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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZHERMAN'S HERMITSUK pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester: Peter 'Herman' Noone (b 5 November 1947) on vocals, piano, guitar; Karl Greene (b 31 July 1947), guitar, harmonica; Keith Hopwood (b 26 October 1946), guitar; Derek 'Lek' Leckenby (b 14 May 1945; d 4 June 1994, cancer), guitar; Barry Whitham (b 21 July 1946), drums: Lek was from Leeds, Greene from Salford, the others all from Manchester. Noone had studied acting and singing, appeared on stage and TV, joined a group then called the Heartbeats. Spotted by Mickie Most, their first single 'I'm Into Something Good' was no. 1 UK/13 USA: they had 20 top 40 UK hits '64-70 on EMI/Columbia, 18 in USA '64-8 on MGM, their sunny good-time music an alternative to R&B imitators in the British Invasion. Their biggest hits included 'Mrs Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter', 'I'm Henry VIII, I Am' (a music hall song from 1911), both no. 1 in USA; cover of the Rays' 'Silhouettes'; 'Listen People' (from film When The Boys Meet The Girls), 'A Must To Avoid' and 'Leaning On The Lamp Post' (from film Hold On!). They also made a film called Mrs Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter; they had ten LPs in the U.S. album chart including two film soundtracks: their first three LPs made the top five, including the first of three best-of collections, which stayed in the U.S. album chart 105 weeks. Noone went solo, had a no. 12 UK hit 'Oh You Pretty Thing' '71 (cover of David Bowie); rejoined the others '73 for revivals, lived in France, hosted a UK TV show; the Hermits recorded without him unsuccessfully on Buddah. He tried a comeback late '70s with a group called the Tremblers in Los Angeles (album Twice Nightly); made another album One Of The Glory Boys '82, appeared on Broadway in Pirates Of Penzance '82, then in London. He also did charity work, for example appearing at Camelot for Children's Christmas Spectacular fundraiser in Allentown, Pennsylvania five times, beginning in 1989 and hosting it in 2007; then came back a sixth time for its 25th anniversary in 2011. |