They were not considered the coolest British invasion band but a very popular and successful one. The song peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in the Uk in 1964. They had a total of nineteen songs in the Billboard 100, 11 top ten songs, and two number one hits. Hard to believe that the Who opened up for them in 1967 when the Who came to America.
This was Herman’s Hermits’ only song to reach #1 in the UK, where it remains their best-known song. After it hit, the band went on tour in America with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars and made inroads in that country, where they were welcomed as part of the British Invasion. In 1965, they had two Billboard 100 #1 hits: “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” and “I’m Henry The VIII, I Am.”
This song is a very good pop song.
From Songfacts
The prolific songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote this bubbly song, which is about meeting someone new and falling into puppy love. Goffin and King wrote popular songs for The Monkees, Aretha Franklin, The Crystals and many others.
This was originally recorded by Earl-Jean (real name Ethel McCrea), who had been the lead singer the R&B vocal group The Cookies. Her version, titled “I’m Into Somethin’ Good,” peaked at #38 in the US in August 1964.
The song became a British Invasion hit when producer Mickie Most heard Carole King’s demo and decided to cover it with a new British group, Herman’s Hermits. The band was fronted by 16-year-old John F. Kennedy lookalike Peter Noone, who had already appeared in the British TV soap Coronation Street. Released as the group’s first single, it went to #13 in America in December 1964, but proved wildly popular on their home turf, reaching #1 in the UK in September.
The youthful exuberance on this track is very real, as the band was very excited to be cutting a single. “On the record you can hear the enthusiasm of this band who believe that they were going to be heard on the radio,” lead singer Peter Noone said in his Songfacts interview. “When the record was on the radio, we thought we’d made it.”
Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, both future members of Led Zeppelin, played on some Herman’s Hermits songs, but not this one. Someone outside the band played the piano on this track, but other than that it was the actual band.
Peter Noone recorded a new version of this song for the 1988 movie The Naked Gun. Herman’s Hermits recorded for Cameo/Parkway Records, which was bought by Allen Klein, who as a result owned the rights to the songs Herman’s Hermits recorded for the label as well as tracks by The Animals, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and many others. Klein rarely allowed the songs he controlled to be used in movies.
Before Allen Klein’s death in 2009, Peter Noone explained to the Forgotten Hits newsletter how this song ended up in The Naked Gun: “They wanted to use the song in the movie. Klein declined because he knew he would have to account to somebody (e.g. Paramount). As he hates to account to anyone, because he can’t cheat and lie, he had to say no. The producers and writers contacted me with their story and I said, ‘I can make a copy exactly like the original and nobody will be able to tell the difference.’ When it was done, we decided you couldn’t tell the difference so we took off the guitar and replaced it with a whahhoo machine so Klein wouldn’t say it was the original. It’s a tragedy that Klein and his witless children stop all the product they control from being in movies so they can steal ALL the money. A question: Have any songs under the Klein families’ control ever been used in movies, commercials, TV shows? Doesn’t anyone ever wonder why? Surely there would be one Herman’s Hermits song, one Animals song. One song from a Cameo / Parkway artist, one Sam Cooke song, just one, that would work in a motion picture?”
The hand claps on this song were done into the same microphone where Peter Noone was recording his vocal. They aren’t always in time to the beat, but that’s part of the appeal of the recording, as it’s unrefined, but jubilant.
Donny Osmond recorded this when he was 13 for his second album To You With Love, Donny in 1971. Other artists to record it include Graham Parker and The Surfaris.
In late 2005, this was used in a commercial for Yogurt Blast Cheerios.
I’m Into Something Good
Woke up this mornin’ feelin’ fine
There’s somethin’ special on my mind
Last night I met a new girl in the neighbourhood, whoa yeah
Somethin’ tells me I’m into something good (Somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’)
She’s the kind of girl who’s not too shy
And I can tell I’m her kind of guy
She danced close to me like I hoped she would (she danced with me like I hoped she would)
Somethin’ tells me I’m into something good (Somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’)
We only danced for a minute or two
But then she stuck close to me the whole night through
Can I be fallin’ in love
She’s everthing I’ve been dreamin’ of
She’s everthing I’ve been dreamin’ of
I walked her home and she held my hand
I knew it couldn’t be just a one-night stand
So I asked to see her next week and she told me I could
(I asked to see her and she told me I could)
Somethin’ tells me I’m into something good (somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’)
(Somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’, ahhh)
I walked her home and she held my hand
I knew it couldn’t be just a one-night stand
So I asked to see her next week and she told me I could
(I asked to see her and she told me I could)
Somethin’ tells me I’m into something good (somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’)
Somethin’ tells me I’m into something good (somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’)
To something good, oh yeah, something good (somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’)
To something good, something good, something good
This song is very peppy and it always makes me feel good when I hear it. Herman’s Hermits’ had some great songs like There’s a Kind of Hush, Wonderful World, I’m Henry VIII, I Am and Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter.
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They are fun songs. This one is very catchy. There’s a Kind of Hush was different for them… it’s a good song. They didn’t evolve like some of the others but man they were successful.
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That was really interesting, and awful about Klein. This makes him a much more horrible person than I realized. Imagine if the Beatles’ recordings had ended up in his control. Yikes. I’ve loved Herman’s Hermits hits since I was a little kid.
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Klein a lot of the Stones music….all of their music before 1970 is his or his music….that includes Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash, Paint it Black…all of that.
Klein tried to get the Who also…Townshend knew better.
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Thank goodness Klein’s reputation began preceding him at some point.
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Oh I know. John Lennon should have never considered him. They are lucky…they had to end up paying him 5 million…all but Paul…he didn’t sign.
Klein was a shark no doubt.
Still can’t believe The Who opened up for them.
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Lonnie Donegan was too. His estate owns most of the Moody Blues’ songs on their first 7 albums, because of a contract he locked a teenage Justin Hayward into. It was a ghastly business. I’ve heard so many stories about tricks pulled by Motown studios too. Atlantic records comes to mind, but I’m not positive that was the one. It’s heartbreaking to see young artists opportunistically stripped of their assets, though.
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Wow I didn’t know that about Donegan. Thanks for telling me that. That is terrible. I know it’s a business but be a human and work out something good for both parties.
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Exactly. Have some ethics and a conscience.
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I’ve always liked this one.
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It is a light pop song but catchy as hell… I’ve always liked it.
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I feel like I agree with your choices 90% of the time, but this is one of the 10%.
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lol…You know I hesitated on this one for a long time…I will admit it. This one really doesn’t fit in with the rest… it is a guilty pleasure man.
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It still gets played on oldies station, so I’m sure lots of people enjoy it.
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Good song…would have never known they had a Led Zeppelin connection!
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I know man…plus The Who opening for them
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Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits cut a solo version of this song in the 90’s and it was used in the first (I think) Naked Gun movie with Leslie Nielsen.
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Yes in the late 80s I believe…I forgot about that. I think they did it because of rights to the song.
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