Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders - The Game Of Love

Happy 66th to the one and only Wayne Fontana, known to his mother as Glyn Geoffrey Ellis. The Mancunian pop star had his biggest hit with "The Game Of Love" in 1965 fronting what was essentially his backing band, The Mindbenders. It's a fantastic song, reminiscent of The Kinks or The Animals. His subsequent solo career didn't fare that well, and in a few years time Fontana was largely forgotten by the greater public, apart from this single that remains a classic and from time to time pops up on 60's compilations. However, the story of Wayne Fontana has a dramatic coda. When in 2005 he fought off bankruptcy he poured petrol on a car and ignited it with a bailiff inside. He appeared in the court dressed as a lady of justice, with a sword, scales, crown, cape and dark glasses, claiming "justice is blind". He was sentenced to 11 months for setting fire to the car but was released because he had already served the equivalent of the term held under the Mental Health Act of 1983. Way to go, Wayne! And again, happy birthday!

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