ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC COPYRIGHT MUZE UK LTD. 1989 - 1998

FORMED IN WOLVERHAMPTON, WEST MIDLANDS, ENGLAND, THE 90S POP GROUP BABYLON ZOO ARE THE CREATION OF THEIR SINGER, WRITER AND PRODUCER JAS MANN (B. JASWINDER MANN, 24 APRIL 1971, DUDLEY, WEST MIDLANDS, ENGLAND). AT THE AGE OF THREE HE MOVED TO INDIA, STAYING IN THE HIMALAYAS FOR TWO YEARS BEFORE RETURNING TO ENGLAND. BY HIS OWN ADMISSION HE WAS A PRECOCIOUS YOUNG MAN, PREFERRING SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS AND BBC TELEVISION'S DOCTOR WHO SERIES TO SCHOOL WORK. HE DECIDED TO CONCENTRATE ON MUSIC AFTER BEING EXPELLED FROM ART SCHOOL IN BIRMINGHAM AND FAILING TRIALS FOR WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB. HIS FIRST BAND, THE SANDKINGS, ENJOYED A LITTLE SUCCESS IN UK INDIE CIRCLES IN THE EARLY 90S AND SUPPORTED THE STONE ROSES AND HAPPY MONDAYS ON TOUR, BUT THE OTHER MEMBERS DID NOT SHARE JAS MANN'S 'VISION'. HIS NEW CREATION, BABYLON ZOO, WAS SIGNED TO PHONOGRAM RECORDS AFTER CLIVE BLACK HEARD THEIR FIRST THREE-TRACK DEMO TAPE IN MAY 1993. WHEN BLACK MOVED TO WARNER BROTHERS RECORDS IN 1993, HE TOOK MANN'S CONTRACT WITH HIM. AN ALBUM HAD BEEN PREPARED AND SLEEVES FOR A SINGLE, 'FIRE GUIDED LIGHT', WERE PRINTED, BUT BABYLON ZOO'S DEBUT WAS PUT ON HOLD AGAIN WHEN BLACK MOVED ONCE MORE TO EMI RECORDS IN 1995.HOWEVER, PROMOTIONAL COPIES OF 'SPACEMAN' HAD ALREADY BEEN DISTRIBUTED, AND IT WAS CHOSEN TO TIE IN WITH A NEW LEVI'S JEAN ADVERTISEMENT AFTER A COMPANY DIRECTOR HEARD THE TRACK ON MANCHESTER RADIO. ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS THE MUSIC TO MANN'S OWN 'B-MOVIE' SPACEMAN SUB-ORGANIC MUTATION THE ADVERTISEMENT CONCENTRATED ON THE SPEEDED UP VOCAL SECTION AT THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF THE SONG (ACTUALLY THE PRODUCT OF THE ARTHUR BAKER REMIX).WHEN RELEASED AS A SINGLE ON 15 JANUARY 1996, AFTER THE GROUP HAD BEEN SIGNED TO A SEVEN-ALBUM DEAL WITH EMI, IT ENTERED THE UK CHART AT NUMBER 1 - BECOMING THE FASTEST-SELLING DEBUT RECORD IN UK CHART HISTORY. APPEARANCES ON UK TELEVISION'S TOP OF THE POPS FEATURED SEVERAL BACKING MUSICIANS, BUT THESE WERE SEEN AS A MERE SIDESHOW COMPARED TO THEIR LEADER. THE ORIGINAL MUSICIANS WHO WORKED WITH HIM HAD BEEN SACKED FOR 'THEIR AGGRESSIVENESS TOWARDS FEMALES'. 'SPACEMAN', SAID MANN, WAS ABOUT ONE'S NEED TO BE TRUE TO ONESELF - JUST AS A VISITING ALIEN WOULD BE FREE FROM PEER PRESSURE. THIS IDEA AROSE FROM JAS MANN'S OWN FAMILY BACKGROUND: PART ASIAN, PART NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN. THE BOY WITH THE X-RAY EYES WAS PRODUCED AT MANN'S NEW ATLANTIS PRODUCTIONS MUSIC/ARTWORK/VIDEO CENTRE AND INCLUDED NEW AGE TRACTS SUCH AS THE SELF-EXPLANATORY 'IS YOUR SOUL FOR SALE?' AND 'I'M CRACKING UP I NEED A PILL'. TOWARDS THE END OF 1996 'SPACEMAN' WAS APPROACHING UK SALES OF 1 MILLION AND WAS THE BIGGEST SELLING SINGLE OF THE YEAR. THE COMPARATIVE FAILURE OF THE ALBUM AND FOLLOW UP SINGLES DID HOWEVER POSE QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR SURVIVAL INTO 1997.

SURE MAGAZINE (SEP-OCT 96)

JAS MANN: THE SPACEMAN
BABYLON ZOO SHOT TO STARDOM FROM BEING VIRTUAL UNKNOWNS THANKS TO A LEVI'S JEANS AD.THE AD FEATURED THEIR SONG SPACEMAN AND THE REST ,AS YOU SAY, IS HISTORY.CAN THEY REPEAT THEIR SUCCESS?WE SPOKE TO JAS MANN ,THE MAN BEHIND THE ´ZOO`.
JAS MANN'S LEAP TO SUCCESS HAS COME ABOUT FOLLOWING THEIR LEVI'S JEANS TELEVISION COMMERCIAL.A STRANGE HYBRID OF SEVENTIES GLAM-ROCK AND NINETIES TECHNO-GRUNGE ,BABYLON ZOO SEEM TO BE AN ANACHRONISM IN A POP WORLD OSCILLATING BETWEEN DANCE MUSIC AND NO-NONSENSE ,OASIS-STYLE ROCK.
HOWEVER ,THE MARRIAGE OF MANN'S MUSIC AND STREET-CREDIBLE DENIMS HAS LANDED BABYLON ZOO WITH ONE OF THE FASTEST-SELLING DEBUT SINGLES OF ALL TIME: ´SPACEMAN` SHOT TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS THROUGHOUT EUROPE.WITH THE SPEEDILY RELEASED ALBUM THE BOY WITH THE X-RAY EYES ALREADY IN THE SHOPS ,THE BAND-WAGON SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN.
THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT BABYLON ZOO'S RISE TO STARDOM IS TAHT THEIR 30-SECOND ,MUSICAL SNIPPET FOR LEVI'S JEANS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE KIND OF MUSIC THEY ARE ACTUALLY INTO.JAS MANN ,THE BAND'S LEADER, A 24-YEAR-OLD BRITON OF ASIAN AND AMERICAN-INDIAN DESCENT WHO WEARS SILVER SARIS DESIGNED BY HIS MOTHER ,HAS SPENT THE PAST TWO YEARS PERFECTING HIS VISION OF A SHINY FUTURISTIC POP BAND THAT MIXES SCIENCE-FICTION-INSPIRED WEIRDNESS WITH A HARD-EDGED GUITAR SOUND.

MANN'S FAMILY HISTORY SEEMS TO BE FULL OF MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE. IT ALL BEGAN WHEN ,SOME TIME IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, AN AMERICAN INDIAN SET SAIL FOR THE PUNJAB, IN INDIA.HE MET A YOUNG INDIAN GIRL AND HAD A DAUGHTER. THIS DAUGHTER LATER MARRIED AN INDIAN SIKH, BALBIR MANN, WHO BY REMARKABLE COINCIDENCE HAD AMERICAN BLOOD TOO.BOTH HUSBAND AND WIFE MOVED TO TEH WEST MIDLANDS IN ENGLAND WHERE JASWINDER(JAS) WAS BORN IN 1971.

WHAT IS"BABYLON ZOO"? "BABYLON BEFORE THE ENSLAVEMENT IS A VISION OF PARADISE ,BUT IN THIS PRESENT SOCIETY WE ARE FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER IS BITING BACK AT US ,SO IT'S BECOME A ZOO," SAY JAS.

"I HAD NOBODY ,NOT ONE FRIEND, JUST ME AND MY PARENTS.I HAD EQUIPMENT: MY GUITAR,A MINI-PORTASTUDIO AND DRUM MACHINE ,I HAD A LOT OF CLOTHES SO I SOLD EVERYTHING EXCEPT FOR MY MUSIC THINGS," CONTINUES JAS, RECALLING THE PAST."I KNEW IT WAS GREAT, I THOUGHT,THIS IS FABULOUS, I'VE GOT SOMETHING HERE THAT'S REALLY COOL.I'M MASSIVELY INTO DOING THIS, IT'S MY LIFE."

THEN, THINGS STARTED TO FALL INTO PLACE.MANN SENT OUT JUST ONE DEMO TAPE ,TO PARLOPHONE'S CLIVE BLACK.CLIVE CALLED BACK TWO DAYS LATER AND CAME DOWN TO SEE HIM PLAY."I WANT TO BE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ARTIST IN THE HISTORY, ARE YOU THE MAN FOR ME OR AM I WASTING MY TIME?" ASKED JAS.THE NEXT DAY THE CONTRACT WAS THERE ON THE TABLE.

BLACK LEFT PARLOPHONE FOR WARNER BROS IN 1993 AND TOOK MANN WITH HIM.WARNER BROS LAUNCHED MANN'S DEBUT SPACEMAN ON THE RADIO, AND THE LEVI'S JEANS PEOPLE SECURED IT FOR THEIR NEXT ADVERTISEMENT.THREE MONTHS LATER, SPACEMAN CAME OUT ON EMI.
SINCE THEN, JAS MANN HAS NOT LOOKED BACK."ONE-HIT WONDERS HAVEN'T DONE WHAT WE'VE DONE, SO YOU CAN'T MAKE COMPARISONS.AS LONG AS I'VE GOT IDEAS AND KEEP THINGS VIBRANT, I WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.AFTER I'VE WRITTEN A SONG, I WANT IT OUT THERE,I DON'T WANT IT FOR MYSELF,I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH EVERYBODY.THIS ISN'T SCARY,IT'S FABULOUS.WHO ELSE IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC HAS SOLD THIS MANY RECORDS IN THIS SHORT SPACE OF TIME? NOBODY HAS, ONLY BABYLON ZOO.IT'S THE PERFECT POINT WHERE I CAN SAY,THIS MEAL I'VE MADE TASTES GOOD,WOULD YOU LIKE SOME?"

HE HAS BEEN NUMBER ONE IN SWEDEN AND DENMARK ALREADY.EVEN THOUGH THE TABLOIDS WRITE A LOT ABOUT HIM, MOSTLY GOSSIP AND FANTASY, HE KNOWS NO FEAR."THOSE PAPERS ARE MAKING A BIG DEAL OUT OF ME BEING ASIAN," HE SNARLS."THEY SHOULD HAVE A LOOK AT THEIR BIGOTRY.I'M ENGLISH AND I'M ASIAN AND I'M VERY PROUD OF IT.I FIND IT AMUSING,IT GIVES ME POSITIVE ENERGY:LET'S HAVE MORE SUCCESS,LET'S MAKE THESE PEOPLE SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST.I AM SOMETHING THAT NOBODY IS.MY LIFE IS NOW A CONCERN FOR ALL:WHY DOES HE WEAR THAT?WHY DOES HE DO THAT?THEY CAN WRITE WHATEVER THEY WANT ABOUT ME,THEY CAN MAKE UP A MILLION AND ONE THINGS.WHO CARES?I'M A COMPLEX PERSON.A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER.BABYLON ZOO IS A BOAT ON A SEA THAT IS MUSICALLY SPORADIC.IT HITS A TIDAL WAVE AND EVERYTHING FLIES IN THE AIR BUT IT EXCITES ME TO NOT KEEP STEADY CONTROL OF THIS THING, I LIKE TO LET IT GET OUT OF CONTROL SOMETIMES.FEAR BRINGS EXCITEMENT FOR ME."

BABYLON ZOO IS NOW OUT TO CONQUER THE EUROPEAN MARKET WHILE MAKING SERIOUS PLANS TO CONQUER AMERICA AND THEN THE WHOLE WORLD.A STAR IS BORN.

UBL'S BABYLON ZOO BIOGRAPHY

BABYLON ZOO IS WHERE THE PLAYFUL, HYPER-PRODUCTIVE AND MERELY 24 YEAR-OLD JAS MANN RECONCILES THE GRIM AND FABULOUS CONTRADICTIONS OF HIS PAST AND WRAPS THEM IN LEAVES AND FLEXI-CHROME. THE NAME ITSELF JOINS THE BABYLONIAN COLOUR RIOT OF HIS CHILDHOOD YEARS IN INDIA TO THE BLEAK URBAN ZOO OF HIS ADOLESCENCE IN WOLVERHAMPTON. IT'S JUST A NAME BUT IT'S ALSO A BANNER OF CONVENIENCE BENEATH WHICH MANN CAN POP IT UP WITH A PARADE OF AGGRESSIVE MELODIES AND PLAY A SERIOUS GAME OF CULTURES CHAOS COLLAGE. WELL, PRETENSIONS HAVEN'T DONE HIM MUCH HARM SO FAR. THE BOY WITH THE X-RAY EYES, SO NAMED BECAUSE OF HIS STARTLING BLUE PEEPERS, COULDN'T HAVE DREAMED UP A BETTER START.

BABYLON ZOO'S JANUARY '96 FIRST SINGLE, SPACEMAN, SOLD A QUARTER OF A MILLION COPIES IN ITS FIRST WEEK, MAKING IT THE FASTEST SELLING BRITISH DEBUT EVER, AND EMI'S MOST ROCKET-PROPELLED SONG SINCE THE BEATLES 'SHE LOVES YOU'. AS WELL AS PASSING A MILLION SALES IN THE UK, IT SWIFTLY TOOK UP NUMBER ONE POSITION ACROSS MOST OF EUROPE. ONLY AN INVASION OF HI-FI DESTROYING SPACE MONSTERS IS GOING TO STOP IT DESCRIBING A SIMILARLY HYPERBOLIC SUCCESS CURVE ACROSS THE SKIES OF THE US.

JAS WAS BORN IN BRITAIN TO SIKH PARENTS AND RAISED BETWEEN THE TEMPLE AND THE TELEVISION SET. HE RETURNED TO INDIA AS A THREE YEAR-OLD AND LIVED FOR A WHILE WITH HIS GRANDFATHER, SOAKING UP MEMORIES OF SUGAR CANE FIELDS AND SPIDER MONKEYS.

FOR A YEAR HE LIVED ON A RANCH IN THE US, WITH HIS MOTHER'S SIOUX INDIAN CONNECTED FAMILY. MOST OF HIS ADOLESCENCE HOWEVER WAS SPENT IN WOLVERHAMPTON WITH HIS TWO SISTERS, NO RECORDS AND BOLLYWOOD VIDEOS AND SCI-FI ON THE TV. "I THINK I TOOK ALL THE POSITIVE THINGS FROM BOTH CULTURES RATHER THAN TAKING THE NEGATIVE SIDE", HE SAYS OF HIS ANGLO-ASIAN PAST. "I LIKED THE FACT THAT IT WASN'T ONE-DIMENSIONAL. I LIKE THINGS LIKE THAT, IT KEEPS THE SOUL EXCITED. AND I WANT THAT TO BE A GREAT POSITIVE INFLUENCE COMING FROM MY MUSIC."

JAS' FIRST MUSICAL ADVENTURE WAS FRONTING THE END OF THE 80'S GROOVADELIC INDIE BAND THE SANDKINGS. THEY TOURED EXTENSIVELY WITH THE WONDER STUFF AND THE HAPPY MONDAYS AND JAS GAINED A SOLID REPUTATION AS THEIR STAGE-DIVING TEENAGE SEX GOD SINGER. BUT TWO YEARS IN A VAN WAS ENOUGH. JAS NEED TO FIND VISUAL AS WELL AS MUSICAL MEANS OF EXPRESSION FOUND HIM BACK IN WOLVERHAMPTON IN THE EARLY '90S, COLLABORATING WITH FRIENDS ON AN ART STUDIO PROJECT.

LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT OF THEIR INDUSTRIALISED ZOO, AND INSPIRED BY FRANCIS BACON, THEY SET UP THE ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT OF NEW ATLANTIS PRODUCTIONS, FILLING A DISUSED BUILDING WITH KINETIC ART, SILVER LEOPARDS AND AERIAL PHOTOS OF WHERE THEY LIVED. AGAINST THIS CHAOTIC ART BACKGROUND, IN HIS SELF-CONSTRUCTED STUDIO WITH ITS INDOOR RAINFOREST, JAS PUT TOGETHER HIS OWN, UNIQUE MUSICAL ENVIRONMENT BRINGING TOGETHER APPLE MACS, MARSHALL STACKS, ART AND ROCK'N'ROLL, LIGHT AND SHADE, METAL GURU-ISMS AND ORGANIC TRUISMS TO PAINT A REFLECTIVE SOUND PICTURE OF HIS 21ST CENTURY CUSP EXPERIENCES.

PLAYING ALL THE INSTRUMENTS HIMSELF, HE POURED BRIT TV SCI-FI, B-MOVIES, MONDRIAN, ORWELL, HG WELLS, ANIMAL LIBERATION, PHILOSOPHY AND FUN INTO THE MELTING POT AND CAME UP WITH THE SET OF VAULTING, CATACLYSMIC FUTURE-SOUL, ASTRAL ROCK ANTHEMS WHICH COMPRISE HIS POST-BOWIE, POST- GRUNGE, POST-IMPRESSIONIST AND PRETERNATURALLY EXCELLENT DEBUT ALBUM THE BOY WITH THE X-RAY EYES.

"THE WAY I SEE MUSIC IS I CREATE IT, I FEEL IT AND THEN THROW IT OUT THERE AND IT'S FINISHED", SAYS JAS. "IF PEOPLE WANT TO BUY INTO BABYLON ZOO AND BUY INTO THE WHOLE PERSPECTIVE THAT'S BEHIND IT, IT'S THERE. IF THEY DON'T AND THEY JUST WANT TO SEE THE FACCIA, THEN THEY CAN JUST SEE THAT, AND THAT'S JUST AS IMPORTANT. IT IS FIVE DIMENSIONAL MUSIC, THERE ARE DIFFERENT ASPECTS, AND YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THEM AND FIND DIFFERENT THINGS IN THEM. AT THE SAME TIME, THE MAIN REASON FOR DOING IT IS TO BE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL."

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