says the Honourable Herman to the Record Mirror's Richard Green
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ANYONE who has ever tried to sneak a bottle of perfume or some whiskey or a camera (good old Eric Burdon) past the Customs men will be able to imagine the kind of nonsense that went on when Herman was challenged about a piece of gold recently. Returning from Japan, the Hermits landed at Manchester Airport. Among their luggage was a gold record presented by MGM in America for sales of "The Best of Herman's Hermits" album. "It was the size of a portrait," Herman told me on the phone from his Liverpool home. "If it had been a little one, we could have just got it past them. But with the front being all glass, we had to let them see it. "When they asked me what the value was, I said it was more valuable than five million record sales to me. I brought a painting in once and told them it was worth a million pounds!" He went on: "They said I couldn't bring it in without paying duty on it. You're only allowed to bring in awards for literature, art or special feats. I asked him if he didn't think selling five million records was a special feat, and he started getting all snotty. He said he'd take it and see what it would fetch on the market. You could sell it for anything, but I said |
it was priceless. It's not all gold, it's just got a gold leaf. "Harvey Lisberg, our manager, was mad with them. It was great. I don't know what's going to happen now. They'll charge us something I suppose, but MGM'll pay." After touring Australasia with Tom Jones,, the Hermits went on to Japan alone. And it was there that, according to herman, a strange change came over the group. "We turned pretty Japanese," he laughed. "We used to eat in all the Japanese restaurants sitting on the floor cross-legged and dropping our chop sticks all over the place. The record company gave us these jacket things like the blokes who pull these carts about wear. We used to walk about in them bowing to one another." Herman continued: "The audiences aren't at all mad. They're dead quiet during the number, but when you start talking they all scream! Hello, Susie, have you been to the market?" seemed to be a little odd to say the least. Before I went quite mad, Herman quickly said: "It's alright, I'm not talking to you. It's my little sister just come in." Then he went back to talking about Japan. "We were in the dressing room and we could hear this group playing 'Satisfaction' over the intercom. We went out to see them and I fell about. They must have seen a film or something because every one of them was a Rolling Stone with a different face. "One of them copied all Mick Jagger's movements. The only thing was they didn't have long hair. We get some funny looks. It was the way it used to be here when long hair started. I suppose they used to call us little white devils." Herman is again shooting up the American charts, this time with "Listen People". But it won't be his next "A" side here. "It's going on the 'B' side," he revealed. "The 'A' side is 'You Won't Be Leaving'. Mickie Most just came along and asked us to look at the song, so we did it. I couldn't remember 'Listen People' when it was released in America because it was recorded about eighteen months ago and I'd forgotten all about it." |
