Geoff Mann was a fairly well-known prog rock artist in the UK, but unfortunately his renown didn’t quite make it across the Atlantic. Having been the vocalist in an early incarnation of famed UK prog rock band Twelfth Night, he effectively left the band when they moved to London and he decided to remain in Manchester.
Sometime in the early 80s, Geoff became a Christian through a “deep and lasting Christian conversion” (for more info, check out this article). At this point Geoff begins making very creative, even experimental prog rock. His first album dabbled in early electronica, and subsequent ones invoked various forms of progressive music, even touching on ‘new age’ sounds.
Mann’s creative outlets include his solo work, as well as bands The Bond, Casino, his duet recordings with Marc Catley, and a variety of bands alternately named after himself: A Geoff Mann Band and the phonetically similar Eh! Geoff Mann Band. He became a vicar (Anglican term for a pastor) in 1992 and sadly died a year later at the young age of 37.
His musical output though is immense, and his contribution to the faith and art dialogue is considerable. Our Song of the Day is from his debut–and arguably his most experimental–solo album Chants Would Be a Fine Thing.
Geoff Mann was a visionary artist-always pushing boundaries. Thankfully much of his music has been made available again recently through Twelfth Night’s bandcamp page. The Bond’s first album (Won By One – he loved punning titles!) is probably the most accessible of his recordings. Check out Love Song and The Ceiling Speaks from his time with TN too, and then dive in and enjoy it all!
Nice to see this here – despite many unfortunate inaccuracies in the text. Twelfth Night were an instrumental act before Geoff joined, not after. Geoff was replaced by another singer, Andy Sears.
It’s Marc Catley, not Mark Catley.
Geoff was 36 when he died, not 37. The thirtieth anniversary of Geoff’s death will take place on 5 February 2013.
Andrew Wild
Twelfth Night’s biographer
Thanks for your improvements to the article. Unfortunately I found some inaccurate information via a Geoff Mann biography online. I won’t name the source, as I don’t want to malign them. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for your input.
Oh, and the Marc/Mark error was probably an autocorrection that I didn’t catch!