SOME NIGHTS are just plain "nights like any other." You eat dinner and do your homework. Maybe you have a date. But all in all, some nights aren't very special.
     Yet there are nights that are very special! STARTIME is going to tell you about one night in the life of Herman's Hermits they'll probably remember for a long, long time.
     (By the way, it's also the story of a night in a young fan's life. And we're sure she'll remember it just about as long as she lives!)
     Seems her father (who was in the advertising business) had been able to get permission for her to meet and interview Herman's Hermits for her school paper! But she'd have to hurry if she was going to make her appointment with them at their hotel room!
     Annie was very excited, naturally. She just adored Herman's Hermits and had wondered, for a long time, what it would be like actually to meet them in person! Now she was going to find out!
     All the way downtown on the bus, Annie's mind raced. Did she look all right? Would she absolutely faint when she was introduced to them? Would she say and do the right things?"
     "This is your stop, ladies," the bus driver's words interrupted her thoughts.
     Annie and her mother (who had accompanied her) got off the bus and made their way to the hotel where The Hermits were staying. Then Annie left her mother in the lobby and took the elevator up to their floor. "Where are you going?" a guard stopped her in the hall.
     "I have an appointment with Herman's Hermits," Annie told him.
     Either the guard didn't believe her or he didn't want to take any chances one or another. He told her he was sorry, but he couldn't let her in the room unless she had a letter of authorization.
     Poor Annie didn't know what to do. She went back to the lobby and told her mother. Her mother telephoned her father and asked him what to do.
     "Stay there," her father instructed. "I'll see what I can do about this."
     Annie went back to the lobby with her mother and sat in one of the big chairs to wait. To tell the truth, she was a little frightened. So many people were milling around . . , she heard voices all around her . . . everything was so strange. Besides, she had the most terrible feeling that she wouldn't get to meet Herman's Hermits, after all! And that would be awful!
     Annie sat there and waited for more than two hours, while her father rushed around trying to straighten things out. At last, at seven-thirty, he arrived at the hotel.

     He took her upstairs to the boys' floor and spoke to the guard on duty. Annie was too excited to listen to what they said. She could only think of what was happening . . . she was just a few steps away from meeting Herman's Hermits! If nothing happened now to spoil everything, she'd be in their room in a matter of minutes!
     Annie held her breath until her father and the guard finished talking. She heard the sound of a door opening and felt her father pushing her forward.
"Annie," her father said gently, "I'd like you to meet Herman's Hermits!"
     Annie smiled a little, although her lips felt sort-of numb. "How do you do," she said.
     Annie spent a lovely - absolutely wonderful - hour with the boys. She asked them questions about themselves and how they got started in show business and things like that. They asked her about school and about teenagers in America and things like that.
     After a while, Annie even began to relax a little! She was still a little nervous being with such famous boys, but they were so nice and cooperative, they made her feel almost completely at ease!
     Why, Annie even had a cup of tea with them! They had something like a hot-plate set up in their room.
     "Sorry you can't stay longer," Karl Green told her, "But we have to dress for a meeting with our record company."
     "I understand," Annie told them. "I'm very happy to have had this hour, believe me."
     Annie felt very strange - both happy and unhappy. She was very glad she'd met and spoken to the boys. And yet she felt a little let down. It wasn't that she had to leave . . . it was more than that, somehow.
     Herman helped Annie on with her coat.
     "It was very nice meeting you," he told her. Then he leaned toward her and kissed her cheek lightly.
     Annie felt tears welling up in her eyes, "Thank you," she said quietly . . . so quietly she didn't think anybody heard her. "Thank you!"
     Annie's father helped her to the elevator and out of the hotel. He helped her into the car he'd parked outside. All this time, Annie was very quiet.
     It wasn't until she got home that night that she hugged her father and whispered, "I wish I could've seen them."
     You see, Annie was blind. And although she met and talked to Herman's Hermits - and even had them kiss her - she never saw them. Probably, she never will. But she'll always remember that night. And Herman's Hermits will too!