Garden City, N.Y.
Newsday
Mar 10, 1966

Just two years ago, they were five little-known chaps playing rock 'n roll at a youth club in their native Manchester; sitting around on the floor during breaks sharing sandwiches. But that was yesterday. Today? Ha! Today, Herman's Hermits! Today, the world!
    Or would you believe the universe: The oldest Hermit is not yet 21, and the group's annual gross is, as one of them puts it, "in the millions." Top 10 records such as "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" or "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am," sought-after albums such as "The Best of Herman's Hermits," a yet-to-be released MGM movie, "There's No Place Like Space," TV pinnacles such as the Ed Sullivan Show, and a just completed tour-de-force of Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
    It's all the way up. Or to put it in elevator stops, it was the 18th floor of a Manhattan motel during a recent contract-signing stopover on their way home from the Far East. Down below them, all the trappings of fame. Two special policemen in the motel lobby, and about 10 youngsters, most of them girls, outside on the sidewalk: "They've been here for days," said a motel manager. "They bring blankets and sleep on fire escapes."
    "In America, you find that," said blond, leprechaun-faced Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone, "kids waiting outside all night. But not in Japan. They'd never be allowed. When we got there, we found that the schools had banned rock 'n' roll; they thought it contributed to juvenile delinquency. We had to prove that we were gentlemen, that not all rock 'n' roll people fight and get drunk on stage."
    As every child old enough to monkey knows, Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone, 18-year-old ex-actor and vaudevillian, is the Herman of Herman's Hermits. It's a little complicated, but um, Peter is supposed to resemble a cartoon character named Sherman, who is on TV's "Bullwinkle Show," and somehow Sherman wound up as Herman. That's show biz.
    More to the point, Peter-Herman and his fellow Hermits were indeed gentlemen as they sat in a row on a couch in their motel suite and answered questions. Longish hair, but not that long, and neatly combed. Clean-shaven and politely spoken. Fashionably dressed in suede boots, narrow slacks, blazers (a sweater for Peter), shirts and ties.
    Peter did most of the talking. He usually does. "I can't stop," is how he explained it.

  "Our big schtick at the moment," he said, "is to get our music so that when people hear us, they know it's not just rock 'n' roll, but Herman's Hermits.
    "All our music - rock 'n' roll - stems from American rock 'n' roll. But it was going down and the Beatles started it up again - with an American sound but with something fresh, a fresh melody line that had heart and soul."
    Which, agreed the Hermits, led to American lads copying English chaps. "The music first, and then the clothes," said Derek (Lek) Leckenby, bespectacled senior citizen of the group who will be 21 in May. Two years ago, Derek had one good jacket and two pair of trousers. Now, as he put it, "if I see something in a store, I can walk in and buy it. I don't have to just stare in the window."
    How were the boys, sufficiently cosmopolitan to be drinking coffee in the morning, enjoying their stopover in New York? "I can't stand the food," said Derek, "None of it."
    "They mess with it too much over here," said Keith Hopwood, 19, a former telephone engineer whose favorite entertainers are Sandra Dee and Albert Finney. Karl Green, 18, ex-process engraver who, among other things, can't stand overly made-up girls, nodded agreement. Barry Whitwam, 19, the drummer (the others, naturally, play guitars) smiled his quiet smile.
   "At home," said Peter, "we drive our own cars (Jaguars, a Cadillac and a Volvo) and go about by ourselves. Here, we have to depend on other people to arrange everything."
    "We're much freer in Manchester," said Karl. "We've always lived there."
    Another subject. What about screaming girls? "I mean," said the questioner, "they can't possibly be listening to you."
    "They're enjoying themselves," said Peter. "That's what we're paid for."
    "Half come to see you and half come to listen," said Lek.
    "The beauty of our music is its simplicity," said Peter. "You can sing along and you get all the kids singing along and enjoying themselves. Well, that's what I call being an entertainer."
    So, then, is what they do like acting?     "No," said Peter. "When you're acting you've not playing yourself. I think we all play ourselves."
    What about the Beatles? "A great group. They paved the way for us."
    Do they worry about what they will do when they're too old to be teenage idols?
    "We've got a few years to go," said Karl. "The Beatles are 25."