Jas Mann

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Jas Mann (born Jasbinder Mann, 24 April 1971, Dudley, West Midlands, England) is a British musician, turned record producer and record label owner. He later lived in Myddle, Shropshire.

1 Early life
2 Babylon Zoo
3 After "Spaceman"
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Jas Mann is of Indian descent - his parents are originally from the Punjab. The Mann family are classed as Sikh by birth. Although born in Dudley, Jas Mann grew up in Wolverhampton. His final years of state education were undertaken at Pendeford High School, where he developed a passion for music. He formed his first band at the age of 15 called The Glove Puppets, and personally funded a 7" vinyl single, sold through local record shops in 1987.

The Sandkings, another Wolverhampton band with a strong following, were keen to sign Mann as their vocalist, and he joined them in 1990. The Sandkings, named after a 1981 collection of sci-fi short stories by George R. R. Martin (called Sandkings), released five singles with Mann between 1989 and 1992, and an album. They were moderately successful, scoring three Top 10 hits in the UK indie single chart.

They were the opening act for The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses in the early 1990s, but Mann left the band in 1992 because of creative differences.

[edit] Babylon Zoo

In 1993, a three-track demo from Mann's next project Babylon Zoo earned him a contract from Phonogram Records.

In 1996 Levi's used "Spaceman", their first single for a TV advert after hearing the song on a UK radio station. The single went straight to Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 1996, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of release, then being the fastest selling single of all time in the UK. The single remained at Number 1 in the UK for 5 weeks, selling 893,000 copies in this period.

The single also went to Number 1 in the single charts in twenty three countries.

Babylon Zoo released a multi-million selling album, 1996's The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes, which included "Spaceman", but subsequent singles fared relatively badly in the charts.

Because of the huge success of "Spaceman", Babylon Zoo are considered as a one-hit wonder.

[edit] After "Spaceman"

In 1997, Mann (along with other UK celebrity figures) was unwittingly caught out by Brass Eye, a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries, which aired on Channel 4. He appeared in the 'Drugs' episode, in a non-drug-related credit sequence roll. He stated that he had never "written a spherical song", and agreed with Morris' assertion that he might have a few more genes than normal people. He was introduced as "the man who was totally Babylon Zoo, The Chungwit, the biff-boff and the puff pastry hangman," and responded when asked if he was a genius, "I'm getting there..."

Mann also wrote the theme music for Channel 4's Speedway Grand Prix programme, screened on Saturday mornings throughout the speedway season (2000/01).

Mann co-owned a record company, Hub Records, and released three songs under the name of Mariachi Static in 2003. In 2005 he announced he would be issuing a new Babylon Zoo album, Cold Clockwork Doll, although this has yet to be released.

Mann was last seen at Amritapuri, South India, on 31 December 2006 where he performed.