Talk:Mankind (band)

Untitled

 * How is this start-class? Seems too big for it.-- Laun  chba  ller  16:11, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

MigMag
MigMag.co.uk, one of the sources being used in the article, has been taken offline. Below this message is, in commented out form, reproduced here.<!-- The pop group Mankind took the UK charts by storm and surprise in 1978 when they suddenly came from nowhere during the 15th anniversary year of the Doctor Who TV show, to smash into the Top 30 with their disco rendition of the cult BBC TV programmeâ€™s theme music.

Brought together by Don Gallacher â€“ a recording engineer determined to be a record producer â€“ the band took the single, entitled Dr Who?, to number 25 in the UK, spending a total of 12 weeks in the chart. It eventually sold more than 240,000 copies and saw them appear on Top of the Pops three times.

The single was originally released on the Motor Records label, which had been formed especially by Don for that purpose, but overwhelming interest led to the discâ€™s promotion and distribution switching to Pinnacle â€“ an eager, thrusting new label that was better able to cope with the growing nationwide demand. Pinnacle would subsequently become a major independent distributor thanks to the success of Dr Who?

Now a special album showcasing Mankindâ€™s recordings is being brought out on Monday 18th November to mark the programmeâ€™s 50th anniversary.

Entitled Space, Time And Beyond, it will be a bumper offering consisting of:

A translucent-blue 11-track vinyl LP with gatefold sleeve telling the story of the making of the 1978 single A poster, plus unpublished photos from the first Doctor Who convention in the USA, which was held in 1979 and for which a special pressing of the single was made A CD consisting of 14 tracks (the same as the vinyl plus three more due to the extra space on CD) will be released separately on the same date. Also containing the same information as the vinyl release, it will be presented in a six-panel digipak. Both have been produced by Don.

Whatâ€™s more, Dos Amigoz â€“ rising stars on the production, remix, and DJing scene â€“ have created a 2013 remix of that chart-busting single, entitled Dr Who? (Time Waits For No Man) by Mankind vs Dos Amigoz feat Diane Charlemagne, bringing things bang up to date. This will be released as a download on the same day as the album and will be available from all major download sites worldwide. It will also be on the album, both formats of which will be available from all major mail-order sites.

A dedicated Facebook page has been set up here: https://www.facebook.com/mankinddrwho and it can now be followed on Twitter too: @mankinddrwho

Don says: â€œI realised a year ago that the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who on TV was coming up. Should I do anything about it? I have a very busy life as a film music supervisor and I am now producing my first film (The Black Dogs â€“ a British film about a fictitious supergroup â€“ is currently in pre-production, starring . . . Sorry I canâ€™t tell you!).

â€œStill, I have always kept a toe in the music business water and it was my first love. I had compiled and remastered all the Mankind tracks and thought of doing a modern remix of the single. When I bumped into my old colleague and friend Andy Richmond, who owns his own label, Mondo Recordings, I mentioned my ideas for a Mankind album. Andy called me shortly after and said ‘OK, let’s do it.’

â€œThe past few months of preparation have been like 1978 all over again, and it is great fun! When Andy suggested Dos Amigoz to do the remix I was thrilled. What I know about today’s dance music is not very much, but I know the duo’s reputation and like their work.

â€œI awaited the backing track of the new remix with some trepidation. ‘What if I didn’t like it?’ Well, it arrived and I didn’t like it â€“ I absolutely loved it! These were the sounds I could only dream about in 1978.â€

So, how did it all start? And who exactly were Mankind? Don takes up the story:

â€œIn 1978, I had been a recording engineer for two years and the next step on my ten-year plan was to become a record producer.

â€œBeing a science-fiction fan from an early age, I had of course seen Star Wars. Meco Monardo had had a hit the previous year with a disco version of the theme from the movie so, as disco was still very popular, I decided to go down that route. Doctor Who was my choice â€“ once I’d worked out that a slight tweaking of the bass line would make it fit into the disco rhythm.

â€œWith my friend â€“ keyboard player Mark Stevens â€“ I hired some session musicians: Dave Christopher on guitar, Dave Green on bass, and Graham Jarvis on drums, as my usual session drummer, Graham Hollingworth, wasn’t available. Graham J was known as ‘The Drum Machine’ which in the pre-click-track days was handy. I booked the cheapest 24-track studio I could find, above a bingo hall in Clapham, London.

â€œI did the spoken vocals. At that time, BBC Radio One had an absolute anti-instrumental policy: if it didnâ€™t have a voice on it, they wouldnâ€™t play it. That was the only reason I put the words on.

By the time I had been rejected by all the major labels, I decided to release the single myself to catch the all-important Christmas sales period,

â€œI needed a wholesaler to sell into the shops. Ray Self, at the One Stop record store, Euston Tower, London, liked Dr Who? He ordered 250. â€˜Mind you,’ said Ray, ‘If it was on 12-inch I’d order 500.’ So I said ‘OK they’ll be 12-inch.’ And then he said: ‘Of course, if they were 12-inch and on coloured vinyl I’d order a thousand.’

â€œHence I agreed to deliver his first order on 12-inch and in colour. I had these pressed in dazzling, eye-catching translucent blue. A marketing man advised me that a product label is designed to get the customer to pick it up. If they pick it up they are more than 60% likely to buy it. So I had the cover designed without any writing on the front at all. The record shop owners would literally have to pick it up to see what it was!

â€œSo, on 13th October, I collected the new pressings, delivered half to the wholesalers for retail distribution, and hand-delivered the remainder myself to clubs and smaller shops around London.

â€œOn the way home that night I spotted the neon lights of a disco. I talked my way in and approached the DJ booth. A record was playing â€“ at full volume, of course. I took my copy of Dr Who? out and mimed ‘Can you give it a spin?â€™ He gave me the thumbs-up then, to my amazement, he reached down and pulled out his own copy of the record. It had been in the shops for a matter of hours! Something told me that I might just have a hit on my hands!

â€œBefore I had even recorded it, I had got in touch with Graham Williams, who was then the producer of Doctor Who, at BBC TV and we got together for a drink. I told him what I was going to do and he said: â€˜So you want our permission?â€™ I said: â€˜No, I donâ€™t need your permission. But if I get a hit, if I get in the Top 40 and I get on to Top of the Pops, I want swirling Daleks and the TARDIS and all those effects. If we have to ask for them with one day’s notice it will never happen. So, I want to clear it in advance.â€™ And he said: â€˜Youâ€™re very confident, arenâ€™t you?â€™ and I said: â€˜Oh no, but if you donâ€™t plan to succeed, you fail. Basically thereâ€™s no harm done, is there? If I fail, you wonâ€™t get a phone call, if I succeed, you will.â€™ When the time came, the phone call happened and we got our effects.â€

â€œDr Who? entered the lower end of the charts, and I got a phone call from a new distributor â€“ Pinnacle. With their promotion, a new pressing of the 7â€, multi-coloured versions of the 12â€ (now with a titled sleeve) and the securing of radio play, the long-planned-for appearance on Top of the Pops soon followed. For some reason, we couldn’t get Dave Christopher so I got an old band member of mine Paul Martinelli in on guitar and to mime to the vocal and, in a welcome irony, Graham Hollingworth on drums. The single climbed to number 25, selling over 240,000 singles. If a single sold that many copies between October and January in the present day, it would probably be number one for the entire Christmas/New Year period!

â€œIn 1979 I got a call from my brother who had read an article about the first Doctor Who convention being planned in LA. This was in the old days BG (before Google) and finding a phone number for convention producer Lucy Chase Williams in Los Angeles was not easy, but eventually I got her on the phone.

â€œI told her that I had made a record of the Doctor Who theme, and would she be interested in having some copies for the convention? Lucy said: ‘Sorry, but we would only be interested in the Mankind disco version.’ I told her that I was the producer of the record, she did an ‘OMG’ (Oh My God in those days) and immediately invited me to attend the convention and to give a talk to the fans.

â€œWe had 1,000 Dr Who? singles pressed up especially for the convention, and off I went. Somehow I found out that the BBC TV technicians were going on strike and I asked Lucy and her co-producer,Amy Krell, if it was worth me calling Graham Williams to see if Tom Baker could fly over. I did so and the upshot was Tom arrived, gave a speech and a question-and-answer session and signed autographs. The convention was on the top floor of the Sunset Hyatt Hotel, and the queue for autographs snaked around the convention floor and down the stairways to the street outside. There was such a demand that they had to continue the following day on Venice Beach.

â€œWe made four more recordings as Mankind, but none had the same success as Dr Who?â€

Those recordings were Chain Reaction and Funky Revolution, both made in 1979, plus Dark Star Angel and UFO, which were recorded in 1980. The musicians who recorded on them were Mark Stevens (keyboards, arranger, backing vocals), Paul Martinelli (guitar, lead vocal, backing vocals), Dave Green (bass guitar), and Graham Hollingworth (drums).

Tragically, Mark Stevens, Paul Martinelli and Dave Green, have all since died.

Don Gallacher is now a freelance music supervisor, working in the film, TV, and theatre business, and a film producer. Graham Hollingworth is still a session drummer and teaches drums too.

Vinyl track listing:

Side One

1.Dr Who? (Time Waits For No Man)

by Mankind vs Dos Amigoz feat. Diane Charlemagne

(Grainer-Charlemagne-Morrish-Thompson-Champion)

2.Dr Who? (Radio)

(Ron Grainer)

3.Time Traveller (Radio)

(Mark Stevens)

4.Chain Reaction (Radio)

(Don Gallacher)

5.Funky Revolution (Radio)

(Mark Stevens)

6.Dark Star Angel (Radio)

(Gallacher-Stevens-O’Neil)

7.UFO (Radio)

(Graham Hollingworth)

Side Two

1Dr Who? (Club)

(Ron Grainer)

2.Chain Reaction (Club)

(Don Gallacher)

3.Dark Star Angel (Club)

(Gallacher-Stevens-O’Neil)

4.Dr Who? (Cosmic Remix) â€“ a special remix for the BBC, made in 1984

(Ron Grainer) -->-- Laun  chba  ller  18:10, 16 September 2014 (UTC)