They responded with the energetic " " which, with the help of weekly TV exposure, rose to No.5 in the UK charts. It was shortly after "5-4-3-2-1" was recorded that Richmond left the band , being replaced by Tom McGuinness - the first of many line-up changes.
After a further self-penned hit (" ") the band struck gold with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", a cover of a minor hit earlier that year by the Exciters. The track, which showcased Jones' powerful singing, reached the top of both the UK and US charts (The Exciters version had only charted #78 in the US). During 1965 the group continued to have hits with both self-penned and cover material, their sound increasingly moving away from the blues-based music of their early years to a highly successful pop-soul hybrid.
Notably the group began to have success with interpretations of Bob Dylan songs, including "With God On Our Side" as a track on a best-selling EP. The One In the Middle They also reached No.2 in the UK with the controversial " ", which was banned or edited by a number of TV and radio stations.
Prior to this latter release, Paul Jones announced his intention to quit the band for a solo career once a replacement could be found. Mike Vickers was replaced by Jack Bruce of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (long enough to play bass on the band's second UK No.1 single "Pretty Flamingo").
Jones was eventually replaced by Mike d'Abo - among those on the shortlist was Rod Stewart - and this was one of the few occasions when a band has successfully swapped lead singers and remained at the top. Jack Bruce left to form Cream and was replaced by Klaus Voorman (a longtime Beatles associate), with McGuinness moving to guitar. To complete the changes, the group switched labels to Fontana Records.
With d'Abo as vocalist, the group pursued a softer acoustic pop sound, with a tinge of Dylanesque social comment and surrealism in the lyrics. Their first Fontana Records single was in fact a Dylan cover, "Just Like A Woman", and the group went on to score their biggest hit for two years with a cover of his "Mighty Quinn". Frustrated with the limitations and image of being seen purely as a hit singles band (their last two albums failed to chart), the group split in 1969.
jingles after the group's demise, but still continued to work in the group format. Initially he formed (with Mike Hugg), an experimental jazz rock band, described by Mann as an over reaction to the hit factory of the Manfred Mann group.
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