Editing Herman's Hermits (section)

=== 1960s fame ===
[[Harvey Lisberg]] discovered them and signed on as their manager. He sent a plane ticket to London record producer [[Mickie Most]] so that he could fly to see the band play in [[Bolton]]. Most, already successful with [[the Animals]], became the group's producer and controlled the band's output. He emphasised a simple and non-threatening clean-cut image.

Their chart debut was a cover of [[Gerry Goffin]] and [[Carole King]]'s "[[I'm into Something Good]]" (a then-recent US Top 40 hit for [[Earl-Jean McCrea|Earl-Jean]]). In September 1964, it replaced [[the Kinks]]' "[[You Really Got Me]]" at number one in the [[UK singles chart]] and in December reached no. 13 in the US. The Hermits never topped the British charts again. However, in America in 1965—when ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine ranked them America's top singles act of the year (with the Beatles at no. 2)—they topped the [[US Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]] with two non-UK releases: "[[Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter]]" and "[[I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am|I’m Henry VIII, I Am]]” (a remake of the 1910 [[Cockney]]-style music hall song  "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am"). The no. 12 debut of "Mrs. Brown" on the Hot 100 in April 1965 was the decade's third highest (behind [[the Beatles]]' "[[Hey Jude]]" and "[[Get Back]]").[[File:I'm into Something Good - Cash Box ad 1964.jpg|thumb|''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' advertisement, September 26, 1964|left]]The band played on most of its singles, including "I'm into Something Good", "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter", "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" (said at the time to be "the fastest-selling song in history"),<ref>MacInnes, Colin (1965) "The Old English Music Hall Songs Are New." ''The New York Times,'' 28 November 1965, p. SM62: "''Henry''—which hit the top of the record lists and, according to one American expert, was 'the fastest-selling song in history'—was in fact an old English music hall song enjoying a new lease on life."</ref> "[[A Must to Avoid]]", "[[Listen People]]", "[[You Won't Be Leaving]]" and "[[Leaning on a Lamp Post]]".  Leckenby soloed on "Henry" and Hopwood played rhythm guitar on "Mrs. Brown".<ref>Noone interview, Hopwood personal correspondence</ref>  Despite the group's competent musicianship, some subsequent singles employed session musicians&nbsp;– including [[Big Jim Sullivan]], [[Jimmy Page]], [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]], [[Vic Flick]] and [[Bobby Graham (musician)|Bobby Graham]]&nbsp;– with contributions from the band, although the role of session players on Herman's Hermits records has been exaggerated in the rock media{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} and in liner notes on the 2004 [[ABKCO Records]] compilation ''Retrospective'' (which does not credit the Hermits' playing). Mickie Most used session musicians on many records he produced; this was industry practice then.<ref>Davis, Stephen, ''Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga''</ref>

Between late 1964 and early 1968, Herman's Hermits never failed to reach the Top 40 in the States. Six of their 11 US Top Tens were not released as A-side singles in their native UK, including the two aforementioned number ones plus "[[Can't You Hear My Heartbeat]]" (no. 2), "[[Listen People]]"  (no. 3), a cover of [[Noel Gay]]'s 1937 song "[[Leaning on a Lamp-post]]" (no. 9, under the title "Leaning on the Lamp Post") and their version of [[Ray Davies]]'s "[[Dandy (song)|Dandy]]" (no. 5). Conversely they hit big in Britain between 1968 and 1970 with several major hits which failed to register in America, among them the four Top Tens "[[Sunshine Girl (Herman's Hermits song)|Sunshine Girl]]" (no. 8), "[[Something's Happening (song)|Something's Happening]]" (no. 6), "[[My Sentimental Friend]]" (no. 2) and "[[Years May Come, Years May Go]]" (no. 7). Their final UK hit, "[[Lady Barbara]]" (no. 13), released in the autumn of 1970, was credited to 'Peter Noone & Herman's Hermits'.
[[File:Hermans Hermits 1965.jpg|thumb|A photo of Hermans Hermits in 1965.]]
[[File:HermansHermits1965.jpg|thumb|Herman's Hermits circa 1965]]In America the group appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'', ''[[The Dean Martin Show]]'' and ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]''. The group's US records were released by [[MGM Records]], which often showcased its musical performers in [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] films. The band appeared in several movies.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 May 2011 |title=Peter Noone interview |url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2011/05/peter_noone_interview.html |access-date=1 October 2023 |work=NJ.com True Jersey |quote=}}</ref> On screen the Hermits featured opposite [[Connie Francis]] in ''[[When the Boys Meet the Girls (film)|When the Boys Meet the Girls]]'' (1965) and starred outright in ''[[Hold On! (film)|Hold On!]]'' (1966) — featuring one song performed by co-star [[Shelley Fabares]] and nine by the Hermits, including the title track — and ''[[Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (film)|Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter]]'' (1968). They also appeared in the 1965 British music revue film ''[[Pop Gear]]''. [[P. F. Sloan]] wrote the Hermits soundtrack title track to the 1966 film ''Hold On!''. Sloan and regular collaborator [[Steve Barri]]—whose songs include "Let Me Be", "[[You Baby (song)|You Baby]]" and "[[Secret Agent Man (Johnny Rivers song)|Secret Agent Man]]"—also co-wrote "Where Were You When I Needed You", "All the Things I Do for You Baby" and the Top Ten hit "[[A Must to Avoid]]", all recorded by Herman's Hermits. {{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

[[Ray Davies]] of the Kinks wrote "Dandy"&nbsp; – a 1966 US no. 5 hit for the Hermits – and  [[Graham Gouldman]] wrote three of their 1966 hits: "[[Listen People]]", "No Milk Today" and "East West", the latter of which was covered in 1989 by singer and Hermits fan [[Morrissey]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In November 1966 in the UK, after two consecutive Top 20 hits, the Hermits returned to the Top Ten with "No Milk Today", backed with "My Reservation's Been Confirmed".<ref>[http://www.classicbands.com/hermits.html Classicbands.com] Retrieved 7 March 2011.</ref> For the US release of "No Milk Today" in 1967, MGM backed it with "[[There's a Kind of Hush]]". The latter climbed to no. 4 in March 1967. "No Milk Today" peaked at no. 35, though it was linked to "Hush" on local charts nationwide. "No Milk Today" also scored in its own right, including success on San Francisco Top 40 station KFRC, where in April 1967, it reached no. 1, ranking 6 for the year.<ref>{{cite book |author=Joel Whitburn |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur |title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 |publisher=Record Research, Inc |year=2003 |isbn=0-89820-155-1 |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/312 312] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

In 1966 the group was nominated for three [[Grammy Awards]] including [[Grammy Award for Best New Artist|Best New Artist]] of 1965—they lost to singer [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]]—and two for their chart-topper "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter": [[Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group|Best Performance by a Vocal Group]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal|Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance – Group (Vocal or Instrumental)]]. According to Noone and Hopwood, "Mrs. Brown" was recorded as an afterthought in two takes&nbsp;– using two microphones, with Hopwood on guitar, Green on bass guitar and Whitwam on drums. Noone and the band deliberately emphasised their English accents on the record, never intended to be a single. Hopwood recalls playing a [[Gretsch Country Gentleman]] guitar in the studio, with its strings muted to create the distinctive sound. When playing the song live, Hopwood often used a [[Rickenbacker]] guitar with a rag tied around the bridge to duplicate the sound, which can be seen clearly in old performance clips.

The 1967 album ''Blaze'' received critical acclaim,{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} but barely made the Top 100 in the US and did not chart in the UK. The album included original songs by Leckenby, Whitwam, Hopwood, Green and Noone, including "Ace King Queen Jack" and the [[Psychedelic rock|psychedelic]] "Moonshine Man".
[[File:Herman's Hermits 1966 Hullabaloo.jpg|thumb|Green, Leckenby, and Noone on the set of [[Hullabaloo (TV series)|''Hullabaloo'']], {{circa|early 1966}}]]
In 1968, Hopwood and Leckenby eventually started a music company, Pluto Music, which is still in business as of 2023, working primarily on commercial and animation soundtracks. 

A 1969 two-disc album ''Herman's Hermits Rock 'n' Roll Party'' was never released.