Most of the bands considered part of the first British Invasion either broke up or changed direction dramatically by 1966. Manfred Mann were no different. Original vocalist Paul Jones left for a solo career and was replaced by Mike D'Abo, formerly of Band Of Angels. And with a new singer came a new direction, and a new-found love for the Mellotron. They also switched labels from HMV (EMI), their original label to Fontana (Philips). Out of that period came one of their biggest hits, Quinn The Eskimo (or the Mighty Quinn) and several smaller, but no less substantial hits for a band considered by many to be at the mid-point of their careers and about to get into something completely different.

But tonight's track is from that 1966 period. Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James was a moderate hit in the UK and Europe but did nothing here in the States. Which is too bad as it has all the elements of a hit single.

Some things just aren't destined to make it, I suppose.

(Manfred Mann - Not your average grab-bag of pretty faces)

During the first couple of years of the British invasion (1964-1966), one of the consistent hit makers were Manfred Mann. They turned out some memorable music and were one of the first British bands to record Dylan material "With God On Our Side", and it served them very well. Their second Dylan track, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (the one we've got here), did great in the UK - hitting at #2 before some of the lyrics and their implications were discovered and promptly banned from radio airplay. It was released here in the States, but as a B side so there was little, if any controversy because radio never played B-sides.

Despite that, Manfred Mann did very well and weathered some personnel changes before the band split up and resurfaced as Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

But this is 1965 and none of that has happened yet.