Herman's Hermits, My First Concert

I opened a great article the other day written by Mike Hatz where he and someone named Nathan was looking through a box of old LPs in "Nathan's Vinyl Gold Collection." I highly recommend it, but I'll warn you that it takes a few minutes. If you'd like to see it, click here. Since I also have a large assortment of music from that era, needless to say, it brought back a lot of great memories.

One of the memories that popped into my mind was the first music concert I attended. During the British invasion, I totally flipped over a group called Herman's Hermits. The lead singer was this cute, baby-faced young guy named Peter Noone, and every time I'd catch them on some popular music show of that time, I'd glue myself to the front of TV.

I think I was about 12 at the time, and I just knew if I wrote him a fan letter, it wouldn't be long until I'd catch the eye of this handsome singer. Obviously, I wasn't nearly as savvy as kids are today.

My mother, who was a raging Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and George Jones fan, couldn't for the life of her understand my choice of music, but since she had been enamored with a country singer named George Hamilton IV when she was young, she tried to be patient with me.

One day I discovered to my delight that Herman's Hermits were going to be appearing at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, TN. I begged and pleaded for my mother to let me go, and she finally relented, but the only way for me to attend was for my grandmother, who lived in Memphis, to take me. I'm sure my grandmother was overjoyed at the idea, but finally agreed because it meant she'd get to spend a little time with her only grandchild.

Finally, the big day arrived, and we climbed up to our seats located in the upper tier of the Coliseum. Then we waited. To say I was excited would be a gigantic understatement.

When in the opening band appeared on stage, all of us young people surrounding my poor grandmother were screaming and clapping, just anticipating that when Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders concluded, there would be Herman's Hermits.

And then Peter and the other Hermits were on stage, and every young person in the place started to scream. It was a typical scene of people waving, screeching and young girls grabbing their heads as if they might actually faint. Of course, I was screaming right along with them.

To be honest, I couldn't tell you any of the songs they sang, mainly because no one could hear anything over the noise which lasted the entire concert. But nevertheless, I left that concert in ecstasy because it was a dream come true. Everyone should have a dream come true in their lives.

I actually got to see Herman's Hermits a few years ago in one of those revival tours, and I must say Peter hasn't changed that much. He's still a handsome thing, even if he is a wee bit older. Maybe, my eyes still see him the way that young girl saw him so long ago.

It was a treat to see the Hermits, though, because I actually got to hear all the old hits, such as "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm in to Something Good" and I even sang along a bit. Once again, it was like a dream come true. Thanks, Mike, for an opportunity to remember.