Peter Noone was a fresh-faced 16-year old when he became part of a golden musical era during the English invasion of the mid-1960s. Noone was the lead singer of Herman’s Hermits. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, the Animals, Gerry and the Pacemakers along with a host of other British bands forever changed rock and roll.
Over five decades later, the music is still going strong. Noone, plays Savannah Center on Friday, Jan. 5, at 5 and 8 p.m. He still has the Hermits and will perform such hits as “Kind of Hush,” “Dandy,” “Mrs Brown…” “I’m Into Something Good,” and “East West.”
“I’m not surprised people still want to hear that music,” Noone told me during his last visit to The Villages. “I always felt there was a future in those songs. I thought they were good and they would last.”
How hot were Herman’s Hermits?
In 1965, Noone and the boys had four, Top-3 hits, including a pair of No. 1 singles: “Mrs Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” and “I’m Henry The Eighth I Am.” Another song, “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat,” made it to No. 2.
Noone has also aged well. He looks far more youthful than his 70 years and still percolates with rock star energy.
But there are concessions to age, including the passing of friends and associates. Noone once found himself at the funeral of Mickie Most, his former record producer. Also attending the funeral was another of Noone’s buddies, Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. Page and fellow Zep mate John Paul Jones played on Herman’s Hermits’ recording sessions.
“Jimmy and I have a way of meeting at funerals,” Noone told TheBackstagePass.com. “We both worked with Mickie.”
Most planned his funeral with rock and roll music. During the ceremony, “Whole Lotta Love,” by Led Zeppelin was played along with two songs by the Hermits: “I’m Into Something Good” and “Kind of Hush.”
“Jimmy (Page) looked at me and said: ‘You’re lucky, he chose two of your songs.”
Noone has always been lucky, but he has also always been hard working, with business savvy. Teen idols have a way of imploding and wrecking their lives once the teenyboppers stop screaming.
Noone, unlike so many others, has kept his career going strong.
“I didn’t get into music to do stupid things or kill myself,” Noone told me. “I knew I wanted to be a singer, have a band and have people hear my music. My parents raised me right. I was very independent and hard working. I had my first band when I was 13. I used to book shows and travel all over.”
A turning point for Noone came long after the Hermits stopped having hits. He had starred in a couple of music movies during the 1960s, but on 1981 found himself on Broadway.
“When I was with the Hermits, I was the front man, the center of attention,” Noone told me. “When I was on Broadway, I had to share a stage with other people. I had to learn how stand, talk and gain attention. I had a director, who helped teach me how to act on stage. I learned and listened and it really changed me.”
Noone will be playing his favorite role as Herman with the Hermits when he comes to The Villages.
The kid who grew up with such pals as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Brian Jones, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page, is still going strong and shows no signs of slowing down.
Noone possesses optimism straight out of Voltaire’s Dr. Pangloss when comes to the future.
“It sounds Panglossian,” Noone said. “But I naively believe I’m going to get another 50 years.”
