The Mindbenders

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For the book of the same name, see The Mind Benders.

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The Mindbenders
Origin	Manchester, England
Genre(s)	Beat, Pop
Years active	1962-1968
Associated acts	Wayne Fontana
Members
Bob Lang Eric Stewart Ric Rothwell Graham Gouldman Grahame Foote

The Mindbenders (originally the backing group for Wayne Fontana) was a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. They were part of the mid 1960s British Invasion with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" and "Groovy Kind of Love".

1 Career
2 Band Personnel
3 Discography
- 3.1 Singles
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career

Wayne Fontana founded the band in 1962 with Bob Lang, Ric Rothwell, and Eric Stewart in 1963. The group was later joined by Grahame Foote^[1]. The name of the group was inspired by the title of a 1963 film, starring the British actor Sir Dirk Bogarde, called The Mind Benders. They released a few unsuccessful singles before recording "Um Um Um Um Um Um" in 1964, which was a major hit in Britain and led to a tour with Brenda Lee. They also had a number one hit in the United States with "Game of Love".

After a tour of America and some more unsuccessful singles, Fontana abruptly left the band in the middle of a concert in 1965. Guitarist Eric Stewart suddenly became the lead singer of the band, which immediately dropped "Wayne Fontana" from its name.

The Mindbenders' first single without Fontana was the hit "Groovy Kind of Love" (a Carole Bayer Sager / Toni Wine composition). The song reached number two in the U.S., and was successfully revived by Phil Collins in the 1980s. The album of the same name, however, was a failure, as were their other singles and later albums. They appeared in the Sidney Poitier movie To Sir, with Love and also appear on the soundtrack with the songs "Off and Running" and "It's Getting Harder All the Time". The band broke up in 1968.

Eric Stewart went on to form Hotlegs and, much more significantly the band 10cc, with hit songwriter Graham Gouldman.

Bob Lang later joined another rock music outfit, called Racing Cars. They had one hit single, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" which reached Number 14 in the UK Singles Chart in 1977, before seemingly disappearing forever, thus condemning them to the unwanted one hit wonder tag.

In the 70's, Grahame Foote joined the nostalgia group, "Herman's Hermits starring Barry Whitwam".

[edit] Band Personnel

Bob Lang - Bassist - (born Robert Lang, 10 January 1946, Manchester).
Eric Stewart - Guitarist / Later Lead Vocalist - (born Eric Michael Stewart, 20 January 1945, Droylsden, Manchester).
Ric Rothwell - Drummer - (born Eric Rothwell, 11 March 1944, Stockport, Lancashire).
Graham Gouldman - (1968)
Graham Foote - Guitarist born Manchester
Paul Hancox - Drummer (born 25 October 19

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

"A Groovy Kind of Love" b/w "Love Is Good" - 1966 - UK #2, U.S. #2
"Can't Live With You (Can't Live Without You)" b/w "One Fine Day" - 1966 - UK #28
"Ashes to Ashes" b/w "You Don't Know About Love" - 1966 - UK #14, U.S. #44
"I Want Her, She Wants Me" b/w "The Morning After" - 1967
"It's Getting Harder All the Time" b/w "Off and Running" - 1967
"The Letter" b/w "My New Day and Age" - 1967 - UK #42
"School Girl" b/w "Round the Bend" - 1967
"We'll Talk About It Tomorrow" b/w "Far Across Town" - 1967
"To Sir, with Love" (Lulu) b/w "It's Getting Harder all the Time" - 1967
"Blessed Are The Lonely" b/w "Yellow Brick Road" - 1968
"Uncle Joe the Ice Cream Man" b/w "The Man Who Loved Trees" - 1968