Biography
Mark Manning discovered his drive to inhabit the rock-star existence only after establishing a career as a graphic designer and editor for the U.K. magazine Flexipop. Adopting the persona Zodiac Mindwarp, he launched the band Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction during the mid-1980s and began recruiting players who went by such names as Cobalt Stargazer, Slam Thunderhide, Evil Bastard, Flash Bastard, and Trash D Garbage.
Between 1986 and 1987 the group put out the singles and EPs “Wild Child,” “High Priest of Love,” “Prime Mover,” and “Back Seat Education,” then delivered its debut album, Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction, in early 1988. The record climbed into the U.K. Top 20 and generated modest Stateside interest when the band opened shows for Guns N’ Roses, then on the verge of breaking through with Appetite for Destruction. Shock-rock veteran Alice Cooper publicly praised the album and invited Mindwarp to co-write “Feed My Frankenstein” for his 1991 release Hey Stoopid.
Although a bright trajectory appeared likely, the act slipped from view, issuing only the occasional low-profile recording during the following decade: Hoodlum Thunder in 1991, Live at Reading in 1993, and One More Knife in 1994. Mindwarp also contributed the song “There’s a Barbarian in the Back of My Car” to Voice of the Beehive’s 1988 album Let It Bee and supplied vocals for “Fire Engine Red” on the Grid’s 1992 effort 4,5,6. In addition, he authored books both independently and in tandem with Bill Drummond.
After an extended hiatus, Zodiac Mindwarp resurfaced in the early 2000s with the studio albums I Am Rock (2002) and Rock Savage (2005), along with the 2004 live set Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Between 1986 and 1987 the group put out the singles and EPs “Wild Child,” “High Priest of Love,” “Prime Mover,” and “Back Seat Education,” then delivered its debut album, Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction, in early 1988. The record climbed into the U.K. Top 20 and generated modest Stateside interest when the band opened shows for Guns N’ Roses, then on the verge of breaking through with Appetite for Destruction. Shock-rock veteran Alice Cooper publicly praised the album and invited Mindwarp to co-write “Feed My Frankenstein” for his 1991 release Hey Stoopid.
Although a bright trajectory appeared likely, the act slipped from view, issuing only the occasional low-profile recording during the following decade: Hoodlum Thunder in 1991, Live at Reading in 1993, and One More Knife in 1994. Mindwarp also contributed the song “There’s a Barbarian in the Back of My Car” to Voice of the Beehive’s 1988 album Let It Bee and supplied vocals for “Fire Engine Red” on the Grid’s 1992 effort 4,5,6. In addition, he authored books both independently and in tandem with Bill Drummond.
After an extended hiatus, Zodiac Mindwarp resurfaced in the early 2000s with the studio albums I Am Rock (2002) and Rock Savage (2005), along with the 2004 live set Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Albums
Singles
