Going steady is a drag! You get tied down and it keeps you from going with somebody else you may like and want to see. Besides, I'm too fickle. I can't make up my mind about sticking to one girl!"
     So watch out girls! That was HERMAN talking!
     Herman told me he was not a steady guy while he was in Hollywood filming Hold On for MGM.
     "I'm having the time of my life at the moment," he grinned. "But that doesn't mean that I don't take my career seriously. I do. But I like fun too. People of my age want fun. We don't look a long way ahead. As long as tomorrow looks good, everything's okay. Of course, I have plenty of serious thoughts, but I prefer to face growing up tomorrow. It will come soon enough - and I don't want to rush it!"
     But although Herman doesn't want to rush his personal life, he loves the rushing about that comes with his professional life. Those guys never stop! For instance, after he had completed the film, he flew straight back to his home in Manchester so that he could celebrate his 18th birthday with his family and be reunited with his married sister DENISE who's 19.
     "She's really a good singer," he bragged, "and I keep urging her to sing in public. But she is shy and gets embarrassed just seeing her picture in the papers or having a story written about her. But she can really sing! She's got the best voice in the family. She sings better than I do, so I told her she ought to cut a record under the name of Denise then people wouldn't know she's my sister. 'Then you can judge for yourself if you have public appeal' I told her."
     After enjoying an all-too-short vacation at home, the boys were off again. This time to Australia and Japan. I gather that they had a marvelous time in Australia, but when they got to Japan they had to face agitiation linking rock 'n' roll music to juvenile delinquency. So they did some radio and TV interviews on the subject and argued so effectively against this accusation that attendance at their concerts immediately went up!
     Then they flew to Hawaii for three days of pure rest. They had seen Hawaii in the movies so often they yearned to know it better - to lie in the sun, frolic in the surf and watch the native girls sway in the gentle breeze.So what happened? It rained continuously except for a brief sunny afternoon! But it did give the boys a chance to do a little surfing.
     On their way back to England, Herman and the Hermits decided to stop off in New York for a couple of days. During their brief visit they managed to get to the Empire State Building, tallest in the world. Flanked by their managers,they managed to avoid attracting a crowd.
     "We had a great time," says Herman. "Spent the whole morning there! Then we went rowing in Central Park. I even tried to fish with a borrowed hook and string." (It's a good job they didn't catch a fish; it's illegal in the park!) "We visited the zoo and played baseball and really had a great time!"
     They vowed then and there that on their next trip to the U.S. they would somehow find time to see America.
     "I'm told that America is very beautiful," Herman said wistfully. "We've visited more that 35 cities but what we know best are hotel kitchens, back stairways, police uniforms, backstage dressing rooms - and hotel rooms.