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The Mindbenders

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This article is about the 1960s band. For the Cyril Vosper book, see The Mind Benders. For other uses, see Mindbender (disambiguation).

The Mindbenders
Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders in 1965
Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders in 1965
Background information
OriginManchester, England
GenresBeat, pop
Years active1963–1968
LabelsFontana Records
Past membersSee "Personnel"

The Mindbenders (originally the backing group for Wayne Fontana) were a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. The band were one of the UK acts that were successful in the mid-1960s British Invasion of the US charts, with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" (with Wayne Fontana) in 1965 and "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1966.

Career

Wayne Fontana founded the band in 1963 with Bob Lang, Ric Rothwell, and Eric Stewart.[1] The group was later joined by Grahame Foote.[2] The name of the group was inspired by the title of a 1963 UK feature film, starring the British actor Sir Dirk Bogarde, called The Mind Benders. Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders released a number of singles before recording "Um Um Um Um Um Um" in 1964, which was to be their first major hit in Britain and led to a tour with Brenda Lee. They also had a No.1 hit in the United States with "Game of Love" in 1965 (which also reached No.2 on the UK singles chart).

After a tour of America and some more singles that were less successful than "Game of Love", Fontana left the band in the middle of a concert in 1965. Stewart became the lead singer of the band, which henceforward was known simply as the Mindbenders.

The Mindbenders' first single without Fontana was the hit "A Groovy Kind of Love" (a Carole Bayer Sager / Toni Wine composition).[1] The song reached No. 2 in the US[1] (No. 1 on the Cashbox singles chart) and No. 2 in the UK in 1966. It sold one million copies globally.[3] The Mindbenders' 1966 album of the same name, however, was a failure.[1]

A second song by Bayer and Wine, "Ashes to Ashes," took the Mindbenders to No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart in the autumn of 1966, after an earlier effort in 1966, "Can't Live With You (Can't Live Without You)" had struggled to break the UK Top 30.[1]

On 4 July 1966, the Mindbenders began their last US tour in Atlanta, Georgia in front of a capacity 25,000 crowd as the support act for James Brown. Stewart recalled that "we went down quite well" but that later shows at the Fillmore West Auditorium on Friday 8 July and Saturday 9 July 1966 were more memorable.[1][4] "The liquid light show was great and really worked with our act, which was a lot heavier than on our records".[1]

Stewart had become a songwriter, and wrote "My New Day and Age" for Family. However, the Mindbenders sought material from outside the band.[1] Their next project was a concept album, several months before Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, S.F. Sorrow and Tommy were issued.[1] The Mindbenders release, With Woman in Mind, contained "I Want Her, She Wants Me" (written by Rod Argent of The Zombies), "Ashes to Ashes", and the lascivious "Schoolgirl". The album did not sell well and was not even released in the US. The accompanying single, another Bayer/Wine composition, "We'll Talk About It Tomorrow" also flopped.[1]

The Mindbenders appeared in the 1967 Sidney Poitier movie, To Sir, with Love and were also on the soundtrack with the songs "Off and Running" and "It's Getting Harder All the Time".[1] Rothwell quit the band and was replaced by Paul Hancox.[1] The Mindbenders released their cover version of "The Letter" which fell short at No. 42 in the UK singles chart (the last time The Mindbenders registered a single in the UK charts), whilst The Box Tops original reached the UK Top 10.[1] A couple more flops followed and in March 1968, Lang quit and was replaced by Graham Gouldman; with him the band recorded a final single "Uncle Joe, the Ice Cream Man".[1]

On 20 November 1968, they broke up at the final concert of a UK tour with The Who, Arthur Brown and Joe Cocker.[1] Stewart and Gouldman went on to form Hotlegs and, much more significantly, the band 10cc.[1]

Lang later joined another rock music outfit, Racing Cars.[1] They had one hit single, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", which reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart in 1977.[5]

In the 1970s, Grahame Foote joined with original members Lek Leckenby and Barry Whitwam of Herman's Hermits after the exit of Peter Noone. Although Leckenby died in 1994, Foote has continued with the Hermits through to the present.

Personnel

  • Bob Lang (born Robert F Lang, 10 January 1946, Manchester, Lancashire[3]) – bass
  • Eric Stewart (born Eric Michael Stewart, 20 January 1945, Droylsden, Lancashire[3]) – guitars, vocals
  • Ric Rothwell (born Eric Rothwell, 11 March 1944, Stockport, Cheshire[3]) – drums
  • Graham Gouldman (born Graham Keith Gouldman, 10 May 1946, Broughton, Salford, Lancashire) – bass
  • Paul Hancox (born 25 October 1950, Birmingham, Warwickshire) – drums
  • Jimmy O'Neill (born James Andrew O'Neill, 6 July 1945, Birmingham, Warwickshire) – keyboards
  • Graham Foote (born 26 November 1946, Manchester, Lancashire) – guitars

Discography

For releases with Wayne Fontana, see Wayne Fontana.

Singles

  • "A Groovy Kind of Love" b/w "Love Is Good" – 1965 – UK No. 2, US No. 2[6] (UK Fontana TF-644/US Fontana F-1541)
  • "Can't Live With You (Can't Live Without You)" b/w "One Fine Day" – 1966 – UK No. 28 (UK Fontana TF-697)
  • "Ashes to Ashes" b/w "You Don't Know About Love" – 1966 – UK No. 14, US No. 44 (UK Fontana TF-731/US Fontana F-1555)
  • "I Want Her, She Wants Me" b/w "The Morning After" – 1967 – (UK Fontana TF-780/US Fontana F-1571)
  • "We'll Talk About It Tomorrow" b/w "Far Across Town" – 1967 – (UK Fontana TF-806)
  • "It's Getting Harder All the Time" b/w "Off and Running" – 1967 – (US Fontana F-1595)
  • "The Letter" b/w "My New Day and Age" – 1967 – UK No. 42 (UK Fontana TF-869)
  • "Schoolgirl" b/w "Looking Back" – 1967 – (UK Fontana TF-877)
  • "To Sir With Love" (Lulu) b/w "It's Getting Harder All the Time" (The Mindbenders) – 1967
  • "Blessed Are The Lonely" b/w "Yellow Brick Road" – 1968 – (UK Fontana TF-910/US Fontana F-1620)
  • "Uncle Joe, the Ice Cream Man" b/w "The Man Who Loved Trees" – 1968 – (UK Fontana TF-961/US Fontana F-1628)
  • "A Groovy Kind of Love" b/w "Ashes To Ashes" – 1969 – (UK Fontana TF-1026)[7]

Albums

  • The Mindbenders (UK Fontana STL 5324) – June 1966
  • A Groovy Kind of Love (US Fontana MGF 27554 (Mono) / SRF 67554 (Stereo) -- US No. 92, July 1966
Original copies feature "Don't Cry No More", replaced with "Ashes to Ashes" on later pressings
  • With Woman in Mind (UK Fontana STL 5403) – April 1967

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Dave Thompson (20 November 1968). "The Mindbenders | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  2. ^ "JPost | French-language news from Israel, the Middle East & the Jewish World". Fr.jpost.com. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 208. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  4. ^ "Concert Poster for The Mindbenders and The Chocolate Watch Band, Friday and Saturday, 8–9 July 1966". Rockmine.com. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 447. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ "The Mindbenders | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  7. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 368. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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