33 1/3 minutes with... Harvey Lisberg

Music entrepreneur Harvey Lisberg managed Manchester’s most commercially successful bands of the 60s and 70s (Herman’s Hermits and 10cc, respectively). He was also a partner in  Strawberry Studios which provided a springboard for the region’s next generation of musicians, including Joy Division. He guided the careers of numerous prominent musical figures, then in the 70s and 80s, he managed snooker’s glimmer twins – Alex Higgins and Jimmy White – while also looking after the likes of Sad Café and Barclay James Harvest. These days, he looks after his publishing interests from his Palm Springs home.

- Paul McNulty

The biggest Manchester bands of the 60s, like Herman’s Hermits, weren’t hip at all. Was that corrected in the 80s and 90s? 

Herman’s Hermits didn’t write their own music, nor were they encouraged to do so by Mickie Most [their producer]. From I’m Into Something Good onwards they recorded other people’s songs. This was the case for many other big ‘hip’ bands from Manchester, too, such as Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, and even The Hollies who released two songs by my very own in-house songwriter, Graham Gouldman, namely Look Through Any Window and Bus Stop. 

How much do think your close bond with Graham Gouldman might have arisen from both of you being adored only children?

We definitely had a brotherly bond and then Graham became my brother-in-law [Lisberg and Gouldman married sisters in 1969]!

In 1965, you stole a march on The Beatles by taking Herman’s Hermits to meet Elvis nine days before Epstein did the same. What were your impressions of The King and the Colonel?

I was in total awe of both Elvis and The Colonel, as was everyone else in the UK. I found The Colonel a fascinating character, who has since been much maligned by the press and his character portrayal in the recent biopic Elvis. I met him on several occasions, and he was always polite. Aside from creating the biggest showman the world has ever seen, he was the pioneer of music merchandising.

You’ve said that (Beatles manager) Allen Klein was very good at finding weakness in people and exploiting them. Do you feel he exploited you and later used this dubious skill to snare John Lennon in 1969?