Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two different lead vocalists, Paul Jones from 1962 to 1966 and Mike d'Abo from 1966 to 1969.
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonicist, radio personality and television presenter. He first came to prominence as the original lead singer and harmonicist of the rock band Manfred Mann (1962–66) with whom he had several hit records including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Pretty Flamingo".
Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a short hiatus in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Earth Band continues to perform and tour.
Chris Farlowe is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, and his association with bands Atomic Rooster, the Thunderbirds and Colosseum. Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.
Colin Edward Michael Blunstone is an English singer and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the rock band the Zombies, which released four singles that entered the Top 75 charts in the United States during the 1960s: "She's Not There", "Tell Her No", "She's Coming Home" and "Time of the Season". Blunstone began his solo career in 1969, releasing three singles under a pseudonym of Neil MacArthur. Since then, he has released ten studio albums under his real name. He appears on several albums with the Alan Parsons Project and sang "Old and Wise".
"Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a folk-rock song written and first recorded by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the Basement Tapes sessions. The song's first release was in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" in a version by the British band Manfred Mann, which became a great success. It has been recorded by a number of performers, often under the "Mighty Quinn" title.
Michael Graham Vickers is an English musician who came to prominence as the guitarist, flautist, and saxophonist with the 1960s band Manfred Mann.
Geoffrey Stephens was an English songwriter and record producer, most prolific in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote a long series of hit records, often in conjunction with other British songwriters including Tony Macaulay, John Carter, Roger Greenaway, Peter Callander, Barry Mason, Ken Howard, Alan Blaikley, Don Black, Mitch Murray, and Les Reed.
"Handbags and Gladrags" is a song written in 1967 by Mike d'Abo, who was then the lead singer of Manfred Mann. D'Abo describes the song as "saying to a teenage girl that the way to happiness is not through being trendy. There are deeper values."
"Just Like a Woman" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. Dylan allegedly wrote it on Thanksgiving Day in 1965, though some biographers doubt this, concluding that he most likely improvised the lyrics in the studio. Dylan recorded the song at Columbia Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee in March 1966. The song has been criticized for supposed sexism or misogyny in its lyrics, and has received a mixed critical reaction. Some critics have suggested that the song was inspired by Edie Sedgwick, while other consider that it refers to Dylan's relationship with fellow folk singer Joan Baez. Retrospectively, the song has received renewed praise, and in 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Dylan's version at number 232 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. A shorter edit was released as a single in the United States during August 1966 and peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also reached 8th place in the Australian charts, 12th place on the Belgium Ultratop Wallonia listing, 30th in the Dutch Top 40, and 38th on the RPM listing in Canada.
"Build Me Up Buttercup" is a song written by Mike d'Abo and Tony Macaulay, and released by the Foundations in 1968 with Colin Young singing lead vocals. Young had replaced Clem Curtis during 1968, and this was the first Foundations hit on which he sang.
The Manfreds is a British pop group, formed in 1991 as a reunion of former members of the 1960s pop group Manfred Mann, however without their eponymous founder Manfred Mann.
Mighty Garvey! is the fifth and final studio album by Manfred Mann, released on 28 June 1968 by Fontana Records. It was the last recorded by the band after the change of direction and personnel of their 1966 album As Is. It continued a transition away from jazz and blues towards self-composed art-pop. Despite including two UK top 5 hit singles, the album did not chart and the band split up the year after. In the US and Canada, it was released as The Mighty Quinn by Mercury Records.
Mike Hurst is an English musician and record producer.
Decade in the Sun: Best of Stereophonics is a compilation album of greatest hits by Stereophonics. It features tracks from all six of the band's previous albums, beginning from the 1997 debut release, Word Gets Around, all the way through to 2007's Pull the Pin, plus two brand new songs, "You're My Star" and "My Own Worst Enemy". "You're My Star" was also released as a single.
Live It Up, released in 1982, was the first live album released by David Johansen as a solo artist. Johansen did release a limited and promotional live album, The David Johansen Group Live in 1978, but the album was not officially released until 1993. Additionally, by the time Live It Up was released, various bootlegs of Johansen's first band, the New York Dolls, were being heavily traded. The impact of the New York Dolls, as both an influential band and as a live act, was becoming a legend in the late-1970s and early-1980s when Johansen was trying to start his solo career. However, his three previous solo albums were not selling as well as expected, therefore, Johansen turned to touring and selling his stage show.
Colin Young is a singer known for being a member of the British soul band the Foundations.
Dik Cadbury is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer, principally known as a bass guitarist and as former member of Decameron and the backing band of former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett.
"Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" is a song written by Tony Hazzard, first recorded by British pop group Manfred Mann. Hazzard claims the song "came out of the blue" though he did not demo it for weeks. Following recording a demo, he approached manager Gerry Bron, who liked it enough to want one of his groups, Manfred Mann, to record it. Manfred Mann recorded their version of the single on 10 February 1967 at Philips Studio in Marble Arch, London, together with producer Shel Talmy. It was the second of three singles Manfred Mann recorded to feature the Mellotron.
"Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" is a song written by songwriters Geoff Stephens and John Carter, recorded by English pop group Manfred Mann in 1966. Previous to this, it was recorded by the band Herbie's People who were signed to CBS and had recorded other John Carter songs. The original title was ....Mr Jones and was recorded that way by Herbie's People. Their version was pulled by CBS when Manfred Mann said they'd record it. It was subsequently issued but only in the USA on the Okeh label. Stephens and Carter, who were writers for a publishing company on Denmark Street, London, wrote the song in a style different from their usual compositions, as love was not the prevalent theme. Introduced to the song by producer Shel Talmy, Manfred Mann recorded it at Philips Studio in August 1966. Released by Fontana Records on 21 October 1966, the song was backed by drummer Mike Hugg's composition "Morning After The Party" as the group's second single on the label. Keyboardist Manfred Mann plays the Mellotron on the recording; it was one of the earliest recordings featuring the instrument. Following a trend set by Bob Dylan, the song tackles the subject of life in British middle class suburbia from the perspective of a narrator, who laments the loss of a lover after her marriage to another man.
