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Peter Noone (AKA Herman of Herman's Hermits) in Concert (Australia: 1996)Feb 11 '01 (Updated May 05 '03) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Peter Noone (the artist formerly known as Herman) is an accomplished concert performer and is a must see for fans of Herman’s Hermits and mid-sixties British pop.
Next to the Beatles, Herman’s Hermits were probably the most successful sixties group to emerge from the so-called British music invasion. Emanating from Manchester, England, the group racked up 13 top twenty US hits and 18 top twenty UK hits between 1964 and 1970. There are currently two touring acts that are appearing under the Herman’s Hermits logo, one featuring former lead singer Peter Noone (AKA Herman) and the other featuring one or more members of the original Hermits band. I managed to catch Peter Noone's show at the Twin Towns Services Club Auditorium, Australia, on 14 February 1996. For those not familiar with Herman’s Hermits, they specialized in a clean-cut early Beatles image. Their material, and particularly that released in the US, included a string of music hall inspired pop hits that bordered on almost vaudeville. Amongst the songs in this vein were “Mrs Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” (1965: US #1), “I’m Henry the VII I am” (1965: US #1) and “Dandy” (1966: US #5). In addition, Herman’s Hermits were lucky enough to have access to some of the top songwriters of the day and as a consequence released an array of catchy MOR medium tempo and ballad numbers that did very well for them. Examples include such hits as “No Milk Today” (1966: UK #7), “There’s a Kind of Hush” (1967: US #4; UK #7) and “My Sentimental Friend” (1969; UK #2). Other chart successes were achieved by releasing covers of 1950’s material (e.g. “Wonderful World” (1965: US #4; UK #7) and “Silhouettes” (1965: US #5; UK #3)). In short, Peter Noone has no shortage of hit material to choose from when determining his concert set. There are no concerns when attending a Peter Noone concert that the authentic sound of the original Herman’s Hermits will be lost due to the absence of the original Hermits. Indeed every effort is made to recreate the feel of the 60’s music scene. Further, the group (with the exception of Peter) did not play on most of their records and were replaced by such noted musicians as John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page (both of Led Zeppelin) and Big Jim Sullivan. Interestingly, Herman’s Hermits seemed to have escaped any criticism for adopting this practice (unlike the Monkees who are still fielding questions on this issue 30 years later). The first thing that strikes you when Peter walks on the stage is that he appears to have hardly aged at all. He looks more like 30 that 50, his hair is thick and flowing and wrinkles are rare. Peter is a testament to the benefits of clean living and, other than Pat Boone, I can think of another star that has been able to so successfully hold off the aging process without resorting to cosmetic surgery. Not bad for a guy who was originally called Herman because he looked like Sherman from the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” show as a young teenager. The second thing that one immediately notices is that Peter’s singing vocals appear not to have changed at all over the years. Given that when Herman’s Hermits first hit the charts with “I’m into Something Good” (1964; UK #1) Peter was only 15 years old, this is quite remarkable. The set is strictly sixties material with an odd left wheeler thrown in. At the beginning of the concert Peter made it clear that he intended to focus on Herman’s Hermits’ hits as he was aware this was what the crowd really wanted. Peter then went on to sing just about every top twenty hit in the Herman’s Hermit’s repertoire. The only hit missing from memory was “Years May Come, Years May Go” (1970: UK #7). Significantly, as mentioned above, every number was sang with enthusiasm and a commitment to reproducing the original Herman’s Hermits sound. In between songs, Peter was most accomplished at charming his audience and was often quite amusing. There were many concert highlights, but for me there were two songs that stand out in particular. The first was the five-minute plus sing-along of “I’m Henry the VII I am”. This inane number is about a guy named Henry who just married the widow next door. She’s been married seven times before (all former husbands apparently deceased) and all were named Henry (“she would never have a Willey or a Sam”). Without any consideration of the fate of his marital predecessors or the mental health of his new wife, the number comprises of the same verse (repeated over) and affirms how wonderful the situation is for husband number 8. Although I never particularly liked the song as a single release, there is no doubt that it is an excellent in-concert number. Peter broke the 2000 plus audience into three groups where we all in turn sang the chorus at the top of our voices like vocal sheep. The performance was also accentuated by an excellent wild guitar solo that was strangely out of place but at the same time in place. The last number “There’s a Kind of Hush” was also particularly memorable for me. For those who do not know the song, it is a feel good medium tempo “all is well with the world” composition with a catchy sing-along chorus (with a series of “la-la’s just for good measure). At this particular concert I took my parents along. I recall looking over at them during the chorus of this song and seeing how happy they looked as they held hands and sang along. I remember thinking how lucky I was to still have them around. As happens from time to time when an event becomes inextricably linked with a song, I now think of my parents whenever I hear “There’s a Kind of Hush” being played. In summary, I would recommend taking the trouble to attend a concert by the artist formerly known as Herman if you get the chance. Fans of Herman’s Hermits and those who dig the mid sixties British music scene will particularly enjoy the show. Peter Noone was the prototype for later pop idols like Donny Osmond and David Cassidy and it is testament to his talent that 25 plus years after his last hit he is still entertaining audiences world wide.  |
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