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John Peel Wiki
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Manfred Mann

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(This page not only covers Manfred Mann, the 1960s British pop group, but also the other Peel session bands featuring the South African musician of the same name: Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Manfred Mann's Earth Band)

Manfred Mann were an English rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two lead vocalists: Paul Jones from 1962 to 1966 and Mike D'Abo from 1966 to 1969. Other members of various group line-ups were Mike Hugg, Mike Vickers, Dave Richmond, Tom McGuinness, Jack Bruce (later of Cream) and Klaus Voormann.

Prominent in the Swinging London scene of the 1960s, the group regularly appeared in the UK Singles Chart. Their breakthrough hit "5-4-3-2-1" (1964) was the theme tune for the ITV pop music show Ready Steady Go!. The band achieved a UK and US No. 1 hit with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (1964), which made them the first southern-England band to top the US charts during the British Invasion. The group scored two more UK No. 1 singles with "Pretty Flamingo" (1966) and "Mighty Quinn" (1968) (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel[]

Manfred Mann had their most successful period in the mid-1960s, when Peel was living in the USA and working as a DJ under the name John Raven(s)croft. Some of their UK hit singles also made the US charts, and three of them, “Just Like A Woman”, “Pretty Flamingo” and “Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James”, appeared in the British Top Ten listings compiled by Peel during his stint at KMEN in 1966. All three tracks remained in Peel’s chart for several weeks, with the latter two titles both reaching Number One, in May and December respectively.

Manfred_Mann_-_The_Mighty_Quinn_-_Top_Of_The_Pops_(1968)

Yet when Peel returned to Britain, he didn’t play much material by Manfred Mann. By 1967 their run of hit singles was slowing down. They were thought of as a commercial pop group, despite Manfred Mann's image as one of the London pop scene's "intellectuals". They showed a more adventurous side on their LPs and their successful covers of Bob Dylan songs, which were praised by Dylan himself. but they were not among the first groups invited to do a session for Top Gear, although Peel played their version of Bob Dylan’s “Mighty Quinn” on the show when it was a new release. They did two Top Gear sessions in 1968 before breaking up in 1969.

Reviewing their single "Ragamuffin Man" in Melody Maker's Blind Date feature in April 1969, he was critical of the record and of the group: "... We had them on Top Gear recently and we were hoping they would take the opportunity to do some things they couldn't do elsewhere, but they didn't. They just played some LP tracks which was a bit of a disappointment...This is a "must-get-into-the-top-twenty" record with no identity..."[1]

Manfred Mann's Chapter Three, whose LPs were issued on Philips' "progressive" label Vertigo, seemed much more suited to the style of Peel's programmes of the early 1970s, and they were booked to do sessions for Top Gear, as was the more commercially successful Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Peel wasn't entirely convinced by Mann's change of style, writing in his Sounds column of 8 December 1973 that "Manfred, a man for whom I have a lot of respect, has finally understood what sort of titles are needed to sell LPs.......I suspect Manfred must have known this when he wrote "Earth: The Circle (parts I & 2)" and co-wrote "Saturn, Lord of the Ring" and "Mercury, The Winged Messenger"...Good on yer, Manfred. Why should ELP and Yes have it all their own way?"[2]

When in 1974 the Melody Maker ran a feature asking musicians how they intended to vote in the forthcoming general election, Mann was one of the few rock stars to express support for the Labour Party. He also opposed apartheid in his native South Africa and even had a short career as a radio presenter, hosting a series of half-hour programmes of rock records in stereo on Radio 3 in late 1971.[3]

Peel seldom revisited Manfred Mann's material and paid no attention to the band's later incarnations (the Blues Band and the Manfreds), but Tom McGuinness's McGuinness Flint, a popular live band of the early 1970s, did sessions for Top Gear. Bassist Jack Bruce spent some months with the band before finding greater fame with Cream and as a solo artist. Former Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones later became a respected Radio Two broadcaster and host of the station's long-running blues show, yet despite Peel's love of the blues he is not known to have recommended Jones's show on air, or to have appeared on it as a studio guest. However he did contribute to Pepper Forever!, a 1997 Radio Two documentary narrated by Jones on the thirtieth anniversary of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

  • None

Sessions[]

Seven sessions in total under three names, as indicated below.

Official releases:

Manfred Mann #1 & #2 (except Every Day Another Hair Turns Grey from #1) on Manfred Mann Radio Days Vol.2 the Mike D'Abo Era, Live at the BBC 66-69, 2019 (Umbrella Music, 2xCD RADCD2 / 3xLP RADLP2).

Other BBC session material by Manfred Mann was released as BBC Sessions, (CD, 1998, BBC Music) and in the Radio Days series (CD/LP, 2019). Selected tracks marked # belo also available on v/a album - Manfred Mann's Earth Band Radio Days Vol.4 Live at the BBC 70-73 (RADCD4,

Manfred Mann

1. Recorded: 1968-01-03. First broadcast: 07 January 1968.

  • Every Day Another Hair Turns Grey / Mighty Quinn / Handbags And Gladrags / Sleepy Hollow / Cubist Town

2. Recorded: 1968-11-25. First broadcast: 22 December 1968. Repeated 19 January 1969.

  • Abraham Martin And John / Fox On The Run / Clair / So Long / Orange Peel (first broadcast on 19 January 1969 repeat)
Manfred Mann Chapter Three

3. Recorded: 1970-01-19. First broadcast: 24 January 1970. Repeated: 04 April 1970.

  • Kone Kuf / Time / Sometimes
Manfred Mann's Earth Band

4. Recorded: 1971-11-29. First broadcast: 01 December 1971, repeated 08 February 1972

  • Happy Being Me / Captain Bobby Stout / One Way Glass

5. Recorded: 1972-01-10. First broadcast: 28 January 1972, repeated 10 March 1972.

  • Meat# / Captain Bobby Stout / Ashes In The Wind / Mighty Quinn# (first broadcast on 10 March 1972 repeat)

6. Recorded: 1972-09-05. First broadcast: 29 September 1972.

  • Messin'# / Dealer# / Glorified Magnified#

7. Recorded: 1973-04-03. First broadcast: 17 April 1973. Repeated: 26 June 1973

  • Father Of Day# / Bubblegum And Kipling# / Get Your Socks Off#

Live[]

Official release: Manfred Mann's Earth Band Radio Days Vol.4 Live at the BBC 70-73 (RADCD4, 3 x LP RADLP4). Originally on v/a album - Pick Of The Pops For Your D.J.-366) BBC Transcription Services – 128811/128822

Manfred Mann's Earth Band
  1. Ashes To The Wind
  2. Black Betty
  3. Happy Being Me

Other Shows Played[]

Manfred Mann
KMEN British Pop Top Ten
  • 13 May 1966: Pretty Flamingo (4)
  • 20 May 1966: Pretty Flamingo (1)
  • 27 May 1966: Pretty Flamingo (1)
  • 03 Jun 1966: Pretty Flamingo (1)
  • 10 Jun 1966: Pretty Flamingo (3)
  • 17 Jun 1966: Pretty Flamingo (4)
  • 19 Aug 1966: Just Like A Woman (9)
  • 26 Aug 1966: Just Like A Woman (8)
  • 02 Sep 1966: Just Like A Woman (7)
  • 16 Sep 1966: Just Like A Woman (6)
  • 23 Sep 1966: Just Like A Woman (4)
  • 30 Sep 1966: Just Like A Woman (6)
  • 07 Oct 1966: Just Like A Woman (8)
  • 11 Nov 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (7)
  • 18 Nov 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (4)
  • 25 Nov 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (1)
  • 02 Dec 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (1)
  • 10 Dec 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (1)
  • 17 Dec 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (4)
  • 24 Dec 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (7)
  • 31 Dec 1966: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. Jones (5)
Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
  • 01 September 1972: Meat (LP - Glorified Magnified) Philips
  • 08 September 1972: Glorified Magnified (LP - Glorified Magnified) Philips
  • 15 September 1972: I’m Gonna Have You All (LP - Glorified Magnified) Philips
  • 27 April 1978: Davy's On The Road Again (LP - Watch, or 7" single version, released April 1978) Bronze

See Also[]

External Links[]

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