Mike d'Abo
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| Mike d'Abo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 March 1944, Betchworth, Surrey |
| Years active | 1960s - present |
| Associated acts | Manfred Mann A Band of Angels |
| Website | www.mikedabo.com |
Michael David d'Abo (born 1 March 1944, Betchworth, Surrey) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the former lead vocalist of Manfred Mann.
D'Abo, the son of a London stockbroker, was educated at Harrow School and Selwyn College, Cambridge. His original intention at Cambridge was to read theology but, faced with 'everything to learn' (including Hebrew), he switched to economics. He left Cambridge with 'a first class jazz collection' but without completing his studies. His musical career began while he was still at Harrow School, and in 1966 he joined Manfred Mann ['MM'], already a chart-topping group, as replacement for Paul Jones, who was leaving to go solo. D'Abo's first big hit with MM, "Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James", was nearly launched with "Mr Jones" in the title. It hadn't occurred to the group that a dig at Paul Jones might have been surmised by the fans. In actual fact, D'Abo's first recorded the "As Is" LP (with the single "Just Like A Woman"). All of the UK Fontana/US Mercury featured D'Abo.
D'Abo had already had minor success with a group, A Band of Angels, formed while at Harrow. The group also had their own comic strip in a UK pop music weekly called "Fab 208". He composed a hit single, the haunting generational tale "Handbags and Gladrags", for Chris Farlowe (which was also notably recorded by Rod Stewart and Stereophonics and subsequently became the theme tune to the BBC television show The Office). With d'Abo fronting, Manfred Mann enjoyed numerous hits, including "Ragamuffin Man", "Ha Ha Said the Clown", "My Name Is Jack". and the number one hit, "Mighty Quinn".
In December 1968 d'Abo played the lead role in "Gulliver Travels" - subtly not "Gulliver's Travels" - at the Mermaid Theatre, Blackfriars, London. After the MM group disbanded in 1969, he also played the part of Herod on the original recording of "Jesus Christ Superstar". He had a cameo role on the original recording of Evita and co-wrote the song "Build Me Up Buttercup", made famous by the group The Foundations.
Recently, d'Abo has participated in The Manfreds, a group of original Manfred Mann members other than Mann himself, and played occasional live dates with his part-time group The Mighty Quintet. In addition he had a brief spell during the year 2000 advising and working with Stars in Their Eyes champion, Ian Moor. d'Abo was musical director during the filming of Moor's live concert video entitled "Naturally", at the Hull New Theatre, and also played keyboards for the concert.
D'Abo is the father of actress Olivia d'Abo and the first cousin of actress Maryam d'Abo and father of twins Ella and Louis (born in November 2007).
[edit] Discography
| Year | Album | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | The Mike D'Abo Collection, Vol. 1: 1964-1970 - Handbags & Gladrags |
[edit] External links
- Official website
- The Manfreds biography
- Radio London Fab Forty 28 November 1965 featuring A Band of Angels at #36
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