Herman's Hermits Peter Noone admits he's "invisible" in England

29 April 2024, 12:49

Hold On – Herman’s Hermits movie trailer

Peter No-one, if you like.

While they may not have had quite the lasting profile of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, at the time Herman's Hermits were one of the biggest bands of the 1960s.

They had a number of massive songs, and were particularly successful in the US, racking up five hit singles including two number ones.

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These days, Noone tours as Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone and is based out in California, though he still comes back to the UK once in a while to see his family.

"I miss it very much but I do go a lot to visit my daughter," Noone told The Mirror.

"I'm a tourist now and invisible. I once said, 'How do you become ­invisible – you walk into a room with John Lennon or Elvis Presley, you're invisible'. Now I'm invisible in England."

Of the Hermits' supposed rivalry with their fellow 1960s British invasion bands, Noone said: “People believed there was competition between the Stones, The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits. But we were mates.

"Each of us was unique, you couldn’t get a record deal unless you were different."

He added: "We were neck and neck with the Stones. But we were the boys next door, they were the boys your mum didn’t want you out with.

“At the time, we were as good a hooligans as they were. They pretended to be hooligans when they really weren't, they were grammar school twits, like us. We got on great with them."

As well as his remarkable career as the leader of Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone also had a number of hit singles as a solo artist.

He launched his career with a version of 'Oh You Pretty Thing' in 1971, which was written by David Bowie and featured the songwriter on piano, before he eventually reworked it as Oh! You Pretty Things' for his own Hunky Dory album later that year.