Blinded by the Light

"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, although it is mostly known by its 1977 #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Mann's remake was released in the United Kingdom in August 1976, where it reached No. 6 in the BMRB charts.

History

The song came about when Columbia president Clive Davis, upon listening to an early version of Greetings from Asbury Park N.J., felt the album lacked a potential single. Springsteen wrote this and "Spirit in the Night" in response.

According to Springsteen, the song came about from going through a rhyming dictionary in search of appropriate words. The first line of the song, "Madman drummers, bummers, and Indians in the summers with a teenage diplomat" is autobiographical—"Madman drummers" is a reference to drummer Vini Lopez, known as "Mad Man" (later changed to "Mad Dog"); "Indians in the summer" refers to the name of Springsteen's old Little League team; "teenage diplomat" refers to himself. The remainder of the song tells of many unrelated events, with the refrain of "Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night".

Manfred Mann

Manfred Mann were an English beat, rhythm and blues and pop band (with a strong jazz foundation) of the 1960s, named after their keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Manfred Mann were chart regulars in the 1960s, and the first south-of-England-based group to top the US Billboard Hot 100 during the British invasion. Three of the band's most successful singles, "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Pretty Flamingo" and "Mighty Quinn", topped the UK Singles Chart.

History

Beginnings (1962–1963)

The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers were formed in London by keyboard player Manfred Mann and drummer/vibes/piano player Mike Hugg, who formed a house band in Clacton-on-Sea that also featured Graham Bond. Bringing a shared love of jazz to the British blues boom, then sweeping London's clubs (which also spawned Alexis Korner, the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds), the band was completed by Mike Vickers on guitar, alto saxophone and flute, bassist Dave Richmond and Paul Jones as lead vocalist and harmonicist. By this time they had changed their name to Manfred Mann & the Manfreds. Gigging throughout late 1962 and early 1963 the band soon attracted attention for their distinctive sound.

The Light

The Light may refer to:

In music

Other

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

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Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. The band's hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit In The Night". After forming in 1971 and despite a short hiatus in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Earth Band has continued to perform and tour through the present.

History

Formation

Mann started in the 1960s with the self-titled British invasion band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "The Mighty Quinn" and then moved on to jazz fusion-inspired Manfred Mann Chapter Three before forming the Earth Band in 1971. In his 2003 biography, Klaus Voormann, former member of original Manfred Mann group and Beatles-associate, is alleged to have inspired the Earth Band's name by having suggested several times throughout the 1960s that Mann's soft pop style of those days had to become "earthier" and rockier, not least of all because of the seemingly effeminate image of Mann's earlier band which had led to a number of close encounters with violence, particularly in Ireland. According to the officially approved version however, the name was chosen on suggestion of drummer Chris Slade in September 1971 and is related to the ecological movement ongoing at the time.

Blinded

Blinded may refer to:

See also