Jas Mann
| Jas Mann | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jasbinder Singh Mann |
| Born |
24 April 1970 Dudley, West Midlands |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments | Vocals, bass guitar, piano, drums |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | New Atlantis/EMI |
Jasbinder Singh "Jas" Mann (born 24 April 1971) is a British songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and film producer. He was lead singer of Babylon Zoo, known for their 1996 single "Spaceman" and top five album Boy with the X-ray Eyes. He has produced/distributed over 20 features films, including the BAFTA winning documentary The Imposter and was executive producer of Simon Pegg's Fantastic Fear of Everything.
He was born in 1971, Dudley, West Midlands, England, to a Punjabi Indian father and a mother of Sioux descent. Mann 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, 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 no. 1 on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 1996 and achieved number one status in 21 countries. 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 No. 6 in the album chart, though it did not match the success of "Spaceman". The following two singles both achieved top 20 status. Three years later, 1999, a follow up album was released entitled King Kong Groover. Its single "All the Money's Gone" reached the top 40. The album did not chart well, suffering from poor promotion from their record label, EMI, and from little press coverage.
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