Mike Hugg
Encyclopedia
Mike Hugg is a professional musician (drums, vocals, keyboards and songwriter) and a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann
.
and Thelonious Monk
. He met Manfred Mann
while serving as a musician at Butlin's Clacton
and also worked with jazz/RnB musician Graham Bond
. Evolving from the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers, the group recruited Paul Jones (singer)
and later Tom McGuinness.
Hugg is a competent pianist and an able vibraphone
player but his basic role in Manfred Mann was that of drummer. However, he recorded several vibraphone solos with the band (e.g. "I'm your Kingpin") and used the instrument to augment hits such as "Oh No Not My Baby
". He was credited as co-writer of the group's early hits and contributed solo compositions throughout its life, including jazzy instrumentals ("Bare Hugg") and wistful acid-pop ("Funniest Gig", "Harry the One Man Band"). His abilities as a songwriter grew throughout the group's career, though Hugg became progressively unhappy with the band's commercial output, describing the group's current single "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown", in an interview with Melody Maker
, as one of the five worst records he had ever heard.
He and his brother composed "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I" which was recorded by The Yardbirds in 1965. Hugg composed the majority of the songs for the 1968 Paramount
film Up The Junction
, and sang the song "Sing Songs Of Love" for the film.
When he and Manfred Mann
formed the more progressive Manfred Mann Chapter Three
, taking inspiration from Doctor John and free jazz
and touring with a five-piece brass section, Hugg moved to electric piano and lead vocals, the latter, by his own account, purely for want of someone better. Ironically, the project did best from a commercial standpoint by selling one of its best themes as soundtrack to a TV advertisement for cigars.
By this time Hugg was already branching out into composition. After composing for the soundtrack to the 1968 film Up The Junction
, he contributed incidental music to a BBC Wednesday Play and, around 1972, he co-wrote the theme music
to the BBC TV comedy series, Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. Hugg released three solo albums in the 1970s.
Today, apart from his role as keyboard player with The Manfreds
, a reformed version of the sixties band (without Manfred Mann) who tour the UK and Europe regularly, Hugg is part of the jazz
trio
, PBD, who are gaining a reputation for their live performances.
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
.
Biography
Though not from a musical family, his parents condoned his jazz drumming so long as he kept up his piano lessons, and Hugg set his sights on a life in music, under the spell of Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
. He met Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann (musician)
Manfred Mann is a keyboard player best known as a founding member and namesake of Manfred Mann and Manfred Mann's Earth Band.-Career:...
while serving as a musician at Butlin's Clacton
Butlin's Clacton
Butlin's Clacton was a holiday camp located on Clacton-on-Sea in England. It opened in 1938 and closed in 1983.-History:Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring Peninsula in Essex and was founded in 1871...
and also worked with jazz/RnB musician Graham Bond
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
. Evolving from the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers, the group recruited Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
and later Tom McGuinness.
Hugg is a competent pianist and an able vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
player but his basic role in Manfred Mann was that of drummer. However, he recorded several vibraphone solos with the band (e.g. "I'm your Kingpin") and used the instrument to augment hits such as "Oh No Not My Baby
Oh No Not My Baby
"Oh No Not My Baby" is the name of a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The song's lyrics describe how friends and family repeatedly warn the singer about a partner's infidelities, but the singer refuses to believe them...
". He was credited as co-writer of the group's early hits and contributed solo compositions throughout its life, including jazzy instrumentals ("Bare Hugg") and wistful acid-pop ("Funniest Gig", "Harry the One Man Band"). His abilities as a songwriter grew throughout the group's career, though Hugg became progressively unhappy with the band's commercial output, describing the group's current single "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown", in an interview with Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, as one of the five worst records he had ever heard.
He and his brother composed "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I" which was recorded by The Yardbirds in 1965. Hugg composed the majority of the songs for the 1968 Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
film Up The Junction
Up the Junction (1968 film)
Up the Junction is a 1968 British film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Dennis Waterman, Suzy Kendall, Adrienne Posta, Maureen Lipman and Liz Fraser. It is based on the book of the same name by Nell Dunn and was adapted by Roger Smith...
, and sang the song "Sing Songs Of Love" for the film.
When he and Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
formed the more progressive Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Manfred Mann Chapter Three was a British experimental jazz rock band founded by South African keyboard player Manfred Mann and long-time partner Mike Hugg...
, taking inspiration from Doctor John and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
and touring with a five-piece brass section, Hugg moved to electric piano and lead vocals, the latter, by his own account, purely for want of someone better. Ironically, the project did best from a commercial standpoint by selling one of its best themes as soundtrack to a TV advertisement for cigars.
By this time Hugg was already branching out into composition. After composing for the soundtrack to the 1968 film Up The Junction
Up the Junction (1968 film)
Up the Junction is a 1968 British film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Dennis Waterman, Suzy Kendall, Adrienne Posta, Maureen Lipman and Liz Fraser. It is based on the book of the same name by Nell Dunn and was adapted by Roger Smith...
, he contributed incidental music to a BBC Wednesday Play and, around 1972, he co-wrote the theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to the BBC TV comedy series, Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. Hugg released three solo albums in the 1970s.
Today, apart from his role as keyboard player with The Manfreds
The Manfreds
The Manfreds are a British pop group, formed in 1991 as a reunion of former members of the 1960s pop group Manfred Mann, however without their eponymous founder Manfred Mann himself.-Personnel:*Paul Jones - vocals, harmonica...
, a reformed version of the sixties band (without Manfred Mann) who tour the UK and Europe regularly, Hugg is part of the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
, PBD, who are gaining a reputation for their live performances.