The Mindbenders

The Mindbenders (originally the backing group for Wayne Fontana) were a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. The band were one of the UK acts that were successful in the mid-1960s British Invasion of the US charts, with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" (with Wayne Fontana) in 1965 and "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1966.

Career

Wayne Fontana founded the band in 1963 with Bob Lang, Ric Rothwell, and Eric Stewart. The group was later joined by Grahame Foote. The name of the group was inspired by the title of a 1963 UK feature film, starring the British actor Sir Dirk Bogarde, called The Mind Benders. Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders released a number of singles before recording "Um Um Um Um Um Um" in 1964, which was to be their first major hit in Britain and led to a tour with Brenda Lee. They also had a No.1 hit in the United States with "Game of Love" in 1965 (which also reached No.2 on the UK singles chart).

After a tour of America and some more singles that were less successful than "Game of Love", Fontana left the band in the middle of a concert in 1965. Stewart became the lead singer of the band, which henceforward was known simply as the Mindbenders.

The Mind Benders (film)

The Mind Benders is a 1963 British thriller film produced by Michael Relph, directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant and Wendy Craig.

Synopsis

Professor Sharpey commits suicide after subjecting himself to sensory deprivation experiments in a secret research laboratory. His former colleague Doctor Longman volunteers to undergo the same tests to try and establish what drove Sharpey to kill himself. He hopes to clear Sharpley's name with the police, who favour the theory that Sharpley was a double agent, perhaps allied with Communists, and that his death was the final result of his shame over betraying Great Britain. Longman begins subjecting himself to sessions in a sensory deprivation tank in order to prove that use of the technique can make one unusually suceptable to brainwashing or hypnotic suggestion.

Cast