Jas Mann

2021-08-20T19:52:15Z

94.252.90.187:

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Jas Mann
| background = solo_singer
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Jasbinder Singh Mann
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1971|4|24}}
| birth_place = [[Dudley]], [[Staffordshire]], England
| death_date =
| genre = [[Pop music|Pop]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer-songwriter|record producer|film producer}}
| instrument = Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano
| years_active = 1986–present
| label = New Atlantis/EMI
| associated_acts =
}}

'''Jasbinder Singh''' "'''Jas'''" '''Mann''' ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਜਸਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਮੱਨ, born 24 April 1971)<ref>Betts, Graham (2004) ''Collins Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004'', Collins, {{ISBN|978-0007179312}}, p. 47</ref> is a British songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and film producer. He was lead singer of [[Babylon Zoo]], known for their 1996 UK chart-topping single "[[Spaceman (Babylon Zoo song)|Spaceman]]" and No. 6 album ''[[The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes]]''.

==Early life==
He was born in 1971, [[Dudley]], [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]], England, to a [[Punjabi diaspora|Punjabi]] [[British Indian|Indian]] father and a mother of [[Sioux]] descent.<ref>{{cite journal|title=India today, Volume 21|journal=[[India Today]]|year=1996|volume=21|publisher=[[Living Media]]|quote=Mann's father is from Pun jab and his mother a native American. Literally [[Apache Indian]], what?}}</ref><ref name="Donnell">Donnell, Alison (2013) ''Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture'', Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415862509}}, p. 23</ref> Mann formed his first band at the age of 15, with his friend Adam Toussaint; they were called The Glove Puppets. Mann personally funded a [[Gramophone record|7" vinyl]] single, sold through local record shops in 1987.

[[The Sandkings (band)|The Sandkings]], another Wolverhampton band, enlisted Mann as their vocalist in 1988. The group, named after a [[Sandkings (short story collection)|1981 collection of sci-fi short stories]] by [[George R. R. Martin]], released seven singles and an [[Extended play|EP]] with Mann between 1988 and 1992 as well as an album. They scored three [[Top 40|Top 10]] [[chart-topper|hits]] in the UK [[indie music|indie]] single [[record chart|chart]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}

The Sandkings were the opening act for [[Happy Mondays]] and [[The Stone Roses]] in the early 1990s, but Mann left the band because of creative differences.<ref name="Sutton">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/babylon-zoo-mn0000076211/biography|title=Babylon Zoo: Biography|last=Sutton|first=Michael|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref>

==Babylon Zoo==
{{main|Babylon Zoo}}
The single "Spaceman" charted at No. 1 in the [[UK Singles Chart]], in January 1996 after appearing on a Levi's commercial, selling 420,000 copies in its first week. It became the fastest selling single in the United Kingdom in over thirty years, since [[The Beatles]]' "[[Can't Buy Me Love]]". "Spaceman" became a number one chart hit in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom. As of November 2012, "Spaceman" was the 74th best selling single in the history of the United Kingdom, selling 1.14 million copies. Critic [[Jon Savage]] wrote, "Staring into the cameras, as sexy/strange as Mick Jagger in 1965, Mann cast the nation under his spell."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Savage|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Savage|date=Summer 1996|pages=32–33|title=Ziggy Redux: Jon Savage on Babylon Zoo|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/199606/babylon-zoo-32944|magazine=[[Artforum]]|access-date=11 February 2021}}</ref>

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 [[UK Albums Chart]] The following two singles charted in the UK top 40: "[[Animal Army]]" (No. 17) and "[[The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (song)|The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes]]" (No. 32). Three years later, in 1999, a follow-up album was released entitled ''[[King Kong Groover]]''. Neither the album nor its single, "[[All the Money's Gone]]", were top 40 entries.

==After "Spaceman"==
Mann appeared on the "Drugs" episode of 1997 comedy series ''[[Brass Eye]]'', which, according to [[Steven Wells]] of ''[[NME]]'', "stretched [Mann] out over the ant hill of self-parody and left him to die". Wells dubbed him "a puffed-up one-hit wonder" who had exasperated the public by giving interviews in which he claimed "to be possessed of a staggering talent".<ref name="Wells">{{cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19990019165041reviews.html |title=This week's singles |last=Wells |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Wells |date=23 January 1999 |website=[[NME]] |access-date=28 November 2018 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000831232909/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19990019165041reviews.html |archive-date=31 August 2000 }}</ref> Multiple mainstream outlets besides ''NME'' have dubbed Babylon Zoo a "one-hit wonder";<ref name="Sutton"/><ref name="McAlpine">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2015/09/10-greatest-british-one-hit-wonders|title=10 Greatest British One-Hit Wonders|last=McAlpine|first=Fraser|website=[[BBC America]]|access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/whats-happened-babylon-zoo-2506522|title=What's happened to Babylon Zoo?|date=15 February 2008|website=[[The Scotsman]]|access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/entertainment/the-top-ten-chart-this-week-in-1996-30938462.html|title=The top ten chart this week in 1996|last=Hayes|first=Jim|date=28 January 2015|website=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a9265569/babylon-zoo-spaceman-lead-singer-jas-mann-now/|title=The guy from Babylon Zoo is a real-life grown-up now|last=Lewis|first=Anna|date=12 April 2017|website=[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]|access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref> [[BBC America]]'s Fraser McAlpine ranked them among the "10 Greatest British One-Hit Wonders".<ref name="McAlpine"/> Justin Myers of the [[Official Charts Company]] argued that the band's two further UK top 40 singles absolve them of the "one-hit wonder" label.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/flashback-to-1996-babylon-zoo-at-number-1-and-the-birth-of-tfi-friday__17886/|title=Flashback to 1996: Babylon Zoo at Number 1 and the birth of TFI Friday|last=Myers|first=Justin|date=2 February 2017|website=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/what-s-happened-to-babylon-zoo-1-1155329|title=What's happened to Babylon Zoo?|website=www.scotsman.com|access-date=2016-07-14}}</ref> In 2005, he announced he would be issuing the new Babylon Zoo album, ''Cold Clockwork Doll'', although this has yet to be released.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comedycentral.co.uk/2010/08/11/watn-babylon-zoo-spaceman|title=CCUK|access-date=2016-07-14}}{{dead link|date=July 2016}}</ref>

In 2008 Mann co-founded the Indomina Group, an independent studio based in Los Angeles and the Dominican Republic, as well as [[Pinewood Indomina Studios]] in the Dominican Republic.<ref>Goldstein, Gregg (2011) [https://variety.com/2011/film/features/freshman-dance-1118030385/ "Freshman Dance"], variety.com, 20 January 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2016</ref> Mann sold his ownership to the Vicini Group after an investment from the IFC,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ifcext.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/ProjectDisplay/SII32239|title=Indomina Group|website=ifcext.ifc.org|access-date=2016-07-14}}</ref> and Indomina shut its US office to relocate full operations to the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.deadline.com/2013/01/indomina-releasing-shuts-down-movie-distribution-operations/|title=Indomina Shutters Distribution Unit And Lays Off 15 In LA Office|last=Yamato|first=Jen|date=2013-01-30|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-14}}</ref> Indomina distributed the 2012 films ''[[The Imposter (2012 film)|The Imposter]]'' (2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://realscreen.com/2012/02/22/indomina-to-uncover-the-imposter/ |title=Archive » Indomina to uncover ''The Imposter'' |website=Realscreen.com |access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> and ''[[A Fantastic Fear of Everything]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://film.britishcouncil.org/a-fantastic-fear-of-everything |title=British Council Film: A Fantastic Fear of Everything |website=Film.britishcouncil.org |date=2012-11-05 |access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref>

Mann is also a board member of the children's charity International Child Art Foundation, providing arts programming in schools.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040531125554/http://www.icaf.org/about/]</ref>

In 2013 Mann co-founded Virgin Produced India, a film production company in partnership with the [[Virgin Group]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Tsering |first=Lisa |url=https://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/global/virgin-enters-bollywood-with-virgin-produced-india/article_cf6339a7-7791-5c9d-a5ea-016427b18c75.html |title=Virgin Enters Bollywood with 'Virgin Produced India' | Global |website=Indiawest.com |date=2013-11-19 |access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|2168572}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Babylon Zoo}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Jas}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English male singers]]
[[Category:English record producers]]
[[Category:English rock musicians]]
[[Category:People from Dudley]]
[[Category:People from Wolverhampton]]
[[Category:People of Sioux descent]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English people of Native American descent]]
[[Category:English people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:Musicians from the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:21st-century English singers]]
[[Category:21st-century male singers]]

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Jas Mann