Peter Noone (Wikipedia)
Peter No one is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as Herman of the successful 1960s pop group Herman’s Hermits.
Noone was born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, the second of five children, the son of an accountant, and attended English Martyrs (Urmston), Wellacre Primary School (Flixton), Stretford Grammar School, and St Bede’s College (Manchester).
Noone played a number of acting roles on television, including that of Stanley Fairclough in the soap opera Coronation Street. Noone studied voice and drama at the Manchester School of Music, where he won the Outstanding Young Musician Award.
Early in his career, he used the stage name Peter Novac. At 15, he became the lead singer, spokesman and frontman of Herman’s Hermits, who were discovered by Harvey Lisberg.[. As “Herman”, the photogenic Noone appeared on the cover of many international publications, including Time Magazine‘s collage showing new faces in popular music.
The band’s hits included: “I’m into Something Good“, “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter“, “I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am” (in the USA), “Silhouettes“, “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat“, “Just a Little Bit Better“, “Wonderful World“, “There’s a Kind of Hush“, “A Must to Avoid“, “Listen People“, “The End of the World“, “Dandy“, and “No Milk Today“. Herman’s Hermits sold more than 60 million recordings and had 14 gold singles and seven gold albums. The Hermits were twice named in the USA trade paper Cashbox as “Entertainer of the Year”.
As Herman, Noone also performed on hundreds of television programmes and appeared with the Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin and Danny Kaye television programs. He starred in ABC’s musical version of The Canterville Ghost, Hallmark Hall of Fame’s presentation of the classic Pinocchio (in which he played the title role), and three feature films for M-G-M: Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter, Hold On! and When The Boys Meet The Girls.
Peter Noone in a Dutch dairy factory, after the handing over of a gold record for “No Milk Today” in the Netherlands in 1966
After Herman’s Hermits disbanded in 1971, Noone recorded four singles for UK RAK Records, one single for UK and US Philips, and several singles for the small UK record label, Bus Stop Records. His first RAK single, “Oh! You Pretty Things“, peaked at No.12 in the UK Singles Chart. It was written by David Bowie, who also played piano on the track. In 1973, Noone made a guest appearance on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour television show. In 1974, Noone scored a No. 15 US AC and No. 101 US Bubbling Under success with “Meet Me on the Corner Down at Joe’s Cafe” on the Casablanca Records label. In 1989 he had a No. 19 US AC hit with his solo recording of Goffin and King’s “I’m Into Something Good” from the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!. In the 1980s Noone released a solo album, One of the Glory Boys. Noone appeared as Frederic in Joe Papp‘s Broadway, London, US tour and international touring productions of The Pirates of Penzance. He also appeared in the National touring company of Romance /Romance.
Noone led a short-lived new wave group called the Tremblers that toured in 1980 and released one album, “Twice Nightly”. Along with Noone, the members of the band were Greg Inhofer (keyboards), Robert Williams (drums, formerly with the Pop), George Conner (lead guitar), and Mark Browne (bass). According to the liner notes of the album, several musicians provided “licks & tricks,” including members of Tom Petty‘s Heartbreakers, Elton John‘s backing band, Daryl Dragon, and Dave Clark.
Noone now has a programme on SiriusXM’s 60s on 6 station titled “Something Good” after Herman’s Hermits‘ hit song, “I’m into Something Good“.
Since the 1980s, Peter Noone has performed under the name Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone. He is currently performing over 100 concerts a year.
Noone married his wife, Mireille (born Strasser), on 5 November 1968Noone’s twenty-first birthday. The couple have one daughter, Natalie (born 3 July 1986), a singer-songwriter. Peter Noone is a naturalised US citizen. He presently lives in Santa Barbara, California.
