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HERMAN was sitting in his dressing room with his feet up wearing Billy Fury's leather hat and trying to avoid water that was dripping from the ceiling. "Wonder what he'll do if he catches me with this on," Herman muttered.He didn't have to wait long for an answer. Billy finished his act and walked in to the room. He saw his hat on the wrong head and laughed. "I thought he'd hit me," Herman confided to me later. "he's one of the lads, Billy. We thought he'd be one of the big star types that you can't talk to, but he's not. He sits around chatting to the rest of us and having gags." I was talking to Herman backstage at one of the theatres he is playing on his tour with Billy, Wayne Fontana and The Fortunes. It is proving to be a successful package. Billy removed his make up and Herman asked him if Anselmo has run lately. "He won last time out, but before that he hasn't done anything for a long time," Billy replied. "He's going out over the sticks in a couple of weeks." "Is he a jumper?" I asked. "Hope so," Billy laughed. "I like to put these young cats on him. We tried Piggott on him, but nothing happened. Piggott hits a horse, but you can't touch Anselmo. You do that and he takes no notice." When Hermit Karl Green tried to leave the room, he found the door had locked. There were a few moments of shouting and banging before the stage manager could be produced with a key. Herman and his faithful band of Hermits went on stage and in the corridor I met Wayne Fontana. Just as I went towards him, a youth with more than his fair share of spots and long hair weaved his unsteady way between us waving a large wine bottle. Wayne laughed and said to me: "Hey, come and meet some blokes over here, they're a knockout." As it seemed that Wayne wanted me to go in the direction of the bottle clutcher and his friends, I made off the other way and found Fortune Rod Allen looking worried - but then he nearly always seems that way. "The tour's going well, thanks," he said in answer to my question. "We dropped the comedy routine on 'Splish Splash' after the first night because we didn't think it was going down well enough. We do a take off of Mick Jagger now, though." Tour manager Fred Perry let me through to the wings to watch Herman's act. Unlike some people in his position, Fred does his best to help reporters do their job without imposing niggling little restrictions. They finished their last number and returned to the dressing room where Glen Dale, the Fortunes' rhythm guitarist, had installed himself on a table drinking from a tin of Coke. "Hello, Herman," he called. "How's things?" "What's your name? I don't know which one you are. Someone introduce us," Herman said. "I never know people's names." Introduction over, Herman asked his new found friend how they came by the name of the Fortunes. Glen revealed that their former recording manager Shel Talmy had thought of it. "Come on, let's get out of here," demanded Herman's road manager, Jud. "I'll bring the Jag round the front and you can leap in when you see it. We don't want the kids charging all over it." Herman gave me a lift back to London in his new S-type which doesn't seem a bad motor for a lad of only 18. |
