Bringing the 60s back
Liz Crosthwaite • Published 3 Feb 2012 18:30
1 Comment
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are a band with some serious stats to feel proud of: 23 Top 20 singles, 10 hit albums, three major movies, and an eye-watering 75,000,000 records sold worldwide to date.
Now the band are back on tour, with a date at The Hexagon on Friday, February 10. With the Hermits having marked their 40 years in the biz, the sole original member is drummer Barry Whitwam. But the man who partied with Keith Moon and hung out with Elvis told The Guide that the Hermits are still Into Something Good.
"You can expect all the hits but a better sound than in the 60s," Barry explained. "So all the hits will be there but as we have got the keyboards now we can put all the brass and strings and things in, that we could not do in the 60s because we could not take an orchestra out on tour with us!
"We have a bigger sound, a lot of audience participation. People singing along and clapping along, we are just part of the show. During There's A Kind Of Hush we actually stop singing and the audience sing along."
Herman's Hermits are coming to The Hexagon with The Sensational 60s Experience Tour, alongside The Tremeloes, The Union Gapuk, The Dreamers and Alan Mosca, from Freddie & The Dreamers, for a star-studded bill.
Barry explained: "There's a big finale where everyone comes back on stage and then we have a meet and greet afterwards. And some lucky person will win a guitar that will be signed by all of us.
"70% of the audience has seen us touring in the 60s, 70s and 80s, but there's some newcomers as well. Everyone says that it's tighter than back in the 60s. When I first started in the band I used to be a ladies hairdresser because I had to have a fallback, I thought it would last a couple of years and 47 years later... !"
And that infamous party with Keith Moon? Barry shed some light for us.
"Keith Moon and I were both 21 within a couple of days of each other and had our party at the Holiday Inn at Lake Michigan and we were banned because we had a cake fight. We had about 100 large cakes and we had to pay for new wallpaper and carpets, and we got banned from the Holiday Inn for a few years as well!
"I think they have forgotten now!"
Tickets for the show, on Friday, February 10, cost £21.50 plus booking fee from www.readingarts.com, or call 0118 960 6060 to book.
This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 03 Feb 12
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
-
JUDGE1066
40 posts
Feb 6, 19:30
Report commentHerman's Hermits without Peter Noone? could be just a bunch of Hermits :-)
Recommend?
Yes 0
No 0
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our The Guide archives.
