We've all had them, those crushes on the famous and oh-so-unattainable guys we saw on the Ed Sullivan show, whose movies we swooned over at the Saturday matinee, or whose records we listened to over and over again. You know the guy I mean.
At various times I had several teen crushes. James Darren as Moondoggie in the Gidget movies. I was too young to have a crush when the movie came out but when I saw it on TV in the '60s, I was in love! George Harrison, my favorite Beattle, and Herman from Herman's Hermits.
We lived in a small town in 1967 and I remember begging my parents to let me and a girlfriend go a Herman's Hermits concert in the city. I might as well have asked to go to the moon.
Instead I had to settle for listening to their records, over and over again. I knew all the lyrics, and I used my babysitting money to buy Tiger Beat magazine so I could pour over all the tantalizing details of Herman's life.
Last year, almost forty-five years after surviving the disappointment of missing the Herman's Hermits concert, my mother and I went to see Peter Noone (Herman) perform.
It wasn't the concert I so desperately wanted to see in the '60s but it was fun, and I even got my old LPs autographed.
I haven't played these records in years, but I did have a look inside the covers before I went to the concert. I'm so glad I did, because look what I found.
Two drawings I made of Herman when I was about thirteen.
They were drawn on looseleaf paper, no doubt while I supposed to be doing homework. Peter/Herman was a good sport and signed them for me, asking if I'd become any better at drawing over the years. Sadly, no! But I did discover that while I got over my crush, I'll always be a fan.
Okay, now it's confession time. Who was your teen crush?
Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
The Christmas Secret ~ available now
A Christmas present with a hidden past
The Daddy Project ~ December 2012





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