Peter Noone brings back Herman’s Hermits

First a bit of trivia for nostalgia buffs. Pop music lore says that Herman’s Hermits, the British pop group from the ‘60s, did not actually play the instruments during their recording sessions. Instead they had two very young and very talented musicians perform for them. They were named Jimmy Page and Paul Jones and they grew up to become Led Zeppelin of Stairway to Heaven and other rock classics fame. So hold on to your copies of Here Comes Herman’s Hermits and other albums by the group. These have been rendered doubly priceless.

The fact might seem unimaginable to their fans but Page and Jones did play in Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter. In retrospect, it does seem like the buyers were being duped into believing that the members of Herman’s Hermits were not only cute but were also good musicians. But that bit of subterfuge did not in any way hurt their chances at the hit charts. It was one hit after another for Herman and his Hermits’ from 1964 up to 1967. That was despite the presence of competition from the Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, The Holies, Freddie and The Dreamers and other groups from the UK.

At that time, the Hermits were the ones considered second only to the Beatles as far as hit output was concerned. There were even instances when they outsold the Fab Boys from Liverpool. Take a look at this list. Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat, Silhouettes, I’m Into Something Good, Just a Little Bit Better, Wonderful World, There’s a Kind of Hush, Listen People, The End of the World, I’m Henry VIII, I Am, A Must to Avoid, Dandy, Museum, No Milk Today, Leaning on a Lamp Post, This Door Swings Both Ways, Something’s Happening, My Sentimental Friend, Sleepy Joe, Lady Barbara and others.

These songs and perhaps more will be what we will get when Peter Noone comes to town for performances at the Araneta Coliseum on March 17 and at the Manila Hotel on March 18. The show is entitled Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone: Live All Over the World. As most of you have known for years, there was never any Herman among the Hermits. Instead, it was the wholesome, toothy presence of soloist Peter Noone, who gave Herman a face and buoyed up sales of the group’s brand of infectious pop music.

A former child star, Noone was a classically trained singer, actor and dancer. He also comes from Liverpool and was in the cast of Coronation Street, the most popular and longest running soap series in the history of British TV. He was only 15 years old when he decided to join a group and go into pop music. Along with recordings, they also appeared on several films including Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter and Hold On.

Noone left Herman’s Hermits in 1970 and continued as a soloist, songwriter and stage actor. Thanks to a four-year hosting stint with the music channel VH1, he was once more rediscovered by teenage music buffs and is now known as one of the most successful multi-generational stars out of the ‘60s.

Time now for us to find out if Noone still has what it takes. Tickets to the Araneta Coliseum show are priced at P2,500, P2,000, P1,200, P500 and P250 while tickets to the dinner show at the Manila Hotel are priced at P3,500 each.

To continue the nostalgia tripping, you have to check out the ultimate album of ‘60s memories. This is The Lettermen, Complete Hits. Romantic Pinoys just can’t get enough of them and as you doubtless know, the enduring trio sold out several nights during their Manila stint late last January.

The contents of the album are the reasons why. The Theme from Seventh Dawn, I Only Have Eyes for You, The Things We Did Last Summer, The Wonder of You, The Theme from A Summer Place, The Way You Look Tonight, Our Winter Love, Love Me with All Your Heart, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Moments to Remember, She Cried, When I Fall in Love, Graduation Day, Going Out of My Head, Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, Hurt So Bad, No Other Love, Smile and more including two romantic Filipino songs composed by Mike Velarde, Dahil Sa ‘yo and Ikaw.