On View : Smells Like Rock’s Spirit

People try to put us down

Just because we get around

The things they do look awful cold

I hope I die before I get old

--”My Generation”, The Who, 1965.

Anyone whoever sat through 50 minutes of the Moscow Circus and Topo Gigio, waiting for Ed Sullivan to introduce the latest musical sensations from England, would surely appreciate this moment.

Here, in the city that spawned the Beatles, a trio of pop stars who helped create the sound of ‘60s Liverpool have reunited for a look back at those frothy days.

“We’re here to take the ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey,’ ” says Peter Noone, the former Herman of Herman’s Hermits.

With him, standing along the railing of a weathered old boat grumbling along the River Mersey, is Gerry Marsden, one-time front man of Gerry and the Pacemakers, whose 1965 recording of “Ferry Cross the Mersey,” romanticized the voyage.

And next to Marsden is Freddie Garrity, whose group “Freddie and the Dreamers” held up the silly end of the scene with hits such as “Do the Freddie.”

The excursion along the Liverpool waterfront marks a sentimental journey for Marsden and Garrity. For Noone, though, it also is part of the job.

As presenter of the VH-1 cable program “My Generation,” Noone explores the roots of rock music, interviewing the stars of decades past and playing videos that predate the term “videos.”

The series is part of the VH-1 formula to attract viewers who still like to boogie a bit, but have outgrown the teen spirit of sister channel MTV.

With its programming mix of classic videos from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, new videos from artists with big adult appeal and long-form programs such as “Rock ‘n’ Roll Cities” and “Soul of VH-1,” the network is targeting a demographic group that channel president Ed Bennett calls “the MTV graduates.”

If grabbing baby-boomers is the idea, than Noone seems like a perfect choice for VH-1 host. In the mid-’60s, Herman’s Hermits was one of the premier pop bands in the world. With hits including “I’m Into Something Good” and “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” the Hermits filled concert halls around the world and sold 40 million records. “The Best of Herman’s Hermits” stayed on the album charts for 105 weeks.

Each week, Noone travels to another place and time to trace yesterday’s Zeitgeist.

But this time he’s on a more personal venture. “My Generation” has come to England to shoot five “homecoming” segments (the first airs Tuesday) that personally involve Noone.

His Mum and Dad and siblings feature in one. In another, he moderates a panel discussion about the London sound with musicians Roger Daltrey of the Who, Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite, John Taylor of Duran Duran and Bill Bruford of Yes.

And for today’s taping, he’s gone back to his own beginnings.

As the ferry chugs up and down the Mersey, the ‘60s stars discuss how they got started in music, how the Beatles opened the gates to the United States and how pop groups enjoyed a sense of camaraderie in those days. And they gush about the special “spirit” of Liverpool.

They even break into song, offering a sort of Supergroup rendition of--what else?--”Ferry Cross the Mersey.”

Despite its undivided focus on the past, Noone doesn’t view “My Generation” as a nostalgia program.

“It used to be an oldies-but-goodies show,” he says, during a break in the taping. “But it actually evolved into a pop culture show. It’s actually about ‘Why?--why did this happen?’ ”

In his own case, he’s still trying to figure what happened.

“It seemed to be very easy at the time,” he says. “Borrow some money and buy an amplifier. It all seemed possible. My father co-signed for the band’s van. My dad must have said, ‘This could happen.’ ”

The Liverpool music scene of the ‘60s also was free of the fierce competitiveness that permeates the business today, he says. “There were 300 clubs and 300 bands in Liverpool back then,” Noone says. “Everybody you knew was in a band and we’d all help each other out.

“I’d go up to the Beatles and I’d say, ‘What’s it like in America? What’s the money like?’ And they would tell me. I asked John Lennon what kind of a (record) deal we should ask for. He said they had a lousy deal--2% for England and 1% for the rest of the world. He said ask for 5, so I asked for 5 and (the record company) said OK.”

The Who, the Hollies and the Animals all had their first taste of the USA as opening acts for Herman’s Hermits, says Noone.

“I’d see Gerry and Freddie and we were all sort of soldiers in the same army. We were all, like, ‘What can we do to make the Who happen in America? How can we break the Hollies in America? So Herman’s Hermits used to bring them on tour with us.”

After the Hermits broke up at the end of the ‘60s, Noone continued performing and began an acting career that has included numerous TV appearances and a starring role in “The Pirates of Penzance” on Broadway.

In 1989, he re-recorded his 1964 hit “I’m Into Something Good” for the film “The Naked Gun” and made a video with the film’s star, Leslie Nielsen.

The video made it into heavy rotation on VH-1, and Noone did some interviews on that cable channel and MTV. “They already had this show running called ‘My Generation,’ which didn’t have a host,” Noone recalls. “Some genius said, ‘Why don’t we put Peter Noone on “My Generation” and let him talk about music.’ Now we’ve done 150 shows.”

“My Generation” airs Tuesdays at 5 p.m. on VH-1.