Peter Noone Reviews & Such

Surfing The ’60s

By Kimberly Drezdzon, Knight Ridder Newspapers

Baby boomers catch the nostalgia wave by visiting music interactive sites and e-mailing Peter Noone, former lead singer for Herman’s Hermits.

The Internet might be the wave of the present and the future, but it’s also an excellent way to surf down memory lane.

If you were a teen-ager in the 1960s, you might be surprised to know that the music of that era is alive and rockin’ on the ’Net.

And the king of today’s ’60s music interactives must be Peter Noone. He was, after all, "Henry VIII," he was, he was. As lead singer for Herman’s Hermits, he was really into "Something Good" in the ’60s.

And he still is. Cyber 60’s

Although no longer with the original Hermits, the 51-year-old Noone, who lives in Santa Barbara, will make more than 150 concert appearances this year in solo shows, with a backup band of "Hermits" and a few "Teen Idol Tour" shows with Bobby Sherman and Micky Dolenz. As a service to his fans, Noone has established a Web site (www.peternoone.com), which features pictures old and new, tour dates, a chance to order autographed CDs, a free e-mail newsletter and most important, Noone himself.

Noone takes his trusty laptop computer everywhere he goes and stays in touch with fans almost daily. He posts several notes each week in his forum, letting fans know what he’s up to or how a concert went or maybe just commenting on a world event. He personally answers his e-mail.

Quite a change from the ’60s, when all anyone could do was put his poster on a bedroom wall and send off a letter in the mail.

"It used to be people would write to the record company and the record company would put it in a box, and who knows when you would get it?" he says. "It would sometimes be a year.

"Now they can e-mail me, and it comes directly to me. I could be anywhere in the world and still get it. They know how to get in touch with me, and I answer them all."

Noone says he receives on average about 200 e-mails a day.

"I think about 1,700 in one day is my highest. You go on a radio show and you mention it, and anyone can remember peternoone.com. So that’s when you get a lot."

The site has been in operation for a little more than a year, starting out with about 50 visitors a day and building to the 1,500 a day it now averages, according to site programmer John Lytle.

One of the most popular aspects of the site is "Club Noonatic," the chat room where fans from around the world gab at all hours. Frequently, Noone is right in there with them, sometimes assuming one of his alter egos, such as "Uncle Petey," "Reverend Sung Long Noone" or "Dr. NoOne."

Noone says chatting online with fans helps pass the time on tour. "I’d rather go into my room on the road and interact than go into a bar and talk to strangers," he says. "On the site, it’s a real family of people who interact with each other."

Many "Noonatics" make several trips a year to Noone’s concerts, with get-togethers planned before or after.

"When it’s the most fulfilling is when I go onstage like I did at Epcot during a series of concerts at the end of April and the first two or three rows are people who I know and are connected through the Internet site," Noone says.

Club Noonatic isn’t just full of baby boomers. You’re just as likely to meet teen-age fans who love ’60s music, such as Jilli, 13, and Jenny, 15, sisters who have even gone on to establish their own ’60s Web sites (www.listenpeople.com and www.neverenough.com).

Noone first got his computer to have e-mail access, but it has taken over many aspects of his life. "I live with it. Every single place I go, I take my laptop and I use it all the time. ... I do my road finances, games, music, all my business records, arrange my flights, pay my bills online. I look forward to long plane rides because I can do a lot of work on the plane, then save my time off for home."

Computer access has become so important to him that last summer, when phone lines went down at his hotel, he checked into a new one to have Internet access. And when his laptop was down for repairs, he used computers in hotel offices.

Coming soon to the Web site is a ’60s memorabilia feature, where anything from that decade can be sold or traded.

"We’re going to try different bits, so that it doesn’t get out of control," Noone says. "It has to be something that I can manipulate."

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Surfing The ’60s

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