Manfred Mann

Born in South Africa, Manfred Mann formed a group in Britain in 1963 called The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. Shortening their name to simply 'Manfred Mann' they made the charts early in 1964 with their third single 5-4-3-2-1, which was adopted as the theme tune to the TV music program Ready Steady Go.

The group became one of the top British groups in the early 60s R&B boom with several significant hits, including Doo Wah Diddy Diddy, If You Gotta Go and Pretty Flamingo. After Mike Vickers and Paul Jones left in 1966, singer Mike d'Abo joined and the band continued to turn out hit after hit, including Just Like A Woman, Semi-Detached Suburban Mr Jones, The Mighty Quinn and My Name's Jack.

Mann wanted more than being part of a hit-making machine and formed a new band, Manfred Mann Chapter Three, which played an interesting kind of slow, heavy rock featuring a brass section. In 1971 Mann formed his Earth Band.