Their luck changed when Herman's Hermits recorded "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat"[3] and took it to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
He found a new songwriting partner in Geoff Stephens, resulting in "My World Fell Down", recorded by The Ivy League,[12] later to be covered by Gary Usher's Sagittarius[13] and Dutch band The Buffoons.
Carter sang lead on the New Vaudeville Band's hit single "Winchester Cathedral",[14] a traditional pop pastiche that became a U.S. chart-topper.
He also released a single "White Collar Worker", recorded with Mickey Keen and Robin Shaw, as The Ministry of Sound.
[3] As was the case with "Winchester Cathedral", when the recording, made by session musicians, became a hit, a band had to be assembled for live appearances.
As Mark Frumento wrote in the liner notes of the retrospective Flowerpot Men album Listen To the Flowers Grow (compiled by Carter): "At this point Deram decided that the Flower Pot Men name was no longer commercial and the next single, "Piccolo Man" was released as 'Friends'....
In the following years, Carter released records under many names: Stamford Bridge (number 47 with "Chelsea"),[7] Scarecrow and Stormy Petrel.
[5] Another song written by Carter and his wife Gill Shakespeare was "Dreams Are Ten A Penny" by Kincade which was successful on in Europe.
Among his work are commercials for British European Airways, Vauxhall Motors, and, for Rowntree's, the 1974 children's song "Please Yourself", which introduced a band of four toy characters based on the four different types of Tots sweets: Jerry Joe, vocals (Jelly); Tom, guitar (Tiger); Tim, drums (Teddy); Candy-Doll, keyboards (Candy).
Carter worked with Micky Keen and Robin Shaw and as a result of this collaboration they released two albums, Men From The Ministry and Midsummer Nights Dreaming (2005).