The Mindbenders

The Mindbenders
Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders in 1965
Background information
Origin	Manchester, England
Genres	Beat, pop
Years active	1963–1968
Labels	Fontana Records
Associated acts	Wayne Fontana, 10cc
Past members	See "Personnel"

The Mindbenders (originally the backing group for Wayne Fontana) were a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. The band were one of the UK acts that were successful in the mid-1960s British Invasion of the US charts, with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" (with Wayne Fontana) in 1965 and "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1966.

Wayne Fontana founded the band in 1963 with Bob Lang, Ric Rothwell, and Eric Stewart. The group was later joined by Grahame Foote. The name of the group was inspired by the title of a 1963 UK feature film, starring the British actor Sir Dirk Bogarde, called The Mind Benders. Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders released a number of singles before recording "Um Um Um Um Um Um" in 1964, which was to be their first major hit in Britain and led to a tour with Brenda Lee. They also had a No.1 hit in the United States with "Game of Love" in 1965 (which also reached No.2 on the UK singles chart).

After a tour of America and some more singles that were less successful than "Game of Love", Fontana left the band in the middle of a concert in 1965. Stewart became the lead singer of the band, which henceforward was known simply as the Mindbenders.

The Mindbenders' first single without Fontana was the hit "A Groovy Kind of Love" (a Carole Bayer Sager / Toni Wine composition). The song reached No. 2 in the US (No. 1 on the Cashbox singles chart) and No. 2 in the UK in 1966. It sold one million copies globally. The Mindbenders' 1966 album of the same name, however, was a failure.