Herman's Hermits

Teenaged Peter Noone studied music and acting at the Manchester School of Music, and in 1963 he was singing in a local band called The Heartbeats with guitarists Karl Green, Derek Leckenby, and Keith Hopwood, and drummer Barry Whitwam. Under the wing of producer Mickie Most, they changed their name to Herman's Hermits and released a single, I'm Into Something Good (written by Goffin/King), that went to #1 on the UK charts.

The band then followed The Beatles to the USA, where young pop fans had developed a Fab Four-inspired taste for all things English and mop-topped. The result was that, Herman's Hermits, with their non-threatening, clean-cut image, were an instant smash, and in 1965, they placed six singles in the US Top Ten and appeared in teen-oriented films, Where The Boys Are with Connie Francis, and Hold On! with Shelly Fabares. They toured the states to the screams of teenaged girls. In England, they were looked down on by the "serious" music press, and were far less successful.

Hermits studio recordings featured top British session men of the day, and it is rumored that future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were among them. Although critics quickly tired of their light pop sound, their records sold like hotcakes. Their Top Ten hits included Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter, I'm Henry The Eighth I Am, Can't You Hear My Heartbeat, Silhouettes, Wonderful World, Just A Little Better, Listen People, Dandy, A Must To Avoid, Leaning On The Lamp Post, and There's A Kind Of Hush. They recorded six studio albums and released three Greatest Hits collections (the first of which stayed on the album chart for a whopping 105 weeks) in the span of less than four years.

As the music scene split into "rock" and "pop" segments in 1967, and tastes began to lean in a less pop-oriented direction, the hits dried up. The group slowed down and eventually split in 1971, followed by the typical legal battles. Noone moved into acting and continued to record solo. In 1980, he recorded with a band in Los Angeles called The Tremblers, but never achieved more than modest success in niche markets.

Keith Hopwood currently runs a music production company called Pluto Music.

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