Article published in Song Hits, February 1967
The Rise of Peter and Gordon | A Musical Journey | You never know what will happen to a new disk by an unknown singer or group. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of such records are launched hopefully on the sea of sales each year only to sink to zero fathoms without so much as a ripple.
Even one or two hits don’t make a successful voyage. But here is one pair of minstrels who parlayed one hit into a position as the #1 British vocal duo in both America and England.
You know them as Peter and Gordon. In one year they had three albums and four singles riding the crest of the hit waves. “World Without Love,” “I Go To Pieces,” “Nobody I Know,” “I Don’t Want To See You Again”, “True Love Ways,” and “Lady Godiva” are some of their big hits.
London-born Peter Asher, owns and operates a shock of wild bright red hair, a pair of round light blue eyes equipped with square-shaped shades, a brain brimming miscellaneous information, a five-foot-ten wiry-lean frame and a personality designed to charm “birds” from trees. For reasons best known to himself he loves to gorge on snails and steak.
The Rise of Peter and Gordon | A Musical Journey
Scotland-born Gordon Waller is the out-going extrovert. He wears his nut-brown hair in a long loose flop; if it were bleached blonde he’d be the perfect surfer type. He’s nearly six-feet high, grey eyes speckled with yellow and has a crooked smile that laughs or leers with equal ease.
Both boys are dedicated non-conformists. Their music and songs imitate no other songster’s.
“In fact, we’re not sure what label to pin on our music. It’s a strange cocktail of sound. We’re in with the rhythm-and-blues addicts, the middle-of-the-road pop buffs and the rock fans.”
It doesn’t really matter what you tag the P&G sound, what matters is what happens when they perform and record.
“When we first came to America,” they remembered, “we’d had only one hit record, ‘World Without Love,’ and we thought: so what, one hit, big deal! We didn’t know what to expect, if anything.
The Rise of Peter and Gordon | A Musical Journey
“We found out during our first show at the New York World’s Fair. In front of the stage was a moat or pool and soon about 200 kids were thrashing about in the water with their clothes on trying to reach us. About 50 dripping dollies swam or waded across the pool and climbed on stage with us.
“That was wild, but San Diego was something else. The police tried to stop the show three times. We refused to quit. Finally they pulled the mikes out so we couldn’t go on. It took us nearly an hour to get away in two police cars. We lost clothes, shoes, hair and everything. The cops arrested about 50 gals. It was a fabulous night!
“We love excitement at our concerts,” says Gordon, “but not the riots that shut down our shows before we are half finished or the mobs that tear us to tatters on the streets. The Beatles were overprotected, other groups are under-protected. We’ve often had to wade through hundreds of clawing girls with only one or two bobbies to help. In Amarillo I nearly had my ear torn off.
“Some audiences are ridiculous. They scream so loud we could be Laurel and Hardy for all they hear. We prefer them to listen when we sing, and scream when the number is over.
“We love to work in the United States. It’s not worth touring in England for the kind of money you get and besides, all the tours are bombing as you Americans put it. We’d like to stay here all the time if we could.”
The Rise of Peter and Gordon | A Musical Journey
The success of Peter and Gordon has grabbed the attention of the entire industry. Commented one major trade magazine: “These boys made it big without enormous press-agentry hype. They came with no publicity staff, only an enterprising and enthusiastic record company in Capitol, and they owe their success to their own efforts plus fine recordings. In spite of British acts flopping all over the place, and with the thought that the days of the Anglo-Saxon sound might be numbered, Peter and Gordon need not worry about their future.
“We don’t feel all that sure of our future,” says Peter. If our records flop, God knows what we’ll do. Of course, we’ll go on singing one way or another, possibly in night clubs and coffee houses. We know hundreds and hundreds of songs for all types of audiences. But we feel quite confident at least for a few more years. We’ll keep faith with Capitol Records who are behind us with all they’ve got.”
Both boys are footloose and fancy free, neither is married, engaged or glued to any steady in London or elsewhere. How do British and American girls differ?
“American birds are more hip,” says Peter.
“Yeah, they are crazier over here,” says Gordon sighing contentedly. “We live a different life on the road. In England most of our friends are in show business and we rather retreat into our own world. I live about 15 miles outside of London and Peter lives with his family in London.
“When we travel we mix and mingle with loads of people. Like last night there were 15 people in this small room until three o’clock in the morning. When Peter and I went for a walk along Sunset Boulevard, a bunch of girls came along in a car and picked us up. It would never happen in England.”
AMBITIONS
Peter: “I was studying philosophy in university which is another way of saying I didn’t know what-to do with my life. I certainly didn’t want to be a doctor like my pater and I intended to get a Uni degree and then start drifting. I did quite a bit of acting as a kid and I thought perhaps that would be a swinging scene. Then we had that hit record “World Without Love” even before we turned professional. We began getting offers for concerts, tours and other hi-fee deals so I decided to quit school and go for broke with Gordon.”
Gordon: “As a kid I wanted to be a truck driver, train engineer, aviator or cowboy, but by the mid-teens I decided to do nothing and be a layabout (bum to you Americans) until something happened. Something did and we’ve got it good now. I’d like to save some money, invest it and retire early. My secret ambition is to act, but every pop star has the itch to act.”
CLOTHES
Peter: “American men’s clothes are a drag. We’ve bought only a few sports things like denims and cowboy rigs. We design all our performance wardrobe which is distinctive, but not odd.”
Gordon: “Young English people are better dressed than you. English boys especially appear smarter. California girls are most beautiful in their brightly-colored sports clothes, but are uncool in cocktail dresses or semi-formal wear.”
The early youth and rise to fame of the two schoolmates is an oft-told tale: The fathers of both boys are doctors. Peter’s oldest sister, Jane Asher, is a budding actress and the envy of every Beatlemaniac for her romance with Paul McCartney.
The Rise of Peter and Gordon | A Musical Journey
P & G met at Westminster School for Boys in London, where they began fooling with guitars and voice harmonies until they were good enough for school concerts. Lock-up at the school dorm being 9 p.m., they slunk through the bushes and scaled a 12-foot spike-topped wall to work side-jobs in the local after-dark coffee houses and clubs.
Paul McCartney, wooing Jane, began writing a song for Peter to get on her good side. Later when the boys had a chance to record for EMI and Capitol Records, John helped Paul to complete the musical masterpiece. The rest is well-known history. “World Without Love” rocketed to No. 1 on the English charts. Two months later it did the same on the American tallies.
“On the day we cut our first record,” Gordon recalls, “our horoscopes foretold for Peter ‘You have a chance to turn a hobby into a career’ and for me, ‘A long-standing wish will come true and past achievements will be excelled in more ways than one.”‘
It seems that Peter and Gordon’s success was written in the stars.
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