#885: 5-4-3-2-1 by Manfred Mann
Peak Month: November 1964
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
CFUN Twin Pick October 24, 1964
YouTube.com: “5-4-3-2-1”
Lyrics: “5-4-3-2-1”
Manfred Sepse Lubowitz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1940. Raised in a Jewish family, Manfred studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand, and formed a rock ‘n roll band called The Vikings in 1959. Lubowitz was against the South African system of Apartheid, first introduced in 1948, and becoming entrenched and expanded under the leadership of Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. So Manfred Lubowitz moved to Britain. He began to write for Jazz News under the pseudonym, Manfred Manne. In time he shortened his adopted surname to Mann. In 1962 he met Mike Hugg at a holiday camp at Clacton-on-Sea. They decided to start a band and named it the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. Hugg was born in Hampshire, England, in 1942, and had studied jazz growing up. They got a record contract in 1963.