Herman's Hermits

The British beat boom of the 1960s was firmly rooted in the Merseybeat sound of Liverpool, but Herman's Hermits emerged from rival city Manchester to present a cheery, clean-cut, more family-orientated alternative. It worked, too, when they went to Number 1 in the UK (and Number 13 in the US) with their upbeat cover of the Goffin-King song I'm Into Something Good. It was to be their only chart-topper, although there were plenty of other hits like Can't You Hear My Heartbeat, There's A Kind Of Hush (later covered by The Carpenters), Silhouettes and No Milk Today; while they underlined their comic credentials with knockabout, music-hall style singles like Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter and I'm Henry V111, I Am. Future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were among the session musicians who played on their hits and in 1965 Herman's Hermits chart success was rivalled only by The Beatles. They remained popular in the US long after their popularity in Britain faded and reached Number 5 in the American charts in 1967 with a Ray Davies song, Dandy. Peter Noone quit to go solo in 1971 while the rest of the band continued for a few years with changing line-ups and limited success.