Babylon Zoo were a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band of the mid-1990s from Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, fronted by Jas Mann

Jas Mann

Jasbinder Singh "Jas" Mann is a British song-writer, musician, singer and record producer.-Early life:...

. They were best known for the song "Spaceman

Spaceman (song)

"Spaceman" is a song by British singer-songwriter Jas Mann, of Babylon Zoo. Known for its heavily distorted guitars and metallic, robotic-sounding vocals, it went straight to Number 1 on the UK singles chart on 21 January 1996, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of release...

", which on its release on 21 January 1996, went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of release.

Career

Mann had formerly been in an indie music band, called The Sandkings

The Sandkings (band)

The Sandkings, were an indie pop music band, from Wolverhampton, England, who had minor success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.They were named after a 1981 collection of sci-fi short stories by George R. R...

, which he left in 1992, because of musical differences.

Babylon Zoo was signed to Phonogram Records

Phonogram Records

Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....

, after A&R

A&R

Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 man Clive Black heard their first three-track demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 tape, in May 1993. When Black moved to Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

 in 1993, he took Mann's recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 with him. An album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 had been prepared and sleeves for a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Fire Guided Light", were printed, but Babylon Zoo's debut was put on hold again when Black moved once more to EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 in 1995, where the band were signed on to a seven album contract.

However, promotional copies of the song "Spaceman

Spaceman (song)

"Spaceman" is a song by British singer-songwriter Jas Mann, of Babylon Zoo. Known for its heavily distorted guitars and metallic, robotic-sounding vocals, it went straight to Number 1 on the UK singles chart on 21 January 1996, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of release...

" had already been distributed, and chosen to tie in with the release of a new Levi's jeans TV

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 advert. The single went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, and it also reached the top spot in the single charts in twenty three countries.

An album entitled The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes

The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes

The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, released in February 1996, was the first album from Babylon Zoo. It peaked at number 6 in the album chart, though it did not match the success of its first single "Spaceman" which reached number 1 in 23 countries....

was produced at Mann's New Atlantis Productions music/artwork/video centre. It was released in 1996, and included new-age tracks such as "Is Your Soul for Sale?" and "I'm Cracking Up I Need a Pill". It debuted at #6 on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

, and reached the Top 20 in 17 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In 1997, Mann was lampooned on the Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 TV series, Brass Eye

Brass Eye

Brass Eye is a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries. A series of six aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001....

.

In 1999, a follow-up album was released, King Kong Groover

King Kong Groover

King Kong Groover is the second album by Babylon Zoo. The album suffered from poor promotion from their record label, EMI, and from little press coverage. It did not do well in the charts....

, but Mann decided not to promote the album as he was not getting support from his record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 after the departure of Clive Black. Mann subsequently decided to move to India and work for an aid agency.

Albums

Title	Released	UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, released in February 1996, was the first album from Babylon Zoo. It peaked at number 6 in the album chart, though it did not match the success of its first single "Spaceman" which reached number 1 in 23 countries....	February 1996	#6
King Kong Groover King Kong Groover King Kong Groover is the second album by Babylon Zoo. The album suffered from poor promotion from their record label, EMI, and from little press coverage. It did not do well in the charts....	February 1999	–

Singles

Year	Song	UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	Album
1995	"Spaceman Spaceman (song) "Spaceman" is a song by British singer-songwriter Jas Mann, of Babylon Zoo. Known for its heavily distorted guitars and metallic, robotic-sounding vocals, it went straight to Number 1 on the UK singles chart on 21 January 1996, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of release... "	#1	The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, released in February 1996, was the first album from Babylon Zoo. It peaked at number 6 in the album chart, though it did not match the success of its first single "Spaceman" which reached number 1 in 23 countries....
1996	"Animal Army Animal Army "Animal Army" is a song by Babylon Zoo, released as the second single from their debut album The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes and the follow-up to the UK #1 single "Spaceman"... "	#17
	"The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (song) "The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes" is a song by Babylon Zoo, released as the third and final single from their album of the same name. The single version was a new version of the song, remixed by Arthur Baker. Each CD version has a different colour sleeve and disc... "	#32
1999	"All the Money's Gone All The Money's Gone "All the Money's Gone" is a single by Babylon Zoo and the first to be taken from the second album "King Kong Groover". When asked about the song's title, Jas Mann denied that all his money had gone, stating it would have been "crazy" to have lost all that he made from 'Spaceman'.-Tracklisting:*CD... "	#46	King Kong Groover King Kong Groover King Kong Groover is the second album by Babylon Zoo. The album suffered from poor promotion from their record label, EMI, and from little press coverage. It did not do well in the charts....
	"Honaloochie Boogie Honaloochie Boogie "Honaloochie Boogie" is a single released by Mott the Hoople. It was the follow-up to their breakthrough single "All The Young Dudes". It reached a peak position in the UK charts of number 12 in July 1973.... "	Promo released (France only)
2000	"Love Lies Bleeding"	Internet-only release