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Herman’s
Hermits Herman’s Hermits were one of the
few British groups of the mid-Sixties to become much more successful in America
than in their native Britain. The group were originally called the
Heartbeats, and were formed in Manchester in 1963.
Original
members were Keith Hopwood (guitar, vocals), Alan Wrigley (bass guitar, vocals),
Steve Titterington (drums),and Karl Green, bass guitar and harmonica who was the
only original member to be still with the group when they started making.
Peter Noone joined the group as
vocalist in 1964. As a child actor
he had appeared on TV shows like Knight Errant, Saki and Coronation Street and
his TV fame help turn the Heartbeats into teenybopper celebrities in the
Manchester area. The group went
through some major changes at this time: Derek
"Lek" Leckenby (guitar, vocals), and Barry "Bean" Whitwam
(drums), joined later from another local group, The Wailers, Whitwam replacing
Titterington, Karl Green switching to bass guitar to replace Wrigley, and
Leckenby effectively taking Green's position. They came to the attention of
independent record producer Mickie Most, who saw them performing in Bolton. He
signed them up, and decided that the could market them better if he focused
attention on Peter Noone. The group
came up with the name Herman as they thought Peter looked like Sherman, a
character in the TV cartoon programme The Bullwinkle Show.
They added the Hermits as it fitted in so well with Herman. Mickie Most took the band to EMI who
signed them to their Columbia label. Most selected a song by American husband and wife composers
Gerry Goffin and Carole King as their first record.
Released in August 1964, I’m Into Something Good was an
immediate success, giving the group their first and only British No.1.
They had a string of hits that lasted to the end of the decade. In Britain Herman’s Hermits had
become one of a number of successful beat groups, but their career in America
was much more impressive. For a
while they rivalled the Beatles, and in 1965 ended the year as Billboard’s top
singles act, ahead of the Fab Four. They had seven singles in the Top 10 during that year, the
first six of which sold over a million copies each.
The group had eighteen American hits
between 1964 and 1968 with Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat? The first of
three No 1 singles. They made a
number of records for the American market that were not released in Britain,
including Mrs Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter and I’m Henry
VIII, I Am, both No.1 hits, which traded on their very English image.
Although they sang on their recordings, these studio recordings featured the top British session men of the day,
including it is popularly believed, future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and
John Paul Jones. In America, with the advent of The Monkees and the onset of the psychedelic era, Herman's Hermits' fortunes declined rapidly. Noone and Keith Hopwood left the band in 1971. The band reunited in 1973 (without Hopwood) to headline a hugely successful British invasion tour culminating with a standing-room-only performance at Madison Square Garden and an appearance on The Midnight Special. Later a version of the band featuring Leckenby and Whitwam opened for The Monkees on a couple of reunion tours. Noone declined an offer from tour organizers to appear but later appeared with Davy Jones on a successful teen idols tour. See Herman and Hermits perform I’m Into Something Good: http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=evpMKx5nrfY Check out Peter Noone interview |
