The Mindbenders were an English rock band formed in Manchester, England, in 1963. Formed as a beat group and the backing group for Wayne Fontana, they were one of several acts that were successful in the mid-1960s British Invasion of the US charts, achieving major chart hits with "The Game of Love" (a number-one single with Fontana) in 1965, "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1966, and "Time For You", in 1967. Their main line-up consisted of Fontana, Bob Lang, Ric Rothwell, and Eric Stewart. Active for almost a decade, they are widely considered among the most influential bands of all time. They were integral to the development of variety rock, formulated by their third album Courage in 1967.
Wayne Fontana founded the band in June 1963 with Bob Lang, Ric Rothwell, and Eric Stewart. The name of the band was inspired by the title of a 1963 UK feature film, starring the British actor Dirk Bogarde, called The Mind Benders. Before that Fontana had a group called Wayne Fontana and the Jets (from July 1962). 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 "The Game of Love" in 1965 (which also reached No.2 on the UK singles chart). Lang quit in 1968 and was replaced with Graham Gouldman. The band's self-titled album reached No. 12 in the UK. The group made their only film appearance with A Game of Roses in 1969.
The release of their second album, Devotion, in 1968 marked an artistic shift for the band, which began to show less interest in traditional blues rock and towards the post-psychedelia movement. The band also invigorated public interest in experimental rock, through the release of singles "Can't Stop It Now" and "Through the Land of Sham", each becoming staple hits. The band toured the United States twice, first in 1965 and in 1969. After a series of commercially unsuccessful singles throughout 1970, the band released a comeback album named Mountain, to critical success. Following Fontana's death in 1972, the band was dissolved, and all remaining members pursued careers as solo artists. A biographical film about the band, A Mindbending Journey, was released in 2022.
The Mindbenders' record sales of around 190 million make them one of the most successful acts of all time. The band received many accolades, including two Grammy Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2020, Billboard ranked them the fifth-most influential band of all time.
History[]
Formation[]
According to accounts made by Stewart, the band's origin largely came out of Glyn Ellis' daydreams of becoming a successful pop performer. Rechristening himself Wayne Fontana after Elvis Presley's drummer, D.J. Fontana, Fontana's first band was the Jets, a staple on the Manchester circuit in 1961 and 1962, but one that was commercially unsuccessful and was only known as a minor regional hit. Reportedly, the Jets broke up when Fontana and bassist Bob Lang alone turned up for the most important audition of their young career, at the famed Oasis club. Hurriedly, Fontana press-ganged a couple of other local musicians, bystanders in the bar, into service: drummer Ric Rothwell and guitarist Eric Stewart.
Stewart was already an old hand on the Manchester music scene, having played with local heroes Gerry Lee and the Stagger Lees and Johnny Peters and the Jets (unrelated to Fontana's combo). That combo was still his regular band that evening at the Oasis, a situation that changed immediately after he was offered a Fontana label contract. Renaming the band after Dirk Bogard's then-recently released hit movie The Mindbenders (Fontana, of course, was allowed to keep his name), the quartet's first release, in June 1963, was a cover of one of the aforementioned stage favorites, Fats Domino's "My Girl Josephine," retitled "Hello Josephine." It was not a major hit, peaking at number 46, and two further singles, "For You, For You" (October 1963) and a cover of the Diamonds' "Little Darling'" (February 1964), were even less successful.
Early career[]
The Game of Love and first U.S. tour[]
In a 1976 interview, Stewart recalled the band's first recording session: "Glyn called us up to a backstage area in some theater outside of town, I don't even remember where it was, I doubt he even had permission to come there ... Nonetheless, I could tell that he was definitely inspired by the hype created by the Beatles, and I was too, so there wasn't a way I could just gravitate from him". The band's early projects for the first two years were largely unsuccessful, described by musical historians as being caused by the lesser demand for traditional "beat" and "rock and roll". In May 1964, the Mindbenders' version of Ben E. King's "Stop Look and Listen" made number 37. It was not successful, but this time the band were able to capitalize upon it. By early fall, they were riding the Top Five with a spellbinding take on Major Lance's masterpiece of incoherence, "Um Um Um Um Um Um."
The Mindbenders' original recording of the song was produced by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham -- their label rejected it and insisted on a re-recording. The first recording remains unreleased; the remake soared to number five. An EP titled after the hit followed it to number seven, while the band's eponymous debut album reached number 18. As was standard at this time, the entire LP was recorded in one day, crammed into a schedule which included their first major British tour, supporting Brenda Lee.
"We were a bunch of alcoholic roughnecks coming straight out of Manchester,
and the Americans loved that". |
Meanwhile, back in the singles chart, the band was busy confirming their ascendancy with a skillful adaptation of Clint Ballard's "The Game of Love," featuring a moonlighting member of the Spinners folk group on backing vocals and a devastating Stewart guitar solo played on a Les Paul borrowed from Jimmy Page. It reached number two in Britain and number one in America; not only was it the Mindbenders' first Stateside release, but also one of the first releases on the American Fontana label. The band set off for the U.S. almost immediately and ran straight into trouble. Visa difficulties had forced them to cancel a couple of shows at the start of the tour; immigration officials actually demanded statements from both Billboard and Cashbox to prove that the band's Stateside success actually justified their presence in the country. Then, the moment they stepped off the plane, the Mindbenders were served writs for one million each. They were being sued for not making two gigs in New Jersey.
Thankfully, the threat came to nothing, and the remainder of the tour passed off happily. A new version of their debut album (featuring several cuts not on the U.K. album) was released, making a respectable number 28; unfortunately, the moment the band's back was turned, their fortunes began to dip. Their next single, "Just a Little Bit Too Late," only reached number 45 in the U.S. (and number 20 in Britain) and when "She Needs Love" halted at number 32 in the U.K., at the same time as their second album, Eric, Rick, Wayne and Bob, stiffed, it appeared as though the Mindbenders' magic had already dissipated.
In October 1965 came a near breaking point for the band's career. During a live show, the band was playing slower music, and Fontana was reportedly frustrated by the lack of success generated by the band's playing. According to witnesses, he nearly walked off stage but was stopped by Rothwell, who allegedly told him "If you want to be successful, don't just walk off and act like this is another failed attempt". Fontana returned to the stage and resumed singing, however avoided the band's small entourage for the next two days, remaining confined in his hotel room. It was not the first time Fontana had done this; back in March, nervous exhaustion had confined Fontana to bed, midway through a 21-date, twice-nightly British tour with Herman's Hermits.
1966: Unexpected rise to prominence[]
A Groovy Kind of Love and A Bitter Melody[]
The Mindbenders' second major hit occurred in 1966 with "A Groovy Kind of Love" (a Carole Bayer Sager / Toni Wine composition). The song reached No. 2 in the US (No. 1 on the Cashbox singles chart) and No. 2 in the UK in 1966. It sold one million copies globally. The Mindbenders' 1966 album of the same name managed to reach No. 28 in the UK. Stewart initially sang vocals, however a later audition for the label Decca led to the choice of Fontana as the lead singer for the song. After another tense concert performance in which his vocals were muddled, Fontana drove home and wrote down several scathing lyrics on the back of a paper towel, which he insisted would be the band's next song. The lyrics later became part of the song called "A Bitter Melody". When presented with the script, the rest of the band initially refused to play it, however agreed on the condition that the lyrics be amended so as to not offend the audience. The tune to the song was almost unintentionally made, Stewart had been attempting to create it when one of the strings on the tail end of his guitar broke loose, creating a ragged but melodic noise that the band decided to use.
"A Bitter Melody" was released in the UK on December 26, 1966, and almost immediately became a hit, topping the charts at #1 in the United States and outranking even the Beatles. Critics applauded the sound as "something unfamiliar but catchy at the same time". Fontana was bemused in their first performance of the song, reportedly changing his style to an erratic waltz in order to gain attention from the audience. Around this time, he began to perform only vocals and avoided use of his bells. The label companies Decca and CCC both offered to press the band's records, which Fontana accepted. Suggesting that the new sound could be used to different tunes, the band used a BTR3 tape machine to produce a loop of the recording of the noise, which was repeatedly sped up and slowed down to create a melody, an approach that was reminiscent of the Beatles' song "Tomorrow Never Knows".
Courage, Wembley stadium performance, and Devotion[]
Stewart began to write songs himself, sending a letter to the band's former associates that him and Fontana would take up songwriting operations from that point on. Fontana began working on an album, and used the band's experimental tracks to create the song "Time For You". The song had two alternating choruses, each by a children's choir and an adult men's choir, while the tone shifted repeatedly. Recording of the song took place in an old church in London, with witnesses recalling that the song sounded "bizarre, but oddly fantastic". The song "Time For You" was included as the A-side of the first title track on the band's new album Courage. Like A Bitter Melody, "Time For You" was an instant hit, further catapulting the band into becoming a household name. The song "Time For You" was the only recognizable song on the track at the time of release, with the other singles other than "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" not becoming hits. The cover of the album also received significant media attention, due to its depiction of the band staring blankly into the camera while floating over a village. When asked about Courage's musical type, Fontana gave an odd response: "It's not acid rock, that's not what we're going for. Just call it variety, that's what it is. It's a variety of everything you're supposed to hear".

The iconic cover for the album Courage, often labeled as among the most imitated images in musical history, showcasing the group standing in front of an Italian painting
Fontana and Stewart established a songwriting partnership in early 1967 around the time of Courage's release, with both repeatedly writing down nonsensical poems and lyrics in an attempt to establish a hit. Fontana's reference to his songs as "variety" led to the term "variety rock" being used to describe music of similar nature. After two other singles failed to chart, Fontana further attempted to make staple hits in the rock industry. He completely abandoned traditional beat and pop and began writing songs fitting into the genre of hard rock, changing his voice's pitch to dramatically shift the feelings of the band's music. The song "Forevermore" was written in October 1967, with the song's funk, while resembling psychedelia, being made out of a slowed down audio clip of Stewart and Lang humming the tune to "The Game of Love".
Consequently, the band's success throughout Britain led to expanding costs from their original label companies. Fontana cancelled the band's contract to Fontana Records, instead signing an obligation to Columbia. The band's fame throughout Britain additionally lead to an invitation for a performance at Wembley Stadium, which Fontana hesitantly accepted. Despite stress from performing for a large audience, Fontana made sure to make preparations by having the local gig band The Rolling Stones perform as a warmup, delaying the concert by an hour. Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones' manager, agreed to take up operations for the Mindbenders following their performance.
Fontana began work on another album in early 1968. Like Courage, it was given the one-word title Devotion, and contained several experimental tracks containing eight different songs total. Despite having less recording time as the band's previous albums, Devotion was successful, some making more positive comparisons claiming it to be better than its predecessor album. The song "Through the Land of Sham" had an initial poor reception, as the beginning of the song (which featured a recorded conversation between Stewart and Fontana during a session at Sound Techniques in Kensington) led many to skip the record when playing the album. However, all songs except for "A Voyage Beyond" made it to the Top 40 in the UK.
The band's success and new musical style was not without its detractors. The bizarre composition of the newer albums led some studios throughout England to refuse to press records unless the songs be re-edited. This led to Devotion's release being delayed for 3 months after its original date in some studios throughout the US and UK. Several media outlets, including CCC's journalist counterpart Correlator, called the shift in tone "disgraceful" and "induced by recreational drugs". Fontana issued a response to this criticism in an October press interview, denying that he or any other band member had used any during recording sessions or in private.
1967-1969: Height of fame[]
Digging a Hole, With Woman in Mind[]
In December 1967 the Mindbenders were embroiled in controversy after they released a cover of the song "Get Together" by Chet Powers. Fontana's recording of the song had been nearly identical to another cover by American rock band the Youngbloods, who had released their own version of the song 5 months earlier. A lawsuit was filed however the issue was never settled in court, and Stewart denied that the similarity had been intentional. That same month, Oldham, the band's now unofficial manager, arranged for the band to meet with the Beatles during a tour of Cornwall. Reportedly, Fontana and Paul McCartney did not get along, which led to the tour being truncated a mere 2 weeks before its intended end. However, the Beatles lended the song "When I'm Sixty Four" to Fontana, who gave the refrain a different tune.
The band's next project was a loose sort of concept album, several months before Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, S.F. Sorrow and Tommy were issued. However, The Mindbenders release With Woman in Mind really had no overarching narrative or story, the 'concept' being simply songs written about relationships with women. Fearing that future songs would be unable to chart, Fontana rewrote the lyrics to songs on the album Digging a Hole, named comedically after the Beatles' song Fixing a Hole, to deal with themes such as abjection and irrational anger. Additionally, Fontana had taken up operations for songwriting, causing a divide between him and the rest of his bandmates that prevented the concept from receiving a release date. Moreover, the hard rock performances Fontana had gone through put strains on his performing and singing ability, and he spent weeks recovering.
In March 1968, after disillusionment with Fontana's actions, Lang quit. The band temporarily performed as a trio before hiring Graham Gouldman as a replacement. In mid 1968, the Mindbenders made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, performing a song from their album, Musical Mirage. On 20 November 1968, The Mindbenders led a tour of England with The Who, Arthur Brown, and Joe Cocker. During their final performance at the concert, Fontana fainted as he was finishing the song "The Water Bender". Fontana was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he spent multiple days with treatment for anxiety and exhaustion. In a 1978 interview, Gouldman stated this incident to be the beginning of Fontana's physical decline.
Second U.S. Tour, A Game of Roses, and Musical Mirage[]
On January 14, 1969, Fontana was arrested after police were called by bailiffs who went to his home in Lancashire. He poured petrol onto the bonnet of a bailiff's car and set it alight with the bailiff still inside. As Fontana was under the influence of alcohol and had an upcoming tour, he was ruled guilty however only served 11 days in the county jail before being pardoned. Fearing that Fontana would diminish the band's popularity by acting up during life performances, Oldham ordered the band to only record in the studio, however resigned his position days afterwards after the band refused. After Oldham's resignation, Fontana hired lawyer Jim Beach as the band's official manager.
In February of 1969 the Mindbenders made preparations for a second tour of the United States after nearly 4 years touring only in England. Since the previous year, a decline in demand for bands such as the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five paved the way for other British acts to lead tours. Despite having arranged for a March 16 arrival, the band took off earlier and arrived on March 13. Their performance in Philadelphia was widely successful, attracting crowds as large as 4,000, while it was viewed in roughly 3 million American households. Journalists called the event the "Second British Invasion", after the Beatles' arrival 5 years earlier.
Returning to England on March 28, the Mindbenders were featured prominently in the musical film A Game of Roses, which took inspiration from their own rise to success. The band's own soundtrack for the film charted at No.5 in the United States, however, was not a big success in the United Kingdom. The Mindbenders recorded an LP track, nicknamed Musical Mirage, or MM as it was called, in April. Gouldman described the recording process for the track and the album that came with it as "excruciatingly difficult", noting how different tape recorders were used to produce the end result. In the album's first B-side song, "The Sweet Home of Dr. Gnome", an audible "my God, what is that noise!" appears at around 2 minutes and 48 seconds, during the song's chorus. While largely obscured by the high note, it was reportedly murmured by Rothwell, who was responding to a screeching noise caused by distorted feedback from a recorder next to him.
Beach seemingly made the conclusion that releases of the band's material would be more profitable if the album's covers depicted odd or impossible situations. Musical Mirage's cover was designed unintentionally; when the band was recording the track, there had been maintenance occurring in the studio, and at one point photographer Aaron James attempted to capture a portrait of the band's recording session. Instead, the camera's lens had been unwittingly flipped and instead captured a recording engineer repairing equipment. When this was presented to Beach, he used several filters on the image until it was impossible to make out. The distorted cover caused controversy as many believed it was censoring a brutal scene, leading Decca to refit the album's case with a flipped picture of the original, unedited image.
1970-1971: Fontana-led songwriting[]
A Bite of Time, Mountain, and studio work[]
In the period following the band's height of fame, it had become clear that Fontana wished to exercise complete control over the band's songwriting. He reportedly had arguments with Stewart during recording sessions over which songs the band decided to play, often ending with physical attacks. These disagreements were publicized by those working in the studio, and reportedly were a factor which led to the band's seventh album, A Bite of Time, not being commercially successful as its predecessor. However, Beach considered Fontana to be the group's more creative member, alienating Stewart, who had provided many notable suggestions to the track's more successful songs.
Throughout most of 1970, the Mindbenders failed to release singles that made it to the Top 40, with much of the band's music being comprised of experimental pieces and a lack of lyrical sensation. Fontana had even moved towards reversing some of the band's previously successful material using recorders and releasing them as part of their LPs. The situation reached a general crisis by May, when the band stopped performing live after Fontana, drunk at the time, began knocking over the sets during a concert. Gouldman temporarily left afterwards, however was convinced to return by Stewart.
In late 1970, after much of their singles failed to reach success, the Mindbenders began to work on what was later called the "penultimate" album, conceptualized as a psychedelic-esque track which was intended to revive public interest in the band's work. Fontana had temporarily ended drinking as a way to produce further music, and recorded the band's next album, Mountain, at Oxford Road Studios. Much of the album's songs were recorded in B-minor, and an analog synthesizer was used to create a harmonic/somber tone in the music released. Mountain's cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson, who gave it a cover which depicted multiple images of overlapping fireworks, as part of the New Years' Day celebrations that took place during the sessions.
The release of Mountain was not as successful as the band's previous albums, however, was a comeback as much of the music made it past the Top 40, with the first single "Instrumentalism" standing at No.3 in the UK for two weeks. The Mindbenders' also announced a limited re-release of their "classic" songs, released as B-sides on the album. Around this time, Fontana had regressed once more into alcoholism over constant stress from working, and the band retired from public performances as a way to prevent controversies over his actions on-stage.
1972: Final year[]
Final recording sessions and death of Fontana[]
By 1972, it had become clear that Fontana's physical decline had prevented the band from going further into mainstream success, with Stewart and Gouldman having already established a songwriting partnership without his consent. Rothwell's appearances in the studio became scarcer, and he eventually began to avoid turning up for sessions. Despite the fact that the band had promised to record a final album, divisions between its members prevented it. In early 1972 the Mindbenders held one of three final recording sessions for an untitled concept album which was to be composed in the manner of the band's older songs. The session ended abruptly when Fontana collapsed during a vocal recording, followed thereafter by the rest of the three members leaving.
The final two recording sessions took place at Oxford Road Studios, comprising of rehearsed music from the band's first 1966 album. Fontana was not present, and Stewart took up vocals instead and recorded the band's final song, a cover of the Beatles' "Love Me Do" on October 30, 1972. Two days afterward, authorities had found Fontana unresponsive at his home in Northampton, and he was rushed to the nearest hospital where he was announced as dead on arrival. The circumstances behind his death were never released, however it was supposed that his cause of death was related to his alcoholism.
Breakup[]
Stewart, now the band's official leader, filed suit for the termination of the band's contracts with Decca, Columbia, and CCC, and for the release of its remaining material to the public. Not long after, he and Gouldman established the band 10cc. 10cc's first public performance was a concert held in tribute for Fontana, in which the band sang an improvised song after him.
Legacy[]
The Mindbenders are among the most influential musical acts of all time. They have sold more than 180 million records worldwide, including 35 million units in the United States and 105 million units in the United Kingdom. The band was awarded two Grammy Awards during its existence, both having been earned during their 1969 U.S. tour. In 2003, Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included Mountain at number 67. They have variously been described as the first proto-punk musical act, due to their rapid changes in vocals and instrumentation beginning with Courage.
The Mindbenders' genre of "variety rock" has been used since their breakup as a musical term, with multiple different musicians labeling their music in the category. In addition, many different artists have labeled the Mindbenders as an influence, including Farrokh Bulsara, Klaus Nomi, and Genesis. In addition to their albums having been featured, A Bitter Melody was ranked at number 15 on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list by Rolling Stone. Since 1975, 10cc has regularly performed Mindbenders songs in concert. In 1994, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2020, Billboard ranked the Mindbenders as the fifth-most influential band of all time. That same year, production began on a biographical film chronicling the band's history. The film, A Mindbending Journey, was released in 2022 to critical acclaim.
Personnel[]
- Wayne Fontana (born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis, 28 October 1945, Levenshulme, Manchester Lancashire, died 1 November 1972) – vocals, tambourine (1963–1972)
- Bob Lang (born Robert Francis Lang, 10 January 1946, Manchester, Lancashire) – bass (1963–1968)
- Ric Rothwell (born Eric Rothwell, 11 March 1944, Reddish, Stockport, Cheshire) – drums (1963–1972)
- Eric Stewart (born Eric Michael Stewart, 20 January 1945, Droylsden, Lancashire) – guitars, vocals (1963–1972)
- Graham Gouldman (born Graham Keith Gouldman, 10 May 1946, Broughton, Salford, Lancashire) – bass (1968-1972)
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders (1965)
- Since You've Been Gone (1966)
- Courage (1967)
- Devotion (1967)
- Digging A Hole (1967)
- With Woman In Mind (1967)
- Musical Mirage (1968)
- A Bite of Time (1969)
- Mountain (1970)
- Untitled studio tracks (1971-1972; partially released)
Compilation albums[]
- Hit Single Anthology (1991)
- The Best of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders (1994)
Appearances[]
- A Game of Roses (1969)
Differently (V · E) Main (includes timeline and maps) · Historical maps