Herman's bet with his Dad!

DRESSED in a black pullover, pale blue shirt, slim brown trousers and black shoes, Herman perched on a bench in his dressing room and told me what difference a number one had made for him. "Well, it's made me a lot of 'friends' that I don't want, and of course, I'm obviously better off financially," he began. "It's a fantastic feeling, having a number one, but we just can't picture ourselves as being in the number one position. All the other chart toppers have been big idols like Roy Orbison, The Beatles, Manfred Mann, etc., who have worked for years for their success. Whereas we made it first go.
    "Another difference is the reaction of the girls who scream more. And we get recognised in the street which gives you a big kick."
    I offered Herman a cigarette - "Ta, very much," he said in his broad Manchester accent - and inquired what his family felt about the success of their only son.
    "I haven't had a chance to talk to them since we reached the top. But I know they'll be very proud. The last time I saw them was when we were at number three and my dad said - 'I bet it gets to number one.' We had a little wager and now I owe him some money!" he laughed.
    Herman or Pete as he prefers to be called, has been in show business since the age of 11. He made his T.V. debut in 1959 in Granada T.V.'s "Knight Errant" and has also appeared in "Family Solicitor" and "Coronation Street." I asked him whether he enjoyed being an actor more than a pop singer. "I started off as an actor, and the group thing was just an accident," he replied. "I did not like the actors I worked with, except for all those on 'Coronation Street.' They were a great lot.
HERMAN'S HERMITS - they joined the elite of Gerry, the Honeycombs and the Searchers, all of whom had a number one for their first disc. (RM Pic).

ACCIDENT
    "Now I'd definitely sooner have the group. But I hope I may be able to go back into acting one day perhaps. Because I used to go to speech training and I was able to speak proper English," he said in his best Oxford accent! "But now I've gone back to the old Manchester slang. We're getting a chance at acting at Christmas in the pantomime, and we'll have to see how that goes." He remarked that being in a group was a form of acting, because on stage they clown around and this takes a little skill.
    "if I had to choose between acting and singing I'm not sure which I'd pick. I don't reckon myself as a singer or an actor. So I suppose I must be a nothing. I'm just a normal person. At the moment singing is great, but if I'd never been in either and was starting afresh, I would choose acting because there is a lot more scope there. The one thing that worries me is pretending I'm somebody that I'm not - and that's acting. I like to be just me, Pete Noone and be one of the lads all my life. But at the same time I do want to be something better than the lads, so it's all a bit mixed up," he confessed.
    The young pop star speaks with refreshing honesty. He doesn't like "fakers," as he calls them. He admits quite frankly that he's been expelled from a few schools. He's neither ashamed or proud of this - it's just a true fact. Willingly he will tell you his likes and dislikes. Take for instance his current success.
    "I've found that a few people in other groups, who used to be my friends now want to try and put me down a bit. And the only way they can think of doing this is by calling me big-headed - which I'm not - I haven't changed anyway in myself. But they like to take you down a peg, so they call you big-headed and think that will hurt you. But it doesn't bother me, just as long as people don't start believing them. These gossips get on my nerves - they're probably jealous."

OPPOSITE
    He mentioned that another thing which annoyed him were people who don't allow for one's mistakes.
    "I make some whoppers, like saying the wrong things, or accidentally leaving the stage a few minutes early." The Liverpool groups came in for a lot of praise. While on the subject of the Rolling Stones he commented:
    "They are the exact opposit to us. We play a completely different style of music. We're not all intelligent like they are supposed to be," Herman opined. "We don't wear long hair and scruffy - sorry, casual! - clothes like them. We haven't got the sex appeal they have. Ours is a 'baby' sort of appeal.
    Will folk music become really big? Herman thinks - at least hopes - so. "Most of the music that the English groups are playing now is old American stuff. But the British Isles has its own folk songs and if they came back then we would be really doing our own numbers." Finally, the group's new disc comes out soon. Over to Herman again.
    "We recorded the number a short time ago and it's released on November 13 - the day before we start our national tour. It's called 'Show Me, Girl,' again written by Goffin and King.
    "We can't really tell how it's going to do, but it is a much better number than the last one. But you can't always say that a better number will do as well. Because the last time we had no Rolling Stones or Beatles to fight with at the time. This one is a completely different styling. But it's a happy tune again . . . not a ball nor a fast number. It goes like . . ."
    He sang the opening few bars of the opus and it sounded pretty good to me! Then it was time for me to make the trek home. I wished Pete happy birthday, in advance, because he reaches the age of 17 on November 5, Guy Fawkes Day, and to coin an American expression - he's a real regular guy!

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