Jas Mann
Encyclopedia
Jasbinder Singh "Jas" Mann (born 24 April 1971, Dudley
, West Midlands
) is a British song-writer, musician
, singer and record producer
.
of mixed Asian Indian
and Native American Indian
descent. 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 with friend Adam Toussaint 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 1988. The Sandkings, named after a 1981 collection of sci-fi short stories by George R. R. Martin
(called Sandkings
), released seven singles and an EP
with Mann between 1988 and 1992 as well as an album
. They were moderately successful, scoring three Top 10 hits in the UK indie single chart
.
They were the opening act for Happy Mondays
and The Stone Roses
in the early 1990s, but Mann left the band in 1992 because of creative differences.
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. An album entitled The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes
was produced at Mann's New Atlantis Productions music/artwork/video centre. It was released in 1996 and peaked at number 6 in the album chart, though it did not match the success of "Spaceman" which reached number 1 in 23 countries. Three years later, 1999, a follow up album was released entitled King Kong Groover
. The album did not chart well, suffering from poor promotion from their record label, EMI
, and from little press coverage. The New Musical Express
called it a "slickly produced machiavellian plundering of pop classics" and a "clumsy effort to resurrect a career that was a fluke in the first place."
, 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 think I will become a genius."
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 2004, Mann staged a competition in which he asked fans to sum up their lives in one word, which he would then write into the song lyrics of his new album. In 2005, he announced he would be issuing the new Babylon Zoo album, Cold Clockwork Doll, although this has yet to be released.
He started his first company called Immortal Features in 2006. He is currently the CEO of Indomina Media Inc. and maintains a house in Wolverhampton
.
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
) is a British song-writer, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, singer and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Early life
Mann is a SikhSikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
of mixed Asian Indian
British Indian
The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...
and Native American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
descent. His final years of state education were undertaken at Pendeford
Pendeford
Pendeford is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated NNW of the city centre, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire, within the Oxley ward of Wolverhampton City Council.- Name and origins :...
High School, where he developed a passion for music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. He formed his first band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
at the age of 15 with friend Adam Toussaint called The Glove Puppets, and personally funded a 7" vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
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...
, sold through local record shops in 1987.
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...
, another Wolverhampton band with a strong following, were keen to sign Mann as their vocalist, and he joined them in 1988. The Sandkings, named after a 1981 collection of sci-fi short stories by George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
(called Sandkings
Sandkings
Sandkings is a collection of science fiction short stories by George R. R. Martin, published in 1981. The multiple-award-winning title story concerns a race of insectoid, militaristic alien 'pets' who worship their master until he badly mistreats them...
), released seven singles and an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
with Mann between 1988 and 1992 as well as 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...
. They were moderately successful, scoring three Top 10 hits in the UK indie single chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
.
They were the opening act for Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
and The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
in the early 1990s, but Mann left the band in 1992 because of creative differences.
Babylon Zoo
- See Babylon ZooBabylon ZooBabylon Zoo were a British rock band of the mid-1990s from Wolverhampton, England, fronted by Jas Mann. They were best known for the song "Spaceman", which on its release on 21 January 1996, went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of...
In 1993, a three-track demo from Mann's next project Babylon Zoo
Babylon Zoo
Babylon Zoo were a British rock band of the mid-1990s from Wolverhampton, England, fronted by Jas Mann. They were best known for the song "Spaceman", which on its release on 21 January 1996, went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of...
earned him a contract from 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....
. In 1996 Levi's used "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...
", their first single for a TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
advert after hearing the song on a UK radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
. The single went straight to Number 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 ...
on 21 January 1996. 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 peaked at number 6 in the album chart, though it did not match the success of "Spaceman" which reached number 1 in 23 countries. Three years later, 1999, a follow up album was released entitled 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....
. The album did not chart well, suffering from poor promotion from their record label, 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...
, and from little press coverage. The New Musical Express
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
called it a "slickly produced machiavellian plundering of pop classics" and a "clumsy effort to resurrect a career that was a fluke in the first place."
After "Spaceman"
In 1997, Mann (along with other UK celebrity figures) appeared on Brass EyeBrass 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....
, a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries, which aired on 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...
. 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 think I will become a genius."
Mann also wrote the theme music for Channel 4's Speedway Grand Prix programme, screened on Saturday mornings throughout the speedway
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
season (2000/01).
Mann co-owned a record company, Hub Records, and released three songs under the name of Mariachi Static in 2003. In 2004, Mann staged a competition in which he asked fans to sum up their lives in one word, which he would then write into the song lyrics of his new album. In 2005, he announced he would be issuing the new Babylon Zoo album, Cold Clockwork Doll, although this has yet to be released.
He started his first company called Immortal Features in 2006. He is currently the CEO of Indomina Media Inc. and maintains a house in 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...
.
External links
- Babylon Zoo Online (unofficial)