It’s enough to make Mrs. Brown blush.
The squeaky clean front man of the ‘60s band Herman’s Hermits testified today that he repeatedly used a vile vulgarity to publicly blast the late music mogul Allen Klein in interviews and Web postings.
Aging pop star Peter Noone — who claims his “British invasion” group is owed more than $500,000 in royalties by Klein’s record label — admitted under cross-examination that he had “probably” referred to the record exec and his family as “scumbags.”
A lawyer for ABKCO Music & Records tried to keep jurors from hearing the epithet, saying that the “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely daughter” singer had used words that were “completely inappropriate to repeat.”
But Manhattan federal Judge William Pauley III ruled that “there is no word that is inappropriate to use in this courtroom.”
Moments earlier, Noone had described Klein, who some fans blame for helping break up The Beatles, as a “nice guy, charismatic, arrogant — American.”
As Noone left the witness stand, the judge lamented, “We didn’t even get a song out of you.”
“It might have to be on the next run,” Noone quipped back.