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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 5, 2013 17:53:46 GMT
If the moderators don't mind, I've opened up this separate thread for the original Manfred Mann, I will still update Manfred Mann Chapter III with any new interviews I can find, thanks...
As promised here is the first of a series of articles/interviews about Manfred Mann from the beginning NME 26th July 1963 review of 1st single Melody Maker 9th November 1963 review of 2nd single "Cock a Hoop" by Guest reviewer for that week Tommy Roe NME 17th January 1964 NME 17th January 1964 Introduction to the group in the regular "New to the Charts" column Melody Maker 18th January 1964 review of 5,4,3,2,1 single by John Lennon the "Guest Reviewer of new single for that week The MM introduced John like this JOHN LENNON rhythm guitarist and leader of the Beatles, is today's guest in the first of a four week series in "Blind date." Each Beatle has his own personality and image, and Lennon's is that of a somewhat cynical, tough character with a dryness of wit. "People think we know a hit as soon as we hear anything," said John during the record-reviewing session. "It's not true. Just because we've had a few hits, we don't reckon to be able to judge everything properly. And when it comes to tastes, we're just as biased as everyone else. One thing, though: It's much easier to tell you what won't be a hit than it is to pick out the dead cert hits." Between drags on cigarettes and the ever present cup of tea, Lennon reviewed. ( to be continued )...
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 5, 2013 17:55:50 GMT
I know it's off-topic,but I found the Lennon reviews most interesting-though he does mention Manfred Mann.'Downbeat' magazine started this sort of 'blind reviewing',I believe.'Juke Box Jury' was the TV version.
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Post by Patrick Coles on Aug 5, 2013 19:33:10 GMT
'I like the harmonica but not what came before....It's too jumpy to be a hit, that beat is too fast, it just gets you down...' & 'the voice is heard too much...'
- so says this 'John Lennon bloke' re the number '5-4-3-2-1' which then reached number six & became the theme tune to the iconic sixties Pop TV show; 'Ready Steady Go !' (on which The Beatles appeared a few times as I recall....)
Much as I Loved JL he could be a lousy record reviewer on occasion !(LOL)
I recall he later said of The Hollies 1971 single 'Hey Willy'; - 'It'll shoot UP the charts like a rocket...' sadly that proved to be the 'kiss of death' as it 'failed to launch' getting stuck on the pad at no.22 (despite being a decent 'rockin' number) one of their rare less successful singles of their heyday period.
John also pushed for his 'Cold Turkey' to be a Beatles single record in 1969 much to the stern opposition of Paul, George, & Ringo...(thus the Plastic Ono Band did it instead)
still it's interesting to read John's always frank and honest opinions...and to be fair John said he was only a 'lukewarm' fan of The Beatles too...!
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 5, 2013 22:53:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2013 8:32:03 GMT
I love the gig ads on these, William ... all those legendary names ... thanks for sharing these :-)
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Post by Patrick Coles on Aug 6, 2013 12:06:40 GMT
Great posts William - Thanks !
Interesting Manfred Mann are billed at 'The Ultimate in Rhythm & Blues' and 'In the charts with '5-4-3-2-1' (a pop song)
Tom McGuinness said of how after having a few 'Pop' hits they went back to play a 'R & B' club and the 'atmosphere' was AWFUL !
Tom spoke of the audience glaring at them (shades of Dylan going electric to cries of 'Judas !')
- how mega serious young music fans could be in those days....
note the 'introducing' of Alex Harvey's Soul Band at the bottom of the bill....
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 6, 2013 15:41:00 GMT
'I like the harmonica but not what came before....It's too jumpy to be a hit, that beat is too fast, it just gets you down...' & 'the voice is heard too much...' - so says this 'John Lennon bloke' re the number '5-4-3-2-1' which then reached number six & became the theme tune to the iconic sixties Pop TV show; 'Ready Steady Go !' (on which The Beatles appeared a few times as I recall....) Much as I Loved JL he could be a lousy record reviewer on occasion !(LOL) Here's a few Readers Letter replies to John Lennon's review of Manfred Mann 5,4,3,2,1 taken from the Melody Maker 1st February 1964 I personally don't agree with their comments but I thought you might like to see them. Great Mann Manfred Mann is one of the greatest rhythm 'n' blues groups to emerge in Britain in the last year. Their hit 5,4,3,2,1 is one of the best singles out just now. I was taken aback by John Lennon's comments on this record in MM's Blind Date. P.Kenny, London NW3. Disgusted After reading John Lennon's record reviews in MM's Blind Date, I was disgusted to see that all recording artists outside Liverpool were shouted down by him, yet all beat groups were voted hits. Before Lennon criticises greats like Ray Charles, Rick Nelson and Manfred Mann, the Beatles should realise that if it had not been for these great artists the beat groups would never be where they are today . R.Senior,Leeds 11.
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 6, 2013 16:18:52 GMT
This is an article from the Melody Maker dated 29th February 1964
The article was under the headline WHERE DOES BEAT BEGIN AND R & B END Can YOU tell the difference?
They asked The Searchers, The Rolling Stones, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Hollies and Manfred Mann
below if Manfred's answer...
Questions: Are you a Rhythm-and-Blues group? What are your claims? What is your policy?
Answer: Manfred Mann perched high with his first hit, 5,4,3,2,1 says: "Yes, Most definitely we are an R&B group. "Somebody who had followed us for a long time came up to me recently and said: 'Ah you've gone commercial' He meant 5,4,3,2,1 of course. I asked him if he had heard the 'B' side 'Without You'
The point is that this hit has sold a quarter of a million. And 'Without You' is absolute R&B. Therefore, I feel that because we made a commercial side, which sold well, a quarter of a million people have the chance now to hear the real thing-pure R&B on the 'B' side.
It's all very well people saying we've gone commercial, but we've played R&B for years. But when we go into a recording session, the aim is to make something that will sell. Our policy is to put out a good solid R&B number as the 'B' side every time. Manfred adds; " We have an album coming out with 5 R&B originals, I can assure you we're an R&B group."
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 7, 2013 8:32:26 GMT
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Post by Peter Prentice on Aug 7, 2013 11:27:56 GMT
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 7, 2013 12:04:41 GMT
Fabulous 208 magazine 25th April 1964
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 13:42:00 GMT
They got Mike & Tom the wrong way round, and Manfred looks like he'd rather be somewhere else lol
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Post by Liam Joseph on Aug 7, 2013 14:21:43 GMT
www.historyofrockandroll.co.uk/Thanks Peter, that looks like an excellent resource. I just did a search for "TOTP" and it threw up nearly 1,200 results, including an interesting article from Disc and Music Echo in 1967 that had some comments from Stanley Dorfman and Colin Charman about the making of the show. EDIT: Tried to post a link but it didn't work. The article title is "Why 'Top of the Pops' is Tops!"
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Post by williammcgregor on Aug 7, 2013 16:31:41 GMT
Oh well that's me redundant then! What a brilliant site, thanks for the info Peter. This means we now have lots more info at hand for our research.
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Post by Peter Prentice on Aug 7, 2013 18:00:36 GMT
Oh well that's me redundant then! What a brilliant site, thanks for the info Peter. This means we now have lots more info at hand for our research. Not quite, William. The site is missing several years worth of Disc and Music Echo, while Record Mirror and Fab 208 have so far gone unarchived.
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