IN today's world, we call it stalking.

 But in January 1978, when Patty Mann and her best friend left their Michigan hometown to hit the road in search of heartthrob Bobby Sherman, it was called being a fan. The pair tracked him down, as Mann's weathered green scrapbook indicates, on Jan. 7, at 724 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The Kodak moment is captured on film and pasted into the scrapbook's dry, yellowed pages.

``We were 20 years old when we did that!'' said Mann, 41 and living in San Francisco, unconsciously adding an exclamation mark to the end of each breathless sentence. ``But when he pulled up in his 1962 Rolls Royce and got out, we felt like we were 12 again!''

Santa Cruz Beach was full of folks like Mann on Friday, fellow fanatics who descended on the Beach Boardwalk to catch a glimpse of the icons of their past -- Bobby Sherman, Davy Jones of the Monkees and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits -- who gave two free concerts in what was billed as the Teen Idols Tour. The show, and the hours leading up to it, were a time-warp.

A middle-aged woman clutched a Bobby Sherman lunch pail and squealed as she laid out her beach blanket. Another arrived with a life-size cut-out of the Monkees. A group of 40-year-olds brought a Monkees' game board. A husband and wife showed up with what looked like their entire record collection.

You half-expected to see gaggles of giggling women sculpting busts of their favorite idols in the sand, but apparently the ``Green Corn'' full moon and low tide prevented any Easter Island-like art projects.

``Let's go back to a time that was a lot quieter, calmer, safer, saner and a lot more innocent,'' said Sherman, 55, to hoots and hollers of approval. ``We're going to sing some songs that may not be known for their profound lyrics, but we had a lot of fun anyway.''

The idea for the show was hatched 14 years ago on the set of Oprah Winfrey when Noone, 50, and Jones, 52, appeared on a segment about teen idols. Sherman, an emergency medical technician and out of show business for nearly 25 years, came on board later. But on Friday, only half the fun for fans was the actual music. The chance to mingle with others with similar obsessions was the goal, especially for those who started lining up at 4:15 a.m. to land a coveted spot of sand near the stage for the first show at 6:30 p.m.

One was Paul Nielsen, a 44-year-old from Fremont, who toted around Zip-loc baggies of newspapers and magazines featuring the Teen Idols and a 4-by-6-foot poster of the trio autographed by Noone. He had pinned five buttons to his shirt (four of them images of Jones, one of Noone), which made for eight heads blazing across his chest if you counted the three that were already silk-screened onto the Teen Idols T-shirt he had purchased at the tour's opener on June 12 in Reno.

``I have a chance to go to Peachtree City, Georgia, and meet them backstage,'' said Nielsen, producing another Zip-loc with a special letter from the Peter Noone fan club saying he's one of the chosen few. ``But I don't have an airplane ticket, hotel, nothing. And I hear hotels are over $100 a night.''

Not all the fans were middle-aged. Kendra Urton of Concord and Patricia Calderon of Martinez, both 14 and with teeth bound in retainers, sat Indian-style on a blanket with four vinyl albums -- two Monkees, one Best of Herman's Hermits and one Bobby Sherman -- carefully laid out in front of them. They admitted kids at their school chase them and call them ``weird'' for favoring radio station KFRC and showing an unnatural devotion to Davy Jones.

``It's better than liking today's music,'' shrugged Patricia. ``We don't like the Spice Girls,'' Kendra wanted to make clear.

The concert, part of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk's Free Friday Night Band Series, was the most popular yet in a summer lineup that has included acts ranging from Sha Na Na to Starship, featuring Mickey Thomas. Among the acts still to come are the Coasters (Aug. 28) and the Drifters (Sept. 4).

On Friday, fans gushed about Sherman's days as Jeremy Bolt on ``Here Come the Brides.'' Others quite literally wiped their brow about Jones' decision to give up on being a horse-racing jockey and star in the Monkees from 1966-68. Hushed tones and solemn nods acknowledged Noone's stint with the Hermits, which in 1965-66 sold over 52 million records with hits like ``I'm Henry VIII, I Am'' and ``Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter.'' He later served three years as host of VH1's ``My Generation.''

It was all enough to make 30-year-old Steve Bringuel of San Mateo slack-jawed. ``There's Moonies -- now there's Noone-ies,'' said Bringuel, recalling the Bobby Sherman and Bobby Goldsboro lunch boxes that populated the cafeteria when he was in kindergarten.

Of course, not all in attendance were enthusiastic. Mike Schwan, 16, and his brother Jonny, sulked, ate pizza and scrounged quarters for the arcade as they waited for their mother, who had traveled from Orange County for the show.

``My friend works here, and he says this show is like the worst one,'' said Schwan bitterly.

Similarly recalcitrant was an elderly gentleman loitering in Neptune's Kingdom. Figuring the monacled man might offer up who his favorite teen idol was -- since a sign below his chest read ``Ask the Brain'' -- a reporter offered $1 for an interview.

``All I'm getting is, it says you have to have your carpet cleaned,'' said the Brain, ignoring the query. ``So splurge, money bags! Why are you still standing here? I've got other customers you know. NEXT!''

During the 75-minute show, the stars sang their hits. In between urging the crowd to learn CPR and showing off his tight leather black pants, Sherman touched on the 1970 top-10 songs ``Easy Come, Easy Go'' and ``Julie, Do Ya Love Me.'' Jones wheeled out ``Valleri,'' ``Steppin' Stone,'' and the No. 1 hits ``Daydream Believer'' and the Neil Diamond-penned ``I'm A Believer.''

Noone did jumping jacks, imitations of Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash, as well as a string of hits including ``I'm Into Something Good,'' ``Silhouettes,'' ``There's a Kind of Hush,'' ``Mrs. Brown,'' and of course, ``I'm Henry VIII, I Am.''

``This has capped my entire life,'' cried San Jose's Shirley Fleming, 36, who met Sherman before showtime and reminisced about first seeing him in Redwood City at the Circle Star Theater. Tears welled in her eyes and her mascara threatened to cascade downward. ``My wedding wasn't even as good as this.''