#26: Don’t Go Out Into The Rain (You’re Going To Melt) by Herman’s Hermits

City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: August 1967
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #18
YouTube: “Don’t Go Out Into the Rain”
Lyrics: “Don’t Go Out Into the Rain”

Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone was born in a suburb of Manchester, England, in 1947. Keith Hopwood was born in 1946, in the same suburb of Davyhulme. Karl Anthony Green was born in 1947, also in Davyhulme. Derek “Lek” Leckenby was born in Leeds in 1943. Jan Barry Whitwam was born in 1946 in Manchester. Both Leckenby and Whitwam were members of a band called the Wailers who played covers by Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and other early rock recording artists. Peter Noone originally was in an amateur band called the Cyclones. He moved on to the Heartbeats in 1961, a Buddy Holly cover band. Just after he turned 14, Noone debuted on Coronation Street, playing the role of Stanley Fairclough starting in December 1961. In the fall of 1962 Herman’s Hermits was formed. Peter Noone was the lead vocalist. Karl Green played bass guitar. Keith Hopwood played rhythm guitar. “Lek” Leckenby played lead guitar and Barry Whitwam played drums.

In 1964 the group had a number one hit in the UK with “I’m Into Something Good”. The song was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and originally recorded by Earl-Jean McCrea. She had been a member of a girl group called The Cookies who had hits with “Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Baby” and “Chains”, that later covered by The Beatles. “I’m Into Something Good” became the first of 17 Top Ten hits for Herman’s Hermits in Vancouver (BC) between 1964 and 1968.

They had four number one hit singles in 1965 with “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat”, “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter”, “Silhouettes” and “I’m Henry The VIII, I Am”. In addition, 1965 saw Herman’s Hermits had more hits with “Wonderful World”, “The End Of The World” and “Just A Little Bit Better”.

Herman’s Hermits appeared in a few films in the mid-60s. In 1965, they appeared along with Connie Francis, Louis Armstrong and Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs in When the Boys Meet the Girls. In the film Herman’s Hermits sang “Listen People” which in 1966 became a Top Ten hit in Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. In 1966 Herman’s Hermits appeared along with Shelley Fabares in the musical film Hold On! The film included their hits “A Must To Avoid” and “Leaning On The Lamp Post”. In 1968 the band appeared in their final film, Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter. The film starred Stanley Holloway along with Herman’s Hermits. In the film they sang the title track and “There’s A Kind Of Hush”.

The band also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jackie Gleason Show and The Dean Martin Show. In 1966 they charted five more songs into the Top Ten in Vancouver (BC): “A Must To Avoid”, “Listen People”, “Leaning On The Lamp Post”, “This Door Swings Both Ways” and “Dandy”. While Herman’s Hermits were regularly appearing on the pop charts, they toured extensively in North America, the UK and Europe. They also went on tour to Australia, Japan and Brazil.

In 1967, they had one last international hit with “There’s A Kind Of Hush”. The B-side was “No Milk Today”. Herman’s Hermits next single release was “Don’t Go Out Into The Rain (You’re Going To Melt)”.

“Don’t Go Out Into The Rain” was written by Kenny Young. Born Shalom Giskan in 1941 in Jerusalem, he moved as a child with his family to New York City. In 1963 he changed his name to Kenny Young, and had a minor hit with “Please Don’t Kiss Me Again” for the Charmettes which cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at #100. His biggest success was in 1964 with “Under The Boardwalk” for The Drifters (a Top Ten hit in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA). In 1965, his “Just A Little Bit Better” recorded by Herman’s Hermits was a #1 hit in Malaysia, #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in Sweden, #11 in New Zealand and #15 in the UK. Young also wrote three Top 20 hits for Ronnie Dove in the mid-60s, The Seekers’ “When Will the Good Apples Fall” (#11 in the UK in 1966), and “Arizona” for Mark Lindsay (#10 in 1970).

Young wrote two Top 5 hits in the UK for Clodagh Rogers in 1969, two Top 5 hits for Fox in the UK in the mid-70s, and a Top Ten UK hit for Yellow Dog in 1976. His last chart success was a disco-funk hit in 1981 “Ai No Corrida” recorded by Chaz Jankel. It reached #14 in the UK and #18 in Belgium. By this time, Young had moved to the UK. Kenny Young died of cancer on his 79th birthday in 2020.

“Don’t Go Out Into The Rain” is a song about a couple who have been watching television until after 1:00 AM. Everyone else has gone and they are alone in the house together. The guy tells his sweetheart not to go out into the rain. He objects, protesting “the weather’s miserable.” He adds, “it’s after one, we’ve just begun.” However, she’s not into staying any longer. He notes (perhaps thinks to himself) “she’s got to go, oh no, no, no, please don’t go, don’t go into the rain.” At the end he exclaims “don’t be insane.”

“Don’t Go Out Into The Rain” peaked at #1 in Hamilton (ON), #2 in Lubbock (TX), and Honolulu, #3 in Syracuse (NY), Dayton (OH), Birmingham (AL), Marshfield (WI), and Prince George (BC), #4 in Salt Lake City, Sioux Falls (SD), and Oxnard (CA), #5 in Elmira (NY), Manitowoc (WI), and Wilmington (DL), #6 in Grand Rapids (MI), Reno (NV), Quesnel (BC), Cranbrook (BC), Akron (OH), New Haven (CT), and Kalamazoo (MI), #7 in Fort Worth (TX), Orlando, Milwaukee, and Aberdeen (WA), #8 in Reading (PA), Jackson (MI), Saskatoon (SK), and Wilkes-Barre (PA), #9 in Vancouver, Bangor (ME), Carlsbad (NM), and Madison (WI), and #10 in Buffalo, Grand Junction (CO), and Toronto.

Internationally, “Don’t Go Out Into The Rain” climbed to #13 in New Zealand, #15 in South Africa and Canada, #18 in the USA, and #39 in Australia.

In late December ’67, Herman’s Hermits recorded “I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving“.

In 1968 Hopwood and Leckenby created Pluto Music, used by The Clash to record their 1980 album Sandinista! Herman’s Hermits had a few more hit singles in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, including “Sunshine Girl”.

The following singles, “Something’s Happening”, “My Sentimental Friend” and “Years May Come, Years May Go” all made the Top Ten in the UK between 1968 and 1970. Several of these were also Top Ten hits in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Norway. Herman’s Hermits last charting hit single in the UK and New Zealand in 1970 titled “Lady Barbara”. They split up in 1971.

Leckenby, Hopwood and Whitwam carried on under the Herman’s Hermits billing, adding a few other musicians and doing oldies tours. In 1986 they were they went on a 146-concert-date reunion tour of the USA with the Monkees, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and the Grass Roots. Hal Carter managed the new iteration of the Hermits. (He was also the manager of the Swinging Blues Jeans). Carter said in 1994 that Herman’s Hermits  “supported the Monkees on their revival tour and they were playing to audiences of 15,000. Their show consisted of all the famous hits. On one big pop package with bands like Slade, the Equals and Suzie Quatro in Germany last year, they played to 25,000 people a day.”

“Lek” Leckenby died of 1994 after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Karl Green remained with the reformed Herman’s Hermits until 1980, after which he left the music business. However, he returned to the stage in 2014 with the Karl Green Band. The band has released two albums. Barry Whitwam has remained with Herman’s Hermits since 1964, and with the post-1971 split iteration along with Leckenby and Green.

Keith Hopwood sang the theme song to the 1973-1974 Cosgrove Hall children’s stop-motion series Sally And Jake. He has written theme songs for an animated adaptation of The Wind in the Willows (1984), The BFG (1989), and a TV adaptation of the 1994 book Soul Music (1997). Other animated TV shows Hopwood has written songs for include Discworld (1983), Alias the Jester (1985), Creepy Crawlies (1987, 1989), Foxbusters (1999), Preston Pig (2000), Albie (2002-2004), and Bob the Builder (1999 to 2011). Keith Hopwood released his first solo album, Never Too Late, in 2021. He has released three more studio albums as part of the Freedom Calls project. In 2024, Hopwood released a memoir titled A Hermit’s Tale.

After Herman’s Hermits disbanded in 1971, Peter Noone pursued a solo career. This included recording a song David Bowie wrote titled “Oh! You Pretty Things”. Bowie also was a session musician for the single which climbed to #12 in the UK in 1973. Noone pursued an acting career in the USA. He also formed Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone. He performed during Expo ’86 in Vancouver on June 8th. Noone returned for a concert at the Red Robinson Theatre in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam on October 5, 2013. Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone were back at the venue – now renamed the Hard Rock Casino – in Coquitlam on March 4, 2016. In 2019 the Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone performed over 150 concert dates. Noone hosts a radio show on Sirus XM satellite radio.

November 15, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Obituary: Derek Leckenby,” Independent, June 9, 1994.
“20th Anniversary Reunion Tour,” Monkees Live Almanac.com.
Kent Kotal, “Forgotten Hits Interviews Peter Noone,” Forgotten Hits.com, 2005-06.
Bill Young, “Legendary Herman’s Hermits frontman, Peter Noone, talks music, the 60s and about ‘having fun’,” Tellyspotting.kera.org, August 10, 2019.
Robert Peacock, “Peter Noone: The Herman’s Hermits hitmaker talks about starring with the ever-popular Solid Silver 60s Show,” The Week Review, Glasgow, Scotland, March 7, 2019.
“Keith Hopwood – About,” keithhopwood.com.
Gary James,”Barry Whitwam Interview,” Classic Bands.com, 2014.
Rhi Hardy, “Kenny Young Obituary,” Guardian, June 7, 2020.

CKOC 1150-AM Hamilton (ON) Top 20 | August 4, 1967