 there was a boy with white-blond hair. His name was Peter. He lived in Manchester and he wanted to be famous. He had a very happy life at home with his mother, father and elder sister. Dad was an accountant and life was quite comfortable. One day, Peter's dad bought him a toy horse with pedals. It was white with brown markings, and the pedals were red. Peter loved his horse, and all the other children envied him such a beautiful toy. But Peter would have traded the horse willingly, if doing so would have made his name known all over England. "One day," he used to say to himself, as he pushed the red pedals up and down and guided the horse along the street, "I'll be really famous. Everyone will know me." His mum and dad didn't laugh at his dreams. Dad may secretly have wanted Peter to become an accountant like himself, and certainly both he and Peter's mum planned to give their son the best start they could . . . But so long as Peter was happy, they didn't mind what he became. There was a gramophone at the house in Manchester, and Peter loved to watch the records go round and round on the turntable. He loved to listen to the music and try to learn the words of the songs. One evenng, long after his parents had gone to bed, Peter sneaked to the gramophone and switched it on. Far into the night he sat there, listening to the records. They were all discs by the then very popular American group called The Ink Spots. By the time Peter finally crept off to bed, he knew every word of every song on every one of those records. A few weeks later, he got the chance to show what he'd learned. His parents took him to Wales, and there was a talent contest at a nearby hall. Peter entered the contest. All of five years old, he stood up on the stage and sang Tiddly Winky Winky Winky Woo. When he'd sung, he climbed from the stage and ran to his mother. "I'm going to win," he told her confidently. "Then I'll be famous." His mother patted the white-blond hair and said, "Of course, dear." But Peter didn't win. A man who'd done an act with puppets did. Peter was very disappointed. |
He had quite a long journey to school each day, especially when he was going to St. Bede's College. Three buses he had to catch - the 25, the 53 and the 62. He'd sit in the front seat and stare out of the window at the people on the pavement. "One day," he told himself, "they'll know who I am. I won't be able to travel on buses then. Everyone will recognise me and it would be embarrassing to have them all staring at me." Still, he didn't know what kind of fame he'd have. He remembered enjoying that talent contest all those years ago. He hadn't been at all scared when he'd stood up to sing. Maybe that would be it - singing. Show business, anyway. The idea was strengthened when he started attending Manchester School of Music for piano lessons. It was strengthened even more when Granada TV, searching for a young boy who could sing, came across Peter and put him into an episode of Knight Errant. At last, Peter was on his way. Another acting part on TV followed, and he also joined up with a pop group called The Heartbeats. They got themselves a manager, who changed their name, found them bookings, and sent a cable to a recording manager in London. "Come to Manchester and discover a great group," the cable said. With it was a return air ticket to Manchester and a hotel reservation. The recording manager rose to the bait and went to Manchester. He heard the great group. Soon afterwards, he recorded them. The disc went to Number One in the charts. Peter's wish came true. He was famous. Oh, there's one thing I forgot. The group called The Heartbeats - their name's now changed to The Hermits. And Peter changed his name too - to Herman. And they all lived happily ever after.
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