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Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English pop rock group formed in 1963 in Manchester and fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous transatlantic hits in the UK and in America, where they ranked as one of the most successful acts in the Beatles-led British Invasion. Between March and August 1965 in the United States, the group logged twenty-four consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot 100 with five singles, including the two number ones "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am".
Their other international hits in the 1960s include "I'm into Something Good" (their sole UK number one), "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", the two covers "Silhouettes" and "Wonderful World", "A Must to Avoid", "Listen People", "No Milk Today", "There's a Kind of Hush", "I Can Take or Leave Your Loving", "Something's Happening" and "My Sentimental Friend", all of which were produced by Mickie Most. The band had at least ten Top-10 singles both in Britain and the US. Herman's Hermits also appeared in four films, two of which were vehicles for the band.
Herman's Hermits was formed from two different local bands. Keith Hopwood (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Karl Green (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alan Wrigley (bass), Steve Titterington (drums) and Peter Noone (lead vocals) came from the Heartbeats, where Hopwood had replaced rhythm guitarist Alan Chadwick. The second-youngest member of a young group (four months older than Karl Green who was originally in the Balmains), 15-year-old Noone was already an experienced actor on the TV soap opera Coronation Street.
The band's name came from a resemblance, noted by a publican in Manchester, England, between Noone and Sherman from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Sherman was shortened to Herman and the group became Herman and His Hermits, which was soon shortened to Herman's Hermits.
In the summer of 1963, Harvey Lisberg discovered the group, then called Herman and the Hermits, playing at The Collingwood Club in Urmston. Lisberg and his friend Charlie Silverman became the group's managers on 5 November, and began booking concert dates. After several failed attempts to book the group at Liverpool's Cavern Club, Lisberg invited the club's DJ Bob Wooler to watch one of the group's performances in Manchester. Wooler was able to persuade the club's owner Ray McFall to book the band at the Cavern. In his 2024 autobiography A Hermit's Tale, Hopwood claimed that Wooler promised the group a couple of tracks in a proposed album called "The Cavern Presents". Although it never came to fruition, Hopwood wrote "it was good to have interest".
The Plaza Ballroom, a popular venue where the band performed every Saturday night, was within close proximity to Granada Television, where music executive Johnnie Hamp and Michael Parkinson produced a nightly magazine show called Scene at 6.30. Lisberg convinced Hamp and Parkinson to come to the Plaza. Arriving at the end of the show, Hamp saw the band perform their version of Nat Kendrick and the Swans' "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes". In the Herman's Hermits iteration, there was an abundance of kicking and leaping. Hamp made it a condition that this song be performed, and the show was piped to the A&R team at EMI.
Hamp invited the band back for a second TV outing. Two songs, "Sweet & Lovely" and "Rip It Up" were recorded at the Urmston Recording Club. Following this, Hamp sent a crew to The Cavern to film the band performing their entire act, including unloading and setting up equipment and the sound check. The Kinks were also at the Cavern for a lunchtime session.
Soon after, the Plaza's manager, Terry Devine, gave Lisberg a contact for Derek Everett at EMI. Lisberg met Everett, who worked in the sales division, in London. Everett offered to connect Lisberg to Mickie Most, an independent producer who worked with EMI. After briefly conversing with Most over the phone, Lisberg returned to Manchester and sent a postcard of the group to Most to encourage his response, followed by "two first class plane tickets, plus a night in a top Manchester hotel, inviting him to come and see the band perform. And this time he took the bait." In 1982, when Most was interviewed for the BBC Radio 1 programme and accompanying book The Record Producers, he recalled that upon receiving the postcard, he was intrigued by Noone's resemblance to "a young John F. Kennedy" and told the group's management he wanted to see them in concert. Most recalled "they didn't play so well, but [Noone] had a nice personality and that Kennedy look, which was what I liked." Lisberg recalled Most arriving to see the group at the Beachcomber club in Bolton. After the concert, Most informed Lisberg to sack the current bassist and drummer before Most would produce the group. Lisberg then informed Wrigley and Titterington of their dismissal from the band at Peter Noone's house. In a 1972 interview, Noone remembered the group auditioning for Most at a studio shortly after the performance, and stated, "We were having success so we didn't notice it, but we were unrecordable. [...] [Most] wanted me to kick two guys out of the band, which occurred, typically enough, in a Chinese restaurant. They took it great and I took it bad." Hopwood recalled that the group's audition for Most took place at Kingsway Studios on 19 April 1964. Lisberg and Silverman then held auditions for replacement members. Bassist Derek Leckenby and drummer Barry Whitwam had previously been members of another local group, The Wailers. They impressed Lisberg and Silverman with their performance of "Hava Nagila" and subsequently joined the newly renamed Herman's Hermits. Green later switched to bass guitar and Leckenby took over from Green as lead guitarist.
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Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English pop rock group formed in 1963 in Manchester and fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous transatlantic hits in the UK and in America, where they ranked as one of the most successful acts in the Beatles-led British Invasion. Between March and August 1965 in the United States, the group logged twenty-four consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot 100 with five singles, including the two number ones "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am".
Their other international hits in the 1960s include "I'm into Something Good" (their sole UK number one), "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", the two covers "Silhouettes" and "Wonderful World", "A Must to Avoid", "Listen People", "No Milk Today", "There's a Kind of Hush", "I Can Take or Leave Your Loving", "Something's Happening" and "My Sentimental Friend", all of which were produced by Mickie Most. The band had at least ten Top-10 singles both in Britain and the US. Herman's Hermits also appeared in four films, two of which were vehicles for the band.
Herman's Hermits was formed from two different local bands. Keith Hopwood (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Karl Green (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alan Wrigley (bass), Steve Titterington (drums) and Peter Noone (lead vocals) came from the Heartbeats, where Hopwood had replaced rhythm guitarist Alan Chadwick. The second-youngest member of a young group (four months older than Karl Green who was originally in the Balmains), 15-year-old Noone was already an experienced actor on the TV soap opera Coronation Street.
The band's name came from a resemblance, noted by a publican in Manchester, England, between Noone and Sherman from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Sherman was shortened to Herman and the group became Herman and His Hermits, which was soon shortened to Herman's Hermits.
In the summer of 1963, Harvey Lisberg discovered the group, then called Herman and the Hermits, playing at The Collingwood Club in Urmston. Lisberg and his friend Charlie Silverman became the group's managers on 5 November, and began booking concert dates. After several failed attempts to book the group at Liverpool's Cavern Club, Lisberg invited the club's DJ Bob Wooler to watch one of the group's performances in Manchester. Wooler was able to persuade the club's owner Ray McFall to book the band at the Cavern. In his 2024 autobiography A Hermit's Tale, Hopwood claimed that Wooler promised the group a couple of tracks in a proposed album called "The Cavern Presents". Although it never came to fruition, Hopwood wrote "it was good to have interest".
The Plaza Ballroom, a popular venue where the band performed every Saturday night, was within close proximity to Granada Television, where music executive Johnnie Hamp and Michael Parkinson produced a nightly magazine show called Scene at 6.30. Lisberg convinced Hamp and Parkinson to come to the Plaza. Arriving at the end of the show, Hamp saw the band perform their version of Nat Kendrick and the Swans' "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes". In the Herman's Hermits iteration, there was an abundance of kicking and leaping. Hamp made it a condition that this song be performed, and the show was piped to the A&R team at EMI.
Hamp invited the band back for a second TV outing. Two songs, "Sweet & Lovely" and "Rip It Up" were recorded at the Urmston Recording Club. Following this, Hamp sent a crew to The Cavern to film the band performing their entire act, including unloading and setting up equipment and the sound check. The Kinks were also at the Cavern for a lunchtime session.
Soon after, the Plaza's manager, Terry Devine, gave Lisberg a contact for Derek Everett at EMI. Lisberg met Everett, who worked in the sales division, in London. Everett offered to connect Lisberg to Mickie Most, an independent producer who worked with EMI. After briefly conversing with Most over the phone, Lisberg returned to Manchester and sent a postcard of the group to Most to encourage his response, followed by "two first class plane tickets, plus a night in a top Manchester hotel, inviting him to come and see the band perform. And this time he took the bait." In 1982, when Most was interviewed for the BBC Radio 1 programme and accompanying book The Record Producers, he recalled that upon receiving the postcard, he was intrigued by Noone's resemblance to "a young John F. Kennedy" and told the group's management he wanted to see them in concert. Most recalled "they didn't play so well, but [Noone] had a nice personality and that Kennedy look, which was what I liked." Lisberg recalled Most arriving to see the group at the Beachcomber club in Bolton. After the concert, Most informed Lisberg to sack the current bassist and drummer before Most would produce the group. Lisberg then informed Wrigley and Titterington of their dismissal from the band at Peter Noone's house. In a 1972 interview, Noone remembered the group auditioning for Most at a studio shortly after the performance, and stated, "We were having success so we didn't notice it, but we were unrecordable. [...] [Most] wanted me to kick two guys out of the band, which occurred, typically enough, in a Chinese restaurant. They took it great and I took it bad." Hopwood recalled that the group's audition for Most took place at Kingsway Studios on 19 April 1964. Lisberg and Silverman then held auditions for replacement members. Bassist Derek Leckenby and drummer Barry Whitwam had previously been members of another local group, The Wailers. They impressed Lisberg and Silverman with their performance of "Hava Nagila" and subsequently joined the newly renamed Herman's Hermits. Green later switched to bass guitar and Leckenby took over from Green as lead guitarist.
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