Latest news with #BabylonZoo
The Guardian
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Billy Bragg makes me cry': Will Best's honest playlist
The first song I fell in love with My uncle was a massive Pink Floyd fan. I remember sitting in the boot of his car when I was eight, and him playing The Great Gig in the Sky super loud. I'd never heard anything like it and it completely blew my mind. The first single I bought My sister and I shared our pocket money and bought Spaceman by Babylon Zoo on CD from Woolworths in York. When we got home, we were so excited that we danced on the kitchen table. The song I inexplicably know every lyric to Every year at school, we'd have a concert where pupils would form bands, so I had this idea to form a band and ironically do Crossroads by Blazin' Squad. I learned all the words but couldn't entice anyone else to join me. So I chickened out as it definitely doesn't work as a solo. The song I do at karaoke I've not done a huge amount of karaoke. I'm very dull. When I did hip-hop karaoke on stage in front of 200 people, I did P's and Q's by Kano and it went as exactly as badly as you'd imagine. The best song to play at a party It depends on the crowd. The catch-all that works in every party environment would be Sorry (the David Howard Mix) by Monsta Boy. It's a classic garage tune with a fun drop, a fun bassline and a vocal people can sing along to. The song I can no longer listen to I've got a playlist called Rotators, which are songs I listened to over and over again obsessively when I discovered them, then never listened to again. Wasteland by Tierra Whack is one of those. The song that changed my life Turn the Page, the first song from Original Pirate Material by the Streets. Normally when I'm interviewing someone, I keep it pretty professional. After interviewing Mike Skinner, I ran after him and said: 'I just want to say thank you so much for Original Pirate Material. It changed my life.' As I was saying it, I thought: 'I think I'm crying.' The best song to have sex to Anything off House of Balloons, the first mixtape by the Weeknd. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The song that makes me cry A lot of songs make me cry. Helplessly Hoping by Crosby, Stills & Nash. I think it's the harmonies. Tank Park Salute by Billy Bragg is about his dad dying, and really sad. The song I want played at my funeral The temptation would be something wildly inappropriate. This morning I was listening to Hamdi – Skanka (P Money Vocal Dub) by this producer called Bassrush, which is an absolute face-melting, bassline monster. So I think that, just to watch people get confused, and make my mum cry even more. Will Best presents the Hits Radio breakfast show weekdays at 6am.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Where is Babylon Zoo now? How Spaceman singer, 55, swapped futuristic chart-toppers for the business world with his own film production company
Babylon Zoo dominated the charts with futuristic music and androgynous style back in the 90s - with chart-storming hit Spaceman staying at number one for five weeks. Far from famous for just his music, the band's frontman Jasbinder Singh Mann's looks also won the hearts of fans, with his long hair and silver space age skirts inspiring kooky followers around the world. The band were well know for being huge chart-toppers whose biggest hit held onto the Number One spot in the UK charts in 1996 for five solid weeks. The song was the fastest selling single the UK for over thirty years. Despite decades-old success, Jasbinder, also known as Jas Mann, has now swapped his edgy look for a smart businessman look and thick-rimmed spectacles. The 55-year-old songwriter, musician, singer, record and film producer has changed his life having turned his back on the music industry which made him a household name and now co-founded film production and distribution company Virgin India. The star had a steady rise to the top for the Dudley born musician, now aged 51, whose father is Punjabi Indian and his mother of Sioux descent. His most famous single Spaceman, from his album The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes, was featured on a Levi's advert in 1996, helping it to reach the top of the charts. Jas said at the time: 'I write about what it would feel like to be a person from another planet, rather than romanticizing science fiction.' His references to space and aliens came from feeling out of place, with him saying: 'I sometimes feel like a fly in a bowl of milk.' However, his second album King Kong Groover, released three years later, was not so well received. He said of one of the tracks, All The Money's Gone: 'It's an absolute p***-take. You would have to be a buffoon to throw away the money I earned.' Jas was determined to make it big one way or the other and also achieved success with Indie band The Sandkings. Then he swapped music for film in 2008 to become co-chairman and CEO of the multi-million dollar Indomina Group, an independent film studio. He also produced two instalments of the Cabin Fever franchise.
