Sunday Morning Playlist: British Invasion - Page 11

16. Herman's Hermits: There's A Kind Of A Hush

Adults in their twenties could get away with listening to the Stones and The Kinks in 1965; it made them seem hip. Not so, Herman's Hermits, a clean-cut group from Manchester who featured good-looking 17-year-old Peter Noone as resident heartthrob. Mickey Most, who also produced the Animals, saw them at a show in Manchester in 1964 and agreed to produce their first album. Their first hit, released in late 1964 was "I'm Into Something Good" a cheerful pop tune that peaked at #13 and established them as favorites among the teenage girl sector, although they are perhaps best remembered for the almost ridiculous "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter". Most produced with an iron fist; like many teen-oriented bands of the era, the Hermits didn't get to play on most of their own hits; sessionmen were used to back Noone. Nontheless, Herman's Hermits played ball, and appeared at many package tours in the mid-60's; they also had a fairly remarkable eighteen top-40 hits through 1968 in America, making them #2 to the Beatles in chart action among the British Invasion groups. "There's A Kind Of A Hush" was pretty much their last gasp; a mature-sounding pop number, it peaked at #4 in 1967, their last showing in the top-20. The Carpenters also had a hit with it in 1976.

17. The Small Faces: Itchykoo Park

The Small Faces only scored one hit in America, "Itchykoo Park", which peaked at #16 in 1968, although from 1965-1968 they were among the most important British bands, specializing in an r&b-flavored hard rock displaying unusually good musicianship from the band, which consisted of singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, singer/bassist Ronnie Lane, drummer Kenney Jones, and keyboardist Ian McLagan, who replaced original member Jimmy Winston. "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" was their first UK hit, in 1965; Sha-La-La-La-Lee peaked at #3 in the U.K. in 1966. The band were part of the "mod" scene, which also included The Who, and favored colorful, dandified duds over leather "rocker" attire; clashes between the mod and rocker camps sometimes were bloody. "Itchykoo Park", one of the band's later numbers, found them taking on a somewhat progressive approach to their music; their 1968 album Ogden's Nut Gone Flake is a classic concept album with hints of r&b and progressive rock on it. The band broke up in 1969, but all members minus Marriott carried on with the Faces, with Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. The Small Faces reconvened in the late 70's for two albums, neither made much impact.

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