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(‘7 january 1968’)
(‘ohio state fair’)
(from ‘left’ to ‘right’) –>
“keith hopwood”
(rhythm guitar)
“karl green”
(bass)
“derek leckenby”
(lead guitar)
“peter noone”
(lead vocals)
“barry whitwam”
(drums)
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(“herman’s hermits” are an english ‘beat rock’ band, formed in ‘manchester’ in ‘1964’)
(originally called “herman’ & ‘the hermits'”, they were discovered by ‘harvey lisberg’, who signed them up to ‘management’)
(‘lisberg’ sent a return plane ticket to ”mickie’ most’ so that he could come up from ‘london’ to see the band play in ‘bolton’)
(‘most’ became the group’s ‘record producer’, controlling the band’s output)
(he emphasized a ‘simple’, ‘non-threatening’, ‘clean-cut’ image, although the band originally played ‘R&B numbers’)
(this helped ‘herman’s hermits’ become hugely successful in the ‘mid-1960s’)
(their first hit was a cover of earl-jean’s “i’m into something good” (written by ‘gerry goffin’ and ‘carole king’), which reached #1 in the ‘UK singles chart’ and #13 in the US in ‘late 1964’)
(they never topped the ‘british charts’ again, but had 2 US billboard ‘hot 100’ #1s with “mrs. brown, you’ve got a lovely daughter” (originally sung by ‘tom courtenay’ in a 1963 british TV play) and “i’m henry the 8th, i am” (a ‘british music hall’ song by ‘harry champion’ dating from ‘1911’, which singer peter noone’s irish grandfather had been in the habit of singing when ‘noone’ was young))
(these songs were aimed at a ‘US fan base’, with ‘noone’ exaggerating his ‘mancunian accent’)
(in the US, their records were released on the ‘MGM label’, a company which often featured musical performers they had signed to record deals in films)
(the ‘hermits’ appeared in several MGM movies, including when the boys meet the girls (1965) and hold on! (1966))
(they also starred in the film mrs. brown, you’ve got a lovely daughter (1968) and appeared in the 1965 anthology film “pop gear”)
(“herman’s hermits” had 4 ‘top 3’ hits in the US in ‘1965’, with the aforementioned #1 hits and “can’t you hear my heartbeat?” (US #2))
(they recorded the rays’ “silhouettes” (US #5), sam cooke’s “wonderful world” (US #4), “just a little bit better” (US #7), and “a must to avoid” (US #8) in 1965; “listen people” (US #3), george formby’s “leaning on a lamp post” from me and my girl (US #9), and the ‘ray davies’ song “dandy” (US #5) in 1966; and “there’s a kind of hush” (US #4) in ‘1967’)
(on chicago radio station ‘WLS’, “mrs. brown” and “silhouettes” were ‘#1’ and ‘#2′ on ’14 may 1965′ and exchanged positions the next week, a distinction matched only by the beatles’ “i want to hold your hand” and “she loves you” during ’14 february 1964′ – ‘6 march 1964’)
(the group appeared on the ed sullivan show, the dean martin show and “the jackie gleason show”)
(continued success in the US proved elusive beyond ‘1967’, although they had as many ‘top 10’ hits in ‘britain’ in the period ‘1967’ – ‘1970’ as they had had there in the years of the ‘mid-sixties’ when the band were wowing ‘american audiences’ and ‘british audiences’ seemed more diffident)
(by the time the group recorded their final album of the 1960s, rock ‘n’ roll party, the band’s success in the US was history and the album was not released by ‘MGM’ there)
(‘peter noone’ left the band in ‘1971’)
(‘herman’s hermits’ reunited in ‘1973’ to headline a successful ‘british invasion tour’ of the US culminating with a ‘standing-room-only performance’ at ‘madison square garden’ and an appearance on “the midnight special”)
(a later lineup with lead guitarist ‘derek leckenby’ and drummer ‘barry whitwam’ as the remaining original members opened for ‘the monkees’ on their ’80s reunion tours’ of the ‘US’)
(the band still continues to tour today, with ‘whitwam’ as the only remaining member from the original lineup)
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(***BACK TO “THE BRITISH INVASION”***)
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