I wear a suit, very charming.
Q: Is the title of your new movie Where The Boys Meet The Girls?"
Q: Do you have lines in it?
Q: All of you are in it?
Q: How many numbers do you do?
Q: Are they both new songs? I mean that we haven't heard you do before? Q: Is the movie in color or black and white? H: Yeah, it must be in color, 'cause everything around us on the set was colorful.
Q: Do you have another movie coming up?
Q:. Is it full length about you?
Q: Do you stick to the script?
Q: Did you find as you traveled throughout America that there's any particular part of our country where your fans are a little wilder than in other parts?
Q: How do they compare to New York?
Q: You didn't see all of New York but you've got an opinion.
Q: How does it feel to appear on the same bill as the Rolling Stones and top the show? Was it exciting, wonderful?
Q: Have you ever done it before?
Q: How do you feel about the success of your last two records?
Q: You are termed the hottest group that has come out of Britain with the hottest record that's #2 in world-wide history right now, "Henry The Eighth I Am." How do you feel about that?
Q: Do you find audiences in England different from over here?
Q: What about the mobbing girls?
Q: You enjoy it? One final note on the fame Herman has acquired. A bear in the London zoo has been named "Herman" in his honor. What more could anyone Ask for?
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