Aired on Treasure Island Oldies –April 05, 2026

Henry VIII ruled England from 1509 to 1547. A larger-than-life monarch with six wives, his marital history is often summarized by the phrase: “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”

However, this Moment In Time isn’t about that Henry. No, this is about another Henry… and seven more just like him.

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It began not in a palace, but in the bustling music halls of Edwardian London. In 1910, two British songwriters—Fred Murray and R.P. Weston—penned a cheeky tune that would be embraced by the public for decades.

It told the story of a widow who’d been married seven times before, every husband coincidentally named Henry. The humor was simple and the rhythm infectious.

When the great Cockney performer Harry Champion took to the stage with his trademark rapid-fire delivery, audiences roared. A comic novelty number, perhaps, but one with incredible staying power.

Fast-forward half a century to Manchester, England. A group of teenage lads calling themselves Herman’s Hermits were on the rise in the mid-60s.

Frontman Peter Noone—boyishly handsome, endlessly charming—was their secret weapon. Between recording sessions, producer Mickie Most suggested that the group record an old British novelty song that Joe Brown and the Bruvvers had covered a few years earlier. The Hermits took that version, stripped it to its rowdy essence, and barreled through it in under two minutes.

When it hit the airwaves in North America, it was unlike anything else on the charts. Brash, repetitive, and sung with a thick fake Cockney accent, the record was as impossible to ignore as it was to take seriously.

And so, a forgotten joke from London’s music halls became a top song, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in August 1965.

North American audiences would sing-along without a fear of being beheaded – proudly proclaiming, “I’m Henry VIII, I Am,” this week’s Tom Locke moment in time.

YouTube listing of the  song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GisCRxREDkY

This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.