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Why, they ask frantically, doesn't he just retire gracefully to a huge glass house with the azure swimming pool? Why not just recline back in a shining Rolls-Royce and not worry anymore? But not Herman. A shrewd man under that youthful exterior, he is currently midway through his seventh tour of America in three years. He walked, dripping, from his bath at the Holiday Inn, Madison Wisconsin, this week to explain why. "here at least," he said firmly, "they treat us like adult, intelligent people. And we still have a lot more to show, a lot more to do, we don't want to pack it in." For far too long in Britain, Herman has battled vainly to drop the "little-boy-aren't-I-happy-jogging-about-up-here-smiling" image. Certainly, there are few people in the pop world with such a decided double image. With true British dogmatism and our inbred hatred for anyone to change from our idea of what they are, we have apparently never given Herman a chance to grow up. "In Britain we have to rely on hit records all the way down the line. We've been very lucky in our TV exposure over here. "I mean, we get a chance to talk or do something other than our current hit. Dean Martin on his show will talk to us for ten minutes or so - we come over as real people that way. "And it means that we are now appealing to much older people. For instance, tonight we're doing an hour-long spot. The first audience will be kids and a few screams. The second will be anything from 25 to 60 year olds who just like us. "The last time we were given a chance on British TV to do anything OTHER than our hit record was on 'Ready, Steady Go' when we sang 'Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer.' What a breakthrough that was! '"we CAN entertain and we've had a chance to prove it in America. You grow out of the |
This explains why, when he's in Britain, Herman rarely does many tours or live appearances and why he has to go to America to prove things to himself. "I mean, what's the good of going on a tour all over the country doing a 20-minute spot. You can't make any impact. "Of course things have changed for us in America. "When we first came over here we were just another group. People looked at us with great boredom like 'oh there's a group. So what, even my brother-in-law's in a group.' "We were like the Monkees and the Beatles - travelling thousands of miles to play before 12,000 screaming kids in huge stadiums just playing as loudly as we could, not caring what we did just as long as they heard something over the din. "It was exhausting and unhealthy but it helped to establish us and get us 22 consecutive hits here. "Now in an hour-long spot we do C&W ballads, and we have to do our hit records of course. In fact if we don't do "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" they shout the place down. "The film's popping up all over the place here so everyone's familiar with the song. "Yes, I saw an unfinished version of the film. All I've got to say is that at the beginning I looked a healthy 10 stone, and half way through I looked a distinctly chubby 12 stone - which I was. It's quite funny, really." Part of the reason the British have taken Herman to their hearts as the next door boy must be put down to his record releases. "Of course there are some other things we'd like to do. But Mickie Most, our producer, is right. You can't knock a winning formula and it's been proved to be successful." But despite all the shrewdness, the intelligence and sanity that keeps Herman raking in the dollars, he is still affected by the small things. "For instance the thing that has really proved us over here is that when older people come up for an autograph for their kids, they DON'T take it then turn round and say: 'By the way who are you?' like they used to. "THEY ACTUALLY KNOW WHO WE ARE." |
