MUSIC
PLAYBACK
HERMANIA!
Peter Noone Revisits the American Inspirations of the British Invasion
BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH
W
the stuff in that show represents a special time for music. A lot of it is what inspired the British Invaders.
HEN RADIO WAS KING AND rock and roll was made by - and for - teenagers, disc jockeys were That was the time when the disc jockey was some of the most powerful movers and not only a host but a trusted tastemaker shakers of popular culture. If a DJ played a and in some cases, more famous than the record, it could become a massive hit and artists he presented. quickly elevate the artist to superstar status. In those days, the most important person in One of the most revered disc jockeys of the New York was the DJ. They were immensely early ‘60s was Murray Kaufman, better known popular. People my age, we all had a disc as his on-air guise “Murray The K.” He also jockey that we listened to in the mornings was nicknamed “The Fifth Beatle” for his before we went to school. If he played a influential support of British Invasion acts. record and we liked it, we usually bought it. Kaufman often presented live concerts If he didn’t play it, well we probably never featuring a wide slate of his favorite heard it. programming at select venues in New York City. One of his rock and soul revues, Things changed dramatically during 1965 originally held at Brooklyn’s Fox Theatre, but shows like this one captured the fleeting was televised on CBS in June of 1965. The magic of the times. special, called “It’s What’s Happening Things changed very quickly, but this is Baby” was initially commissioned by the the time when most of the U.S. Government’s Office of songs were still romantic Economic Opportunity to WHEN YOU THINK songs. Romance and dancing encourage American youth to ABOUT THE were partners then. Music was pursue summer employment. BEATLES FOR what took you out on dates! In As a recruitment tool, it may days, pop music was for or may not have been effective, INSTANCE, THEIR those teenagers. Rock and roll music but the footage of the historic INSPIRATION WAS wasn’t for studious, journalisticconvergence lives on - thanks to NOT ENGLISH type, 50-year old men. It was Public Television and fellow DJ, by and for teenagers. MUSIC, THEIR created producer and obsessive oldies Somehow that changed along fan T.J. Lubinsky. INSPIRATION WAS the way and now everybody Featuring some of the greatest AMERICAN MUSIC. takes everything so seriously. rock, soul and R&B artists of But it was once sort of naive and the ‘60s, the rare package was fresh. One thing I’ve noticed is recently restored by Lubinsky - best-known for - well, for example, my dad didn’t understand his nostalgic “My Music” specials on PBS. Last “Tutti Frutti.” And that made it much more month, for the first time in 56 years, the show important to me. So today, I would hope that aired again. Be on the lookout for subsequent people like something now because I don’t re-broadcasts over the next few months get it. Originally this music was created for because PBS utilizes the presentations as part kids to go out and have a good time with, to of their pledge-drive programming. listen to it, to sing along with it and to just Vintage performances from Ray Charles, have fun. Things got heavier over the years of Dionne Warwick, Marvin Gaye, The Righteous course and everything changed - but during Brothers, The Supremes, The Ronettes, Johnny the Murray The K period, that was clearly Rivers, The Miracles, Herman’s Hermits, The what was going on. It may come back, you Temptations and Patti LaBelle are interspersed never know. But for now, we still have the with 2021 interview segments, offering music and the memories - and thanks to PBS, brief recollections of the era. Before the great shows like this one. show debuted last month, INsite spoke with Herman’s Hermits leader Peter Noone from his The show presents a good cross-section of home in Santa Barbara. Born Peter Blair Denis what was indeed happening at that time. Bernard Noone in England, the gregarious 1965 was an incredible year for you. entertainer proudly calls the music of America Yeah, that was our moment. We sold more his greatest inspiration. records than anybody in the world then. I’d have to say, it was not a bad ol’ year for us! There’s a teaser trailer online but have you seen the entire show yet? At that point, America was hungry for I’ve seen the whole show and it’s anything British. unbelievable. It’s been around for a long time, But for us, we didn’t know there was a but it was always in bits and pieces with little British Invasion. I was fortunate because I had numbers running at the bottom of the screen. an English accent and I sang with that accent, But then somebody got the masters and fixed which none of the other people were doing. So it all up. I was fascinated by watching Little we really went to the front of the field. Anthony and the Imperials, just how brilliant they were and are. There are a lot of fine It was very much American music, but you moments in rock and roll and quite a few of added that British twist and sold it back to them are in that session. us with an English accent. I think British musicians were far more I thought I’d seen every show from that enthusiastic about American music, probably era but this one is a new treat for almost more than Americans were. everyone who enjoys historic programming. There’re not many people still around As was customary at the time, the UK who saw it the first time. That whole period versions of your albums were different than - things from ’63, ’64 and ’65 - was seen by the releases for the American market. people who bought 1950’s records so it’s kind But we didn’t really plan it that way. The of pre-British Invasion in a way. It’s from first album had “Mrs. Brown” on it and a disc that time just before the music changed. jockey in Philadelphia decided to play it. We’d Things were different six months later, but been doing that song for years. It wasn’t really PG 6 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com
made for America, it was made in England. Then the American disc jockey discovered it and played it - because that’s how powerful they were then. We weren’t over there making records for America. How could we even know what was going on here then? We were in Manchester and knew nothing about America. We were just music enthusiasts and to go play music in America was a big thing for us. Every British musician tends to agree that America was ‘the goal,’ the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. When you think about the Beatles for instance, their inspiration was not English music, their inspiration was American music. Nobody lists anybody from Germany in rock and roll, you know? They list Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke and then before that, people like The Ink Spots. So when we got the chance, we were happy to be in America. Do you remember how you felt when you first arrived in America? Of course! Every English person remembers that. I didn’t see the Statue of Liberty but I can imagine what that would’ve felt like. We flew into Idlewild or JFK or whatever it’s called now. We drove past the World’s Fair. They’d sent a limo to pick us up and we’d never seen one before. I think it was one of those with the
seats for people to go to the airport, so there were rows of people and it was like ten feet long. But it was still a limo for us. Great. Everything about it was great. Every English group was taken to see Joey Dee and the Starliters at the Peppermint Lounge. I guess that’s where they thought English people would enjoy themselves. Then they took us to that place where all the drummers would play, sittin’ on the bar. Then they thought we wanted to go to an English pub. But that was the last place we wanted to go. The thing is, Americana is much bigger for people outside of America than you can possibly imagine. I think Americans can never quite understand the appeal of America. All I know is, I got here. Everybody else in every other county, they all want to come to America, too. It’s funny that so many American people want to go somewhere else. I can list 150 countries of people who’d all like to be here. I’m one of the lucky ones. 1964 and 5 were some of the best times to be here. Here I am, all these years later, still living here. Encore telecasts of It’s What’s Happening, Baby will air soon on most Public Television outlets. Check GPB.Org listings for upcoming showtimes. For the latest Peter Noone news, links, collectible merchandise and all things Herman, visit peternoone.com.
