Wayne Fontana
Main Mindbender BORN 1945
Part of the first wave of ’60s beat bands from Manchester, Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders found huge success on both sides of the Atlantic with their jaunty spring 1965 single The Game Of Love. By the end of that year, Fontana – born Glyn Ellis in Levenshulme – had quit to go solo, and The Mindbenders were preparing to record their second UK Number 2, a cover of A Groovy Kind Of Love. But the best solo Fontana ever achieved came in early 1967, a Number 11 UK hit with
Pamela, Pamela, written by Graham Gouldman, who later in the decade teamed with Mindbenders guitarist Eric Stewart, first in Hotlegs, then in 10cc, while Fontana’s fortunes dissipated. He relaunched his career in 1973 without conspicuous commercial success. Drink disrupted further attempts and in the 2000s led to brushes with the law, but later in life he was back on-stage, a genial presence in ’60s revival tours. He died from cancer on August 6.
Geoff Brown