Herman's Hermits: "Wonderful World"

July 5, 1965 (1 week)

One of my all-time favourite songs is "The Mayor of Simpleton" by XTC. While not a major hit, it did manage to sneak into the Top 50 in both Canada and the UK. For a group who had always either been praised for their intelligence and wit or bashed for being too clever for their own damn good, it must have come as a surprise that one of their most popular numbers is one that's all about being a total dunce. Yet, in penning lines like "well I don't know how many ounces make up a ton of all the Nobel Prizes that I've never won" leader Andy Partridge only managed to make them seem even smarter than they already were.

Partridge has admitted that he has been criticized for copying Sam Cooke's classic "Wonderful World". While there's no denying the thematic lyrical similarity — 'I'm not exactly blessed in the brain department but my love is all that matters' — there's not much else connecting the two.  But I will say that Cooke and Partridge aren't the most convincing pair idiots. Neither of them happened to be lettered but (a) they both came out of eras in which going to university was a luxury for a privileged few and (b) everyone who has attended post-secondary institutions has encountered their fair share of morons inside those same halls of learning. (In researching this review, I learned that Cooke had, contrary to the lyrics, been an A student in high school)

Herman's Hermits seem to have been at a particular disadvantage when it came to recording "Wonderful World". Their cover of that great hymn to drunken stalkers "Silhouettes" had been ill-advised enough so what hope did they have with an even better song by the sadly now-deceased Cooke? Well, they had one advantage over both the King of Soul and Partridge and that was Peter Noone on vocals, a young man who could do simple with the best of them.

Don't get me wrong: Noone may be a perfectly intelligent individual. I am not qualified to say either way. But being an actor he was able to put his skills to good use by being a convincing dumbass. Those years spent studying drama at school with no doubt a few key roles starring as the Artful Dodger had paid off, and not just in terms of getting him a part on legendary English soap Coronation Street. His turn as a lovable dope is so sincere that he and the his fellow Hermits managed to transform Cooke's rather thoughtful composition into the sort of brainless pop that Gerry and the Pacemakers and Freddie and the Dreamers were having hits with.

A genius move this may have been but it still can't help Herman's Hermits in their quest to rise above mediocrity. The band — which may or may not feature then session ace Jimmy Page on guitar — gives a charmingly lightweight performance which also suits just how dopey it's meant to sound. I get what they were doing and I can get through its swift one minute and fifty-five second run time without too much desire to turn it the hell off but at the end of the day they patently weren't either Sam Cooke or XTC. Very few are, even the smart ones.

Score: 4