Wayne Fontana

Wayne Fontana (born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis, 28 October 1945 – 6 August 2020) was an English rock and pop singer, best known for the 1965 hit "Game of Love" with the Mindbenders. 
Fontana was born in Levenshulme, Manchester, Lancashire, and took his stage name from Elvis Presley's drummer, D. J. Fontana. In June 1963 he formed his backing group, The Mindbenders, and secured a recording contract with, coincidentally, Fontana Records. With the band, Wayne Fontana released his biggest single "The Game of Love" and after several less successful singles he left the band in October 1965.
Fontana remained under contract to the label after parting with The Mindbenders and soldiered on alone, using musicians working under the name of the Opposition, notably Frank Renshaw (lead guitar) (born 22 June 1943, Wythenshawe, Manchester), Bernie Burns (drums), Stuart Sirret (bass), and Phil Keen (drums), among others. Sometimes the band was billed as The Mindbenders, sometimes just as the Wayne Fontana Band. Struggling to achieve chart success, Fontana recorded a number of songs by outside writers with B-sides being mostly his own compositions. 
Fontana's biggest solo single, "Pamela, Pamela", written by Graham Gouldman, reached #5 in Australia’s Kent Music Report and #11 on the UK Singles Chart in early 1967. It was his last single to chart in the UK. The later singles included another Gouldman composition, "The Impossible Years". After a streak of flopped releases, Fontana took a break in 1970.
In 1973, trying to re-launch his career, Wayne Fontana recorded yet another Gouldman song, "Together". It was backed with an original song, "One-Man Woman", that was co-produced with Eric Stewart, an ex-bandmate from The Mindbenders. The single failed to chart.
== Links to Peel ==
Peel seemed to have played tracks from Wayne Fontana, when working for KMEN radio between 1966 and 1967. Several tracks from Wayne Fontana also appeared in the KMEN British Pop Top Ten charts..
In 1973, when Wayne Fontana tried to re-launch his career, he ended up doing a session of his old material for Peel's show, which was broadcast on a 60's theme session night on the show, alongside other sessions by Gerry & The Pacemakers and Billy J Kramer.
Although Wayne Fontana did a session for Peel's programme, as well as a swinging sixties “Heroes & Villains” concert to mark the 15th anniversary of Radio One, introduced by Peel and Tony Blackburn, it seems JP wasn't really much into his music and rarely played it on his shows. Fontana never had a "hip" or "underground" image; because of this, Ken Garner, in The Peel Sessions, includes the singer in his list of "Ten Acts Who You Never Would Have Believed Did A Peel Session, But Did, Honest" (p.272). 
Once they had split from Wayne Fontana, his backing group the Mindbenders had a number of US and UK hits in their own right, with some band members being successful in their later careers. Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart went on to form 10CC, while Bob Lang was a member of Racing Cars.
== Sessions ==
1. Recorded: 1973-04-02. First Broadcast: 24 April 1973
*The Game Of Love / Um Um Um Um Um Um / Pamela Pamela
== Other Shows Played ==
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;1982
*30 September 1982 ("Heroes & Villains" concert): The Game Of Love
;KMEN British Pop Top Ten
*24 Jun 1966: Come On Home (9)
*11 Feb 1967: Pamela, Pamela (8)
*18 Feb 1967: Pamela, Pamela (8)
== See Also ==
*Gigography 1982 
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
* Discogs
Category:Artists