Breaking news: Herman's Hermits

[beowulf573]

I saw Herman’s Hermits them way back in '86 when they toured with Most of the Monkees, sadly minus Mike Nesmith. It was a great show and I would have paid just to see HH.

Gary Pucket was with them too, man could he belt out a song.

[Wombat]

Whether a current version of an oldies act is worth seeing depends pretty much on who it is. Even with only one early member, a band could be fine. Or not. It’s all about recreating the experience and how well they do that depends on ability and just what the selling point of the band was. In the case of Herman’s Hermits, does anybody even know the name of any other member of the band? Still, Herman today probably doesn’t much resemble Herman then, so any soundalike who was a middle-aged white male might do just as well.

A friend of mine used to play bass in the tribute band, Elton Jack, and is still musical director, whatever that means.

[SteveShaw]

@Wombat

Elton Jack

[Flyingcursor]

@Walden

@susnfx

It’s my understanding (I heard this said by a member of a 60s group who was fighting impersonators) that you have to have at least one member of the original group in order to call yourselves by the group’s name.

What a crushing blow for the London Philharmonic.

That caused a great guffaw to erupt from my normally somber countinence.

@SteveShaw

@susnfx

This thread got me thinking, however, of a song that for some reason (I still can’t connect it to an event) brings a tear to my eye as soon as I hear the first chords: Peter and Gordon’s “I Go to Pieces.” sniff

Aargh! I’d forgotten about them! Please lock me away, somebody!

But you’ll be in a world without love!

@beowulf573

I saw Herman’s Hermits them way back in '86 when they toured with Most of the Monkees, sadly minus Mike Nesmith. It was a great show and I would have paid just to see HH.

Gary Pucket was with them too, man could he belt out a song.

I’ll bet he had cheating on his mind.

[fearfaoin]

@chas

The label or promoters of the Turtles not only trademarked the name “turtles”, but they trademarked the names of each of the members. So when Mark Volman and Howard Kaylen went out on their own and began singing with Frank Zappa and the Mothers, the label sued them for using their own names, and won.

Wow! That’s some pretty hardcore evil, right there.

[Wombat]

@fearfaoin

@chas

The label or promoters of the Turtles not only trademarked the name “turtles”, but they trademarked the names of each of the members. So when Mark Volman and Howard Kaylen went out on their own and began singing with Frank Zappa and the Mothers, the label sued them for using their own names, and won.

Wow! That’s some pretty hardcore evil, right there.

There’s something really twisted about any trademarking law that permits this, I think.

[djm]

@Wombat

Whether a current version of an oldies act is worth seeing depends pretty much on who it is. Even with only one early member, a band could be fine. Or not. It’s all about recreating the experience and how well they do that depends on ability and just what the selling point of the band was. In the case of Herman’s Hermits, does anybody even know the name of any other member of the band? Still, Herman today probably doesn’t much resemble Herman then, so any soundalike who was a middle-aged white male might do just as well.

The American PBS channel comes on with some very good review shows from time to time with original singers/groups. Shows have been of early 50s, late 50s, doo wap, hootenany, early 60s. Its pretty sad to see some of these folks in such a state, but most of them can still belt out a really good tune. Best of all, PBS comes out with some excellent collections of the original recordings at the same time, as well as DVDs of the broadcast. I don’t know if you see these in Oz, but it might be worth a look at the their web sites.

djm

[Wombat]

@djm

@Wombat

Whether a current version of an oldies act is worth seeing depends pretty much on who it is. Even with only one early member, a band could be fine. Or not. It’s all about recreating the experience and how well they do that depends on ability and just what the selling point of the band was. In the case of Herman’s Hermits, does anybody even know the name of any other member of the band? Still, Herman today probably doesn’t much resemble Herman then, so any soundalike who was a middle-aged white male might do just as well.

The American PBS channel comes on with some very good review shows from time to time with original singers/groups. Shows have been of early 50s, late 50s, doo wap, hootenany, early 60s. Its pretty sad to see some of these folks in such a state, but most of them can still belt out a really good tune. Best of all, PBS comes out with some excellent collections of the original recordings at the same time, as well as DVDs of the broadcast. I don’t know if you see these in Oz, but it might be worth a look at the their web sites.

djm

I’ve actually got a pretty good collection of original recordings from that period but, for anybody who hasn’t, a lot of those cheap compilations are very good value for money.

I’ve mainly been resisting current DVDs of oldie acts although not when, as with Planxty and Colosseum, they are clearly intact, in good heatlh and in great form. What I’d really like is lots of vintage footage of 50s and 60s acts in their prime. I get the impression that not much is available or rather that not much has been collected and made available. Perhaps over the next few years people will collect all the snippets from this and that show and bring them together as with Dylan recently. I certainly hope so.