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THAT LOVABLE HERMIT, Peter Noone, is as much a bundle of contasts to his mother as any boy anywhere. Imagine being able to order shirts by the dozen, but still thinking Mom is the only one who can wash and iron them just right. Well, Mrs. Noone says that at one time he sent her three dozen shirts to be given her special touch. It's typical that this famous young man who has learned to live out of a steamer trunk and never makes less than $15,000 a week has these strong home ties, this love for the way things were before wealth and glamor tried to strip away all the simplicity.
Not that Herman is a mama's boy. He has definite ideas about where his career is going and he has the individuality to keep it headed in that direction. Mrs. Noone notes that even as a toddler, he was always seeking new experiences, wanting to try new things and new ways.
We would not have the classic "Mrs. Brown" number if it weren't for Peter's persuasiveness and his almost contrary insistence on what he feels is right for him. He has a feeling about this song and was sure his fans would get the same feeling. It has been the record most closely identified with him personally, rather than with the Hermits as a unit.
When Peter is away, his mother says she reads about him as if he is someone else. Each time he comes home, she is afraid he may BE someone else. After all, fame COULD change him. But the minute he is in the house, he is Peter Noone again - in fact, he's Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone, a long handle but an endearing one. For his mother, Peter has never lost his boyish exuberance, his appreciation for her love and goodness as a mother . . . a mother who is willing to "do up" as many as three dozen shirts for a son who is a millionaire and could have a whole corps of valets if he wanted them.
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