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"Still, I've got some lovely presents to take home for Kim and my little sister. We get all these stuffed animals and things like that. I know they're ever so expensive, so I take as many as I can home for the children." At this point, I interrupt to say that whenever I've been on the road with Herman, I've had the task of bringing these animals home to my apartment in New York, and taking care of them until he's ready to leave for England. He even lets me keep a couple of momentos, but I know that, eventually, he'll take the whole lot back to England. When we were in Memphis, instead of the presents being given individually, the arena management provided a huge box, in which all the wrapped goodies arrived in the boys' dressing room. They had tremendous fun unpacking, and discovered all kinds of mad things from cuff links to water pistols. The water pistols started a riot, which Herman instigated. They all hid in corners outside the dressing rooms, and as someone came into view - WHAM! they got it straight in the face. Herman's Hermits are success personified. Since the BEATLES, no other English group has captured mothers and daughters alike to the extent that the Hermits have. Everyone can identify with with Herman, who generally looks as if he just misbehaved in school and was able to get away with it. While we were on tour, we heard so many moms say, "I hope he's being fed all right, and being taken care of," and things like that. It flips Herman to know that they care and consider him to be part of the family. This success, which happened almost overnight here, is due to Herman's Hermits instand appeal, plus the face that they don't take their music so seriously it becomes an expression of rebellion. It has been helped by Herman's own interest in what lies ahead, and his remarkable aptitude for business. He is surrounded by young people who are very much in the Herman groove. HARVEY LISBERG and CHARLES SILVERMAN, his managers, both in their mid-twenties, helped carve his English success, along with their producer, MICKIE MOST. FRANK BARSALONA is their American agent. He's 27 years old, and has devoted his Premier Talent to the success of today's hit parade artists. He's arranged movie and publishing deals for Herman, often accompanies the group on the road, and was responsible for such TV shots as ED SULLIVAN and DANNY KAYE. When recently offered a series of five Ed Sullivan shows, both Frank and Herman turned it down. Such a contract would have completely limited Herman's Hermits' appearances on other major networks. Instead, a HERMAN SPECIAL is being created for television, which will present THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF HERMAN'S HERMITS both in England and here. Herman himself is terribly astute in all money matters. Often, during dinner, he would break off from a steak and the inevitable glass of milk, and start scribbling frantically on the tablecloth. He was working out percentages, money earned and money spent. He knows almost to the last dollar, what goes where and how much is coming in. He has no hesitation in comparing his English earnings against what he makes in America. "Doing one nighters in England, we make maybe $6,000 a week. Most of that goes on group expenses. In America, we're definitely better off. We can earn up to $20,000 in one night, and although our expenses are greater, and there's a 30% withholding tax at the end of the tour, we still come out of it with more money. "America is definitely the place where the money is to be made, and where you can be very successful. Films are a tremendous help, and that's probably where our future lies. "I get a bit awed sometimes. I mean, everything seemed to happen so quickly, that often at the beginning, we didn't have time to think. It's all worked out all right, though. And I suppose that's what really counts." During one of his dates, watching a long-haired American group at work, Herman said, "Why are they trying to look like the Beatles or the Stones. They're American, and they should be proud of it. What's the use in going around trying to look like someone else?" On another occasion, commenting on their own success, Herman said, "Maybe it's because we're not trying to tell them something. We're not rebels or anything like that. Our music isn't wayout or moody, and we're not trying to invent anything new. When we have an audience, I'd rather wave and say 'hello,' instead of looking all moody and trying to get a message over. "Course we're serious about our music, and it helps an awful lot when the people we're playing to, can either sing along or know what we're doing." And now, girls, bend an ear to what Herman says about you. "I don't really know what kind of girl I fancy, but I can tell you one thing. I wouldn't marry anyone in show business, and I'd never go out with a girl who follows groups all over the place. They're the ones who live other people's lives and are always name dropping. "I mean, I go out with singers, but I wouldn't get serious about them. Besides, I'm much too young to think of marriage yet..." |
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