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Herman is always full of life no matter if it's early morning after a night's playing then partying, or if it's at sea on a rough day on the way to one of Britain's pirate radio stations. He was born in Manchester on November 5 - bonfire night. Maybe that accounts for his being a regular ball of fire. One of his ex-school teachers told me that "He was always making a noise and getting into trouble, but he was always polite and altogether a nice boy to teach - or should I say try to teach." I asked Herman if that last remark was deserved. "Yes - well - er - I suppose it was. "One of my main interests at that time was train spotting. I used to go creeping out of the house early in the morning and spend all day at the big rail stations collecting train numbers. "I think that was what made Mum and Dad decide I wasn't learning very much, so they packed me off to boarding school. I hated it and ran away. "I had to go back - but in the end I finished my education at Stretford Grammar. It was a great laugh there, as well." After that, Herman went to the Manchester School of Music. "My parents had this idea that I should have music lessons. I wasn't keen, but I am glad now that it went well. It was the people at the music college who decided I should go to drama classes. No long after that, I started to get parts in TV plays." Of course, with hits all round the world, Herman is raking in the money. I asked him if he planned to buy a car. "I already have, though it will probably mean trouble. I've always been in scrapes with cars. I like having goes with them on beaches and private places where I can't do much harm. "I remember once a friend and I were driving this group van around a beach in and out of the water until it got covered with seaweed. "When we took it back on the road it looked like some underwater monster. Of course, a policeman stopped us, but in the end he let us go. "Another time a whole gang of us bombed off to Wales in a brand-new car. "We crashed, the car turned over and we all had to climb out of the windows. "A learner driver - a woman - who had been |
coming down the hill behind us, started to scream. "No wonder. Al, who had been driving was all covered in blood. "It was only his nose bleeding, but it did look odd because the five of us were laughing our heads off as Al climbed out of the upside-down car. I suppose it was the shock of it all." Then I asked the burning question. What sort of girls does Herman like? The short answer is - them all! Thing is, in his home town, he seems to KNOW them all! He explained this. "I've lived here a long time - and, of course, I know lots of girls from college. "Then we've been busy playing the clubs in and around here for ages." What Herman didn't tell me was that he regularly plays in the clubs for very small fees for the benefit of his old fans who supported him through all the years before he made his first disc. I asked Herman about his real likes in girls. "At the moment there is no one special in my life," he said. "Got to keep my little boy image, you know." He said the last bit with a grin. He knows why people like him. What he doesn't realise is that all these girls who mother him and would like to look after him have exactly the right idea - he is completely disorganised. "Nothing goes right for me, you know. If I'm in a car, it goes wrong, if I'm due to catch a train I find it's been cancelled or there's a strike or something. "I'm always finding out I have about two hours to do a couple of hundred miles and I have to get taxis and aeroplanes all over the place." Now that Herman is truly an international star, he is making films in the States and hit records all over the world. He is one of the world's best dressed men. He's on a par with Elvis, George and Paul as being one of the most eligible unmarried males in the world. He is probably the youngest millionaire, who has earned his money as opposed to having inherited it. No one, but no one, dislikes him ... many are jealous of him ... but, in the end, all admit his talent. He's come a long way in a short time, but nothing's changed - he's still happy-go-lucky Herman. |