Peter Noone Reviews & Such

Peter Noone’s Still Into Something Good

By Joan Anderman, Globe Correspondent

Their cheery pop tunes were lightweight, their resurrections of music-hall ditties were corny. But Herman’s Hermits pulled it off with teenage verve and British aplomb - bursting onto the scene in 1964 with "I’m Into Something Good" and outselling the Beatles the very next year, thanks to six Top 40 hits, among them "Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I’m Henry VIII, I Am."

Peter Noone was 15 when Herman’s Hermits formed in Manchester, England. Now he’s 52, living in Santa Barbara, Calif., with his family and touring with the Teen Idols. Noone and his group will perform tomorrow night at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly. A recent three-year stint as host of VH1’s "My Generation" returned Noone to the spotlight. Far from feeling like a has-been riding the nostalgia circuit, Noone ecstatically describes a fan base that includes scads of recent converts as well as their parents. "For some reason I’m suddenly having this incredibly popular period. It’s like the audience has doubled," he says, sounding truly astonished, on the phone from his home. "I think the Internet’s got a lot to do with it. People discover a lot of things, like the ’60s, and I’m one of the few who still has a presence. I’ve had 3 million hits to my Internet site so far."

A consummate showman, Noone believes wholeheartedly in giving the people what they want in concert: the golden oldies. That was a problem for Davy Jones, Noone says, who left the tour and was replaced by another Monkee, Mickey Dolenz. Bobby Sherman is also part of the lineup. "Davy wanted to do other stuff," Noone says, referring to Jones’s new material. "But the audience just kept shouting out for "Daydream Believer." What the audience wants and what you want to do are quite often two different things. What I want, though, is what they want." He is still genuinely fond of the old catalog. "I really like "There’s a Kind of Hush’ and "I’m Into Something Good." Noone sings a snippet - dreamy accent intact - over the phone, then recalls that "we really did want to be the up guys doing the everyone’s-falling-in-love songs."

In his ongoing mission to do right by his fans, Noone doesn’t make new records, but rather records his live shows for release. It is, Noone says, a matter of philosophy. "I really believe that all great rock n’ roll records are made by people under 25. I did it once before, and I was really good at it. It was simple. It was 100 percent. Once you’re over 25, you know the names of politicians and have a mortgage. That’s anti-rock n’ roll."

Herman’s Hermits’ success was phenomenal but short-lived. As the ’60s progressed and pop music began to evolve in more serious directions, the band’s hits dried up. Herman’s Hermits called it quits in 1971. Noone still thinks the band was capable of another 10 years of touring, but is happy that it all ended on a high note. "I was done with it," he says, confessing, "I really am a spoiled brat, and I didn’t like democracy. When we were on the up and up, I was a willing participant. But when we started opening for some new band, I said "no more.’ No one else really got that. We finished at Madison Square Garden. So Herman’s Hermits was a gem, as opposed to something that had gone to the Holiday Inn lounge."

His sudden rise and fall didn’t take the toll it often does on a young star, Noone says, mainly because the wide-eyed singer really was as innocent as he seemed. "We never really suffered from that. I guess I thought everyone really was in love with me. When you’re 15, you don’t have much knowledge, and romantic interludes were always special things to me. It took me years to figure out what was really going on, even though I hung out with the guys who knew what was going on, like the Beatles and the Stones. They were much more fun than the guys in my band."

As for the new generation of teen idols, Noone isn’t terribly familiar with the music. His guide to contemporary music - 13-year-old daughter Natalie - isn’t into the boy bands. "They’re preppy," Natalie shouts from across the room. "I like Monica and Brandy and Madonna." Noone’s tastes run toward the classics. Asked what he’s been listening to, Noone walks to his CD player. "It’s Jeff Beck, before that the live Stones record, before that Jimi Hendrix, and a Johnny Mercer collection."

He may not listen to them, but Noone does have a bit of sage advice for the new kids whose stars are on the rise. "Be nice to your friends, ’cause in 30 years you’ll want them to be around. And find out what the real event is: the show. It’s not the dressing room or the hotel or the business. They should work all day to get the show right."

Peter Noone Reviews & Such

Peter Noone’s Still Into Something Good

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