Herman and the gang belt out their hits at Gene Kaye's record hop.
Early this year, Herman's Hermits were just one more typical British group. You know the pattern. They come over with long hair and British accents and they're cute and they have one hit record in this country and maybe a follow-up and they're on TV and that would be all you'd ever hear of them again. Goodbye.
The test of any group - the Britishers in particular - is their third record. Manfred Mann, the Honeycombs, the Nashville Teens, Gabby & The Growls, the Hollies and the Swingin' Blue Jeans never took hold in America after their early chart victories. Maybe their failure was due to bad songs, bad publicity, bad breath, or the U.S. Immigration authorities. But those are the breaks. Tough.
So along comes a cute, shaggy haired bloke named Peter Noone who calls himself "Herman."He and his group sing "I'm Into Something Good" and it makes the usual noise all over the place and they come to America and appear on TV and everything. Hoop-de-doo.
The boys join the chowline. Being famous singers, they eat for free.
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Back stage in the locker room, Herman gives a pre-game briefing.
People in the record industry who have seen groups come and go were just about ready to throw the final bon voyage party for the boys and write them off as one more two-shot wonder from across the big pond when - pow!
Along came "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter." Hot on the heels of "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," the record burst into the Cashbox top 100 at #31, the highest a record ever scored in it's first week on the chart. "Silhouettes" stuck to the charts like a leech and after that, that was it. The boys had it made. They're going to be around for at least 6 months...which, in the record business, is a long time. Like, that's half a year already and Manfred Mann wishes he could have had it so good.
These shots were taken at Gene Kaye's dances on Easter Monday, April 19, the first day the Hermits landed in the U.S.A. Gene is a deejay at WAEB in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Hermits broke all existing attendance records at each of the two shows they did for Gene.
Gene presents the key to the city and awards for breaking attendance record.
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