Mansun
Encyclopedia
Mansun were an English
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...

 alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band formed in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

 in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King
Stove King
Stove King is an English bassist and former member of the rock band, Mansun....

, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad
Dominic Chad
Dominic Chad is an English rock guitarist and former member of the rock band Mansun.He reportedly changed his name by deed poll to Dominic Brian Chad in 1998, due to his fixation with the now deceased Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones.Chad is an arranger and songwriter, having co-written...

, and drummer Andie Rathbone
Andie Rathbone
Andrew Rathbone is an English drummer and former member of the rock band Mansun.Rathbone was the third and final drummer in Mansun, brought in after the band had "internal conflict" with the previous two...

. The band broke up in May 2003.

Biography

Mansun were formed in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, England in 1995 by Draper and King. The band's foundations were cemented with the addition of Chad, who worked behind the bar at the Fat Cat pub in Chester and they began rehearsing at Crash Rehearsal Studios in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, where the band would be discovered by a passing A&R man and offered a publishing contract.

The band were originally called "Grey Lantern" but changed their name to "Manson", after the cult leader Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...

 but were forced to change it due to copyright issues. The band gave several false accounts of this at the time, one being that they were named after The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...

 b-side "A Man Called Sun", and that "Manson" was simply a spelling mistake which accidentally went through to production. It was reported that Charles Manson had started spelling his name with a "u", to which Draper joked that perhaps they should sue him.

The band's self-financed debut release "Take It Easy Chicken" under the name Manson on their own "Sci-Fi Hi-Fi Recordings" label, and the follow-up "Skin Up Pin Up" on 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...

 offshoot Regal, were followed upon their signing to Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...

 with a run of EPs
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...

 including a re-issue of the bands self released debut single.

Paul Draper stated in the liner notes for Mansun's Kleptomania
Kleptomania (album)
-Disc two:-Disc three:-Personnel:Disc One Credits* All songs written by Paul Draper* Produced by Richard Rainey and Paul Draper* Engineered by Cenzo Townshend, except tracks 9 and 10 engineered by Barney Chase.Disc Two Credits...

that "Take It Easy Chicken" was their first song, and that the band really did not know how to play their instruments (let alone play together as a band) when Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...

 and John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 started to play the song on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

.

The early EPs were followed by the critically acclaimed album Attack of the Grey Lantern
Attack of the Grey Lantern
Attack of the Grey Lantern is the debut album by English rock band Mansun released in February 1997 via Parlophone. The album spent a total of 19 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number one.-Background:...

which appeared to contain a conceptual storyline - heavily debated by fans - whilst ending with a hidden track (An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter, previously featured on Three EP) proclaiming sarcastically 'The lyrics aren't supposed to mean that much'. The band's debut LP knocked fellow Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...

 act Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

's 1997 self-titled album from the top spot of the British album chart. Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

 are quoted as saying, at that year's Q Awards, that the album was "a real musical achievement". Draper stated that a lot of the lyrics from this era were written when he was a kid and influenced by The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...

 and Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...

.

During the early years of their career, Mansun were noted for changing fashion styles as quickly as musical styles. Such styles ranged from punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...

, new romantic
New Romantic
New Romanticism , was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and new wave music...

, baggy "Madchester
Madchester
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...

" clothes, army fatigues, A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...

style "droogs
Nadsat
Nadsat is a fictional register or argot used by the teenagers in Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange. In addition to being a novelist, Burgess was also a linguist and he used this background to depict his characters as speaking a form of Russian-influenced English...

" and even women's clothing. When pressed as to why they did this, Draper responded "It's probably overenthusiasm, seeing people like Bowie's different guises and thinking, 'Great! Let's try that..."

The second album Six was preceded by the single "Legacy", driven by lyrical references to the Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...

. The album included a guest monologue by Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...

. Several more singles followed, including part 1 of "Being A Girl", "Negative" and a re-recording of the album's title track, "Six" produced by Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...

. Draper later admitted to placing the two main singles at the end of the album to be awkward and described the album as being "commercial suicide".

Mansun's third studio album, Little Kix
Little Kix
Little Kix is the third album by English rock band Mansun. It marked a departure from their previous style, employing a more commercial sound.-Overview:...

(originally set be called "The Trouble With Relationships",) recorded in Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

's old studio on a boat, Astoria
Astoria (recording studio)
Astoria is a grand houseboat, adapted as a recording studio by its owner, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. It is moored on the River Thames near Hampton Court...

, was plagued by the record company's desire to bring in an outside producer. Chad would later state that the album "just didn't sound like us because there was lot of keyboards".

In January 2001, prior to the final single being released off "Little Kix", Draper informed the NME that the band were set to enter the studio in March or April of that year and that the band wanted to release new material as soon as possible. In April, Draper informed fans through the official website that the band had recorded and mixed 8 new songs and would continue recording in May. The band were not sure what to do with the material - whether to release an EP or to hold the material back for a full album. In August, Chad posted on the band's official website to inform fans that the band were halfway through recording their fourth album (therefore confirming that the idea of releasing an EP had been scrapped), which would be "harder" than "Little Kix" and that they planned to release a single in December. The band's aim for the record was to make it as representative of Mansun as a live band as possible, that it sounded "like a live band playing in a room" but also that it had all the "creative sounds that 'Six' had". In March 2002 and with no sign of new material, Draper stated that the delay in the new album was down to guitarist Dominic Chad injuring his hand after falling into a fire grate and therefore had been unable to play, but confirmed that the band had so far finished fifteen songs.

In April and May 2002 the band embarked on a short UK tour, which was initially promoted under the pseudonym The Masons on Mansun fansites. The band tested out tracks from their planned fourth album alongside a handful of old favourites. It is believed that the band split soon after this tour, but this was not announced until May 2003.

With news of the split being confirmed and with the knowledge that most of the fourth album, which was set to be self titled, had already been recorded, an online petition was set up to try and persuade EMI to release the material. The tracks intended for the album were then released in 2004, along with the non-album singles and a selection of B-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 (chosen by Draper from a top 20 voted for by fans on the band's official website) and rarities, which summarized Mansun's career in a three-CD box set entitled Kleptomania
Kleptomania (album)
-Disc two:-Disc three:-Personnel:Disc One Credits* All songs written by Paul Draper* Produced by Richard Rainey and Paul Draper* Engineered by Cenzo Townshend, except tracks 9 and 10 engineered by Barney Chase.Disc Two Credits...

. In the official press release for the album, Draper claimed that when recording the new album, none of their hearts were in it, but in an interview in 2008 went on to blame Chad for the split, stating that the guitarist "wasn’t happy with the working method of writing and recording, but didn’t want to implement his own writing and recording method so we simply had to go home and end the band".

Legacy - The Best Of Mansun, a greatest hits CD and DVD compilation, was released on 18 September 2006 in the UK. The CD from this package also provides access to download the previous unreleased "South Of The Painted Hall", which was originally set for release on Kleptomania, but the multitrack was missing the lead vocals. The free download version is sourced from a reference CD-R which featured an unfinished rough mix.

Post split

Following the split, Draper worked with ex-Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...

 singer Skin, appearing on her album Fake Chemical State
Fake Chemical State
Fake Chemical State is the second solo album by Skunk Anansie lead vocalist Skin. Released on 20 March 2006, the album was produced by Gordon Raphael and Skin herself, except for the first single "Alone in My Room" which Skin produced with former Mansun lead vocalist Paul Draper...

, and in 2009 worked with The Joy Formidable
The Joy Formidable
The Joy Formidable are a three-piece band formed in 2007 in North Wales and currently located in London, England. The band consists of Ritzy Bryan , Rhydian Dafydd , and Matt Thomas ....

 on their free download-only single "Greyhounds In The Slips". Draper has reportedly been working on solo material since the band split, but despite repeated claims of sending out new material via his mailing list, nothing has yet been heard from this proposed project.

Rathbone formed "Seraphim" with Jonti Thackray with whom he had been in bands with prior to Mansun, briefly joined Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

 tribute band "Into The Bleach", and has gone on to become a drum teacher.

Neither Chad nor King have been involved in the music business since the split, though in 2004 in a press release for "Kleptomania", Draper announced that he had started writing with Chad again, but later admitted that Chad had stopped turning up for sessions and that he doubted the partnership would continue. King had reportedly begun a career in Speedway racing
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...

.

Discography

  • Attack of the Grey Lantern
    Attack of the Grey Lantern
    Attack of the Grey Lantern is the debut album by English rock band Mansun released in February 1997 via Parlophone. The album spent a total of 19 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number one.-Background:...

    (1997)
  • Six (1998)
  • Little Kix
    Little Kix
    Little Kix is the third album by English rock band Mansun. It marked a departure from their previous style, employing a more commercial sound.-Overview:...

    (2000)
  • Kleptomania
    Kleptomania (album)
    -Disc two:-Disc three:-Personnel:Disc One Credits* All songs written by Paul Draper* Produced by Richard Rainey and Paul Draper* Engineered by Cenzo Townshend, except tracks 9 and 10 engineered by Barney Chase.Disc Two Credits...

    (2004)
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