Editing Babylon Zoo (section)

==History==
Frontman [[Jas Mann]] had formerly been in [[indie music]] band [[The Sandkings (band)|The Sandkings]]. In 1993, a three-track demo earned him a contract from Phonogram Records for his next project, Babylon Zoo,<ref name="AM">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/babylon-zoo-mn0000076211|title=Babylon Zoo Biography|website=[[Allmusic]]|last=Sutton|first=Michael|access-date=7 June 2013}}</ref> but ended up being signed to Warner's WEA record label, where the band recorded the album ''[[The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes]]''. However, around this time [[Clive Black]], managing director of Warner, was poached by rival record company [[EMI]] and so took Babylon Zoo over to EMI.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.babylonzoo.net/biography/|title=Babylon Zoo Online :: Biography|website=Babylonzoo.net|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.confusedart.com/about/|title=About Babylon Zoo & Jas Mann|website=Confusedart.com|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref>
 
The band's first single was "[[Spaceman (Babylon Zoo song)|Spaceman]]", which had been recorded and pressed by Warner as a CD single, before being scrapped when Black left the company. However, a promo version was played on a Manchester radio station. An advertising-agency creative heard it and decided it would be perfect for a [[Levi's]] jeans [[Television|TV]] [[advertisement|advert]] they were developing. Levi's used part of "Spaceman" for their UK TV ad and the hook of the song became popular. Even though the rest of the song turned into a slower grunge-glam style, it still became the fastest-selling debut single in British history.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Borzillo |first=Carrie |title=Popular Uprisings |magazine=Billboard |date=16 March 1996 |volume=108 |issue=11 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26 |access-date=20 May 2020}}</ref> The single sold 383,000 copies in the first week of release,<ref>{{cite web |title=Clean Bandit score huge-selling Number 1 single with Rather Be |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/clean-bandit-score-huge-selling-number-1-single-with-rather-be__3710/ |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=11 May 2020 |date=26 January 2014}}</ref> spending 5 weeks at number 1.<ref name="OCC"/>

Critic [[Steven Wells]] wrote the "Spaceman" single (resembling the Levi's advert version for only "about ten seconds") angered many consumers. He reported Mann drew further ire through self-aggrandising interviews, and noted his ridicule in the media, including by ''[[NME]]'' and in a 1997 episode of comedy TV series ''[[Brass Eye]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nme.com:80/reviews/reviews/19990019165041reviews.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000831232909/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19990019165041reviews.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 August 2000|title=This week's singles|last=Wells|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Wells|date=23 January 1999|website=[[NME]]|access-date=25 June 2017}}</ref>

[[Tim Moore (writer)|Tim Moore]] wrote "only failure and embarrassment" followed for Babylon Zoo.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Moore (writer)|date=2012|title=You are Awful (but I Like You): Travels Through Unloved Britain|publisher=[[Vintage Books|Vintage]]|pages=157–158|isbn=978-0-224-09011-7}}</ref> An album entitled ''[[The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes]]'' was produced at Mann's New Atlantis Productions music and video centre. It peaked at number 6 on the [[UK Albums Chart]] on 17 February,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> but quickly dropped out of the Top 40, lasting only a further two weeks on the chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19960303/7502/|title=1996 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive 9th March 1996|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=11 June 2013}}</ref> Subsequent singles charted progressively lower, failing to match the success of "Spaceman".<ref name="OCC">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/32407/babylon-zoo/|title=Official Charts: Babylon Zoo - Singles|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref> The band's reputation was further damaged by a series of scathing live reviews.<ref name="Mercury">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Spaceman+band+falls+back+to+earth.-a060199381|title=Spaceman band falls back to earth|publisher=[[The Free Library]]|website=[[Sunday Mercury]]|date=9 May 1999|access-date=29 May 2013}}</ref>

In 1999, a follow-up album was released, ''[[King Kong Groover]]''. The album received negative reviews and sold fewer than 10,000 units,<ref name="Mercury"/> failing to chart in the UK. The first single from the album was "[[All The Money's Gone]]", released in the UK and Europe and peaking at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, a cover of [[Mott the Hoople]]'s "[[Honaloochie Boogie]]", was only released as a promotional single in France.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Babylon-Zoo-Honaloochie-Boogie/release/3848021|title=Babylon Zoo - Honaloochie Boogie|website=Discogs.com|date=1998 |access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref> The group disbanded shortly after and Mann moved to India where he spent time working for an aid agency.<ref name="Comedy Central">{{Cite web|url=http://blog.comedycentral.co.uk/2010/08/11/watn-babylon-zoo-spaceman/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430045056/http://blog.comedycentral.co.uk/2010/08/11/watn-babylon-zoo-spaceman|url-status=dead|title=Where Are They Now?|archive-date=30 April 2012}}</ref>

In 2005, Jas Mann announced he would be issuing a new Babylon Zoo album, called ''Cold Clockwork Doll'', but no official release date was ever announced and no further updates followed.<ref name="Comedy Central"/><ref name="AS">{{cite web|url=http://hangout.altsounds.com/features/128758-happened-babylon-zoo.html |title=Whatever happened to... Babylon Zoo |publisher=altsound.com |last=Edden |first=John |date=21 April 2011 |access-date=29 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429201412/http://hangout.altsounds.com/features/128758-happened-babylon-zoo.html |archive-date=29 April 2014  }}</ref>