They were formed in April 1964 in
Manchester. The founding members were
Peter Noone,
Barry Whitwam,
Karl Green,
Keith Hopwood,
Derek Leckenby, and it was Noone who was nicknamed
Herman, which came from
Sherman in the
Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Noone left in 1971, but the group are apparently still going, under the name of
The Hermits, and
drummer Whitwam (The
Bean) is still with them.
Their singles up to 1971 were:
For one album, pick The Most of Herman's Hermits , as it contains most of their best tracks, including the excellently sentimental "The Most Beautiful Thing In My Life".
As I write, their next
concert date is next Saturday, 17 March 2001, at
Skegness Funcoast World. Then on following weeks it's
Minehead,
Great Yarmouth, the
Butlins at
Margate; they're in Germany in April-May and September-October, and in the USA in July-August. If you live in or near Skegness but can't make the first date they're back there on 26 October. They consider it sad that
Peter Noone won't play places like
Butlins because he thinks they're beneath him.
Note to foreigners: the preceding paragraph is funny and sad.