So you think it's glamorous, being a reporter and interviewing celebrities! Well, if you're really under that delusion, read on, and you'll find it's not all that easy.

My assignment was glamorous enough—Interview Herman's Hermits for Teen-Ager, and even The Who and Blues Magoos if possible. (They were all in town last weekend for two concerts at Music Hall.)

The interview had been set up by Tom Kennington, program director of WSAI, which was sponsoring the concert. Right after I arrived I found it had been cancelled an hour earlier, so we were off to a hectic start! But before I even had a chance to get nervous, Tom informed me I could get my interview by going to the Hermits' hotel.

(It should be mentioned here that the other Teen-Ager reporter assigned to the story, Bill Mark of Walnut Hills, missed the interview altogether because he didn’t run into good ‘ole helpful Tom.)

Wasting no time, I dashed over to the hotel and presented myself at the manager's desk. While waiting for him to present himself, I took a good look around. Giggling groups of Herman’s fans, sporting mini-dresses and long hair, were all around the lobby. In groups of twos and threes, they attempted to get to The Floor, only to be shuttled off by a firm policeman.

Though I felt sorry for them, I felt as if I had a definite advantage, especially when the hotel manager came over to speak with me. Somewhat gloomily, he informed me he would phone the road manager's room, because “Anyone who goes up there has to go through HIM.”

Either by purpose or accident, the line was busy, but I decided then and there to get that interview — or BUST!

For awhile it seemed like I'd have to bust, but then with the help of the house phone, I was promised an interview with two of the Blues Magoos. At that point I was thankful to be interviewing anyone!

We found the two Magoos sprawled on their beds, one engrossed in his guitar, the other intent on a TV program. They gave us friendly smiles and made room for us to sit down. The guitar player identified himself as Ralph, the organist, and the bushy haired fellow was Ron, their bassman.

Conversation was casual and spontaneous. Ron did much of the talking, although here and there, Ralph threw in a comment. Ron gave the impression of being an ordinary young man, very musically talented, and dedicated to his music. Through his knowledge of the pop music scene, he was able to reveal a few interesting sidelights on the business.

“Each album we release is different as far as style. Our new album will have more music. All I'm interested in is putting out good albums. If people don’t want to buy them, that’s their problem.” Singles? “That’s like deciding whether or not to drop the bomb,” interjected Ralph. Ron continued, “We may release a single in October, but as I said before, we're mainly an album group.”

I had gone way over my allotted time by then, so I thanked the boys for their time, and went downstairs to the lobby—but not before securing an intermission interview with the Hermits.

Outside of Music Hall, I met the Tagger brothers who do the sound work for WSAI. To them, this was just another job, and the love letters stuck on their windshield were everyday. They were nice enough to take me backstage with them.

The stage was the center of activity, with the Blues Magoos' road manager setting up their equipment. However, it was the Who’s equipment that caught my attention. The drum set was covered with psychedelic pink, yellow, and black drawings. Their manager strolled over and filled me in on the various types of things they use.

“It’s part of their act to smash their instruments at the end of the act. They can afford to do this, because the big companies give them a lot of this equipment for advertising. Now look here,” he showed me a worn patch on the amplifier. “This is what three performances did to this. So you see, they may as well smash the stuff.”

The Blues Magoos ambled in, and we were shooed offstage and into our seats. Our box seats gave me a chance to observe the crowd. Unlike the earlier show, this was an older crowd, lots of boys with dates. Not many candy throwers, note throwers, or screamers appeared to be in evidence.

The lights went out and the show started. I almost laughed at the Blues Magoos' act, because the difference in their stage and offstage personality was tremendous. The highlight of their act was their outfits. They even had green lights flicking on and off. The noise, the flashing purple lights, plus their costumes, all made for a wild effect.

The Who were on next. A friend leaned over and whispered to me. “Watch them. On the last number, smoke clouds will come out, and they'll start smashing their equipment.”

I could hardly wait to get backstage again.

Hugging my hotel stationery, I followed the balding manager to a room where a tall young man shuffled over. As soon as the word “interview” crossed the manager’s lips, the young man gave me an apologetic smile. This tall boy with the cigarette in one hand and the funny face was Herman… Peter Noone. Our conversation is not worthy of recording, but from it, I got a good character sketch of him.

Peter's eyes reflect a lot of character. He has seen so much of the world that nothing surprises him anymore. His success is so established that it doesn’t make any difference to him what the pop magazines have to say. “I'm me and if I stay that way, I don’t have anything to worry about.”

Peter was very generous, urging me to help myself to some cake a fan had sent. He was so quiet that I was almost afraid to keep talking. I'm certain that if we had more time than just that brief intermission, we would have gotten to know Peter better. As it was, we were at the mercy of the road manager.

All too soon he had to leave. The other Hermits had disappeared, leaving behind a trail of cake crumbs and Crackerjacks. Peter shook hands with me and was gone.

I only watched the first five minutes of Herman’s act. Despite my ringing ears, the spots in front of my eyes and my throbbing head, I'd had a wonderful time, but it was time to try and write a story. I really hadn’t gotten the interview assigned, but I've learned that interviewing celebrities is not always an easy job. I would just have to tell about the whole crazy afternoon!

Oh, to be a teeny-bopper again! Some of their spirit, devotion, and patience would have come in handy during this, the longest day!