A Few Moments with Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits
You’d probably think we’d catch up with Peter Noone in a pub in rain-drenched Manchester, England … but you’d be wrong. He called as he was driving his wife of 46 years, Mireille, to an appointment near their home in rain-deprived Santa Barbara, California.
After Herman’s Hermits broke up, Peter hosted a British television series, then moved to the south of France. By the late ‘70s, he’d taken up part-time residence in the United States, and soon appeared as Fredric in the Broadway production of The Pirates Of Penzance starring alongside Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline. Settling here full time, he hosted the VH1 program, My Generation, during the 1990s. Peter still tours the United States and the world, and hosts a radio show on Sirius/XM’s Sixties channel.
Has The California drought affected you?
All my neighbors are saying, “What about my lawn?” I’m thinking, “What about the farmers?” It’s their livelihood!
There’s an old Grateful Dead song with the famous line, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” Do you ever wake up in California and think about Manchester after World War II with the bomb sites and rationing. And do you shake your head and wonder how it happened?
All the time. My dad came back from the Royal Air Force after the War and married my mother on her sixteenth birthday. They lived in a prefabricated house [like a trailer] in a suburb of Manchester. It was grim after the War, but you could see things getting better all the time. Then I think back to my grandfather’s generation. They’d get up when it was dark, cycle or walk to work, work all day, and just barely make enough to feed and clothe themselves. So, yes, how wonderful to have been born when I was, and have the opportunities I got that my parents and grandparents could never have dreamed of.
You were on [the long-running British soap opera] Coronation Street and several other shows before you became a singer. You’ve appeared on the stage, screen, back on TV, and you have your Sixties show on Sirius-XM. Which medium do you like the most?
I love them all and they’ve all had a cumulative effect on my performing career. There were things I learned on Coronation Street that I used in Herman’s Hermits. My three years on Broadway taught me how to stand on stage without having a prop, not even a microphone in front of me. It has all freed me up. Now when I’m on-stage, I’m at home. When I started I’d live in fear that I’d forget my lines. Now I’m comfortable. I almost look forward to things going wrong so I can use my experience and get through it!
What was the first record you played over and over and over?
Danny & the Juniors’ “At the Hop.” They sounded like they were having so much fun. My sister’s records were all Elvis and [British pop star] Billy Fury. So much angst! I wanted my band to pick songs that were fun, like “At the Hop.” We did some serious songs, like “End of the World,” but we did a lot of outside-the-box songs, like “Mother-in-Law.” Can you imagine that? A fourteen year-old singing “Mother-in-Law”!
Who came up with the name Herman’s Hermits?
We were playing in a pub. I put on a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and did a couple of Buddy Holly songs. The guy behind the bar said I looked like Herman from Rocky and Bullwinkle, and of course he meant Sherman, but the name Herman stuck.
These days, we see kids buying ‘60s music on vinyl and knowing about ‘60s music. That would have been like us in the ‘60s buying music from the early 1900s. Why do you think the ‘60s music has endured so well?
It has cachet. It was a renaissance era. What I remember is that everyone was so enthusiastic. I think younger listeners today envy that enthusiasm. You look at videos of Sixties artists on Youtube and there were no distractions like fireworks and lights and no Auto-Tune. Just talent! We were all fans back then. I went to the Cavern in Liverpool [where the Beatles started] when I was twelve years old. Hopefully, there’s someone out there who will bring back that excitement.
People might not know that you recorded “Bus Stop” before the Hollies and “For Your Love” before the Yardbirds. How did that come about?
We played the Jewish Boys League in Manchester, and that’s where we met Graham Gouldman. He not only wrote those two songs, he was in 10CC later and wrote many great songs, including “No Milk Today” that we also did. So, yes, we did “Bus Stop” before the Hollies, but we didn’t quite get it right. Same thing with “For Your Love.” The Yardbirds got it right.
It was a much smaller scene than people think it was. And a small country, of course. Eric Burdon of the Animals is still a good friend. We talk about how you’d stop at a restaurant on the A-1 [motorway] at two in the morning, and you’d run into the Beatles or the Stones on their way back from a gig.
How did you get to meet Elvis in Hawaii? He lived a pretty insular life. Did he know your music?
Elvis was friends with a dee-jay in Hawaii, Tom Moffatt on KPOI. Tom had a massive record collection and Elvis hung out at his place when he was filming in Hawaii. They were shooting Paradise Hawaiian Style, and we were there doing a show there. Tom liked Herman’s Hermits. We asked if he could arrange a meeting. He said he could. I think Elvis probably asked who we were, and Tom told him we’d sold out the Hula Bowl stadium, and that impressed Colonel Parker. He said, “Bring ‘em over.” They started shooting at six in the morning, so only me and the drummer showed up. I was always very pushy about meeting people. I was a fan. I not only went out of my way to meet guys you’d expect like Elvis and Johnny Cash, but Sarah Vaughan, B.J. Thomas. I was a fan of all music, still am.
You had a chance to work alongside great veterans like [British stage star] Stanley Holloway, who starred as Alfred P. Doolittle in “My Fair Lady,” and Arthur Lubin, who directed Abbott & Costello and “Mister Ed.”
Both of them were great gentlemen. Stanley Holloway helped us through filming Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter. They taught me the game when I was a kid. I was always standing in a pool of sweat. “What if I forget my lines?” They showed me how to get through it.
Do you think you’ll ever move back to England?
You live where your wife wants to live! We tried France, where she’s from. France was sad, then. Someone said, “You should be an American.” I came over. I had a feeling I was home. Got a visa, got a Green Card, and we had our daughter here. She’s a born American. I like going back to England as a tourist. It makes me feel good to see all the different races getting along there for the most part.
Is there any new music you’ve heard that excites you?
I’m always looking for music that breaks the rules a little bit. The other day, I heard Buck Owens’ “Together Again.” It’s a verse followed by an instrumental break, followed by a verse. It’s a slow song about a happy subject. See, it broke all the rules, and it worked! I like Joe Bonamassa. I like some Bruno Mars tracks. I listen to music constantly. A lot of oldies. Beatles, Stones, Z.Z. Top. My daughter, Natalie, is in Nashville and she listens to a lot of a country music, of course.
Have you ever worked a cruise before?
I did lots of them, then I stopped. And then I started working with the people who are doing the Flower Power Cruise, and it was a first-class experience. It’s like I said earlier, I’m a fan, and on some level it’s still 1964 in my head. Last time, I met Brenda Lee and Dion. We’d run into each other in the cafeteria, and it was great fun. I love getting up close to the fans, too. It’s a much more intimate experience than concerts on the road. Another thing is that I always make a point to see the other acts. You look and you’ll see me in the audience or in the wings!