Fifty years ago this autumn, Manfred Mann's Earth Band were everywhere. The Roaring Silence, released on 27 August 1976, entered the UK albums chart on 18 September and climbed to No. 10, while "Blinded By The Light" was busy working its way up to No. 6 in the singles chart. In America the single was only just getting going, and it would take until February 1977 to reach No. 1. So with The Roaring Silence turning 50 this year, we've been through the crates to see what Manfred Mann's Earth Band vinyl we can actually put in your hands. Put the kettle on. You'll see why in a minute.
What is The Roaring Silence? (Asking for a friend who only knows Blinded By The Light)
The Roaring Silence is the Earth Band's seventh studio album, and the first with a new front line. Mick Rogers had left after Nightingales & Bombers, and in came two men to replace him: Chris Thompson on lead vocals and guitar, and Dave Flett on lead guitar. Manfred Mann played keyboards, with Colin Pattenden on bass and Chris Slade on drums. It was Pattenden's last album with the band. Rogers didn't go far, mind: he's credited with backing vocals on the back of the sleeve, which is about as amicable as a band split gets.
The sleeve credits say it was recorded at the Workhouse on the Old Kent Road, London, in 1976, and produced by Manfred Mann and the Earth Band. Jazz saxophonist Barbara Thompson plays the sax solo. "Waiter, There's A Yawn In My Ear" was recorded live with studio overdubs, and the famous cover, an ear with a mouth inside it, is that title made into a picture.
Our favourite credit, though, is on the back of our own copy. Among the thank-yous is Mary Hopper, "who made 3,736 cups of tea and nearly sang on the album". We salute her. That's a brew-to-song ratio of roughly 534 cups per track, and as a shop that runs on tea, we feel seen.
Like most Earth Band albums, it borrows freely. "Questions" is built on Schubert's Impromptu in G flat, "Starbird" takes its theme from Stravinsky's The Firebird, and the opener is a Bruce Springsteen song you may have heard once or twice.
Blinded By The Light: The Roaring Silence 50th anniversary and the charts
Springsteen wrote "Blinded By The Light" for his 1973 debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., and his own version didn't trouble the charts. The Earth Band stretched it to seven minutes for the album and gave it a whopping great synth hook.
- UK: released in August 1976 on Bronze, it entered the chart on 28 August and peaked at No. 6, with 10 weeks on the chart.
- US: on Warner Bros., it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 20 November 1976 and reached No. 1 on 19 February 1977. It's still Springsteen's only Hot 100 No. 1 as a songwriter.
- The album: No. 10 in the UK, with 9 weeks on the chart.
Then there's the lyric. Springsteen wrote "cut loose like a deuce", a deuce being a 1932 Ford hot rod. The Earth Band sang "revved up like a deuce", and millions of people have heard something very different ever since. We'll let you look that one up yourself. It's a family record shop.
Why is Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the news?
Because of this anniversary. Creature Music has put out a 50th anniversary edition of The Roaring Silence: the original album plus a bonus album with three brand-new studio recordings and live tracks from both the original touring era and recent concerts, including a 2025 live "Blinded By The Light". It comes as a limited heavyweight 2LP with a 40-page booklet, and as a 2CD mediabook. Fifty years on, the band are still playing it live, which is more than most of us can say for anything we did in 1976.
The original Bronze LP is still the obvious place to start, and it's the one we've got.
How to check The Roaring Silence vinyl before you buy
- Catalogue numbers. The UK original is Bronze ILPS 9357, and the back of the sleeve says so in the top corner, with "Manufactured and distributed by Island Records Limited" at the bottom. Check the spine, back and both labels agree. US copies are on Warner Bros. with their own number.
- The back cover. Our UK copy prints the lyrics and full credits on the back, with the band's faces on little medallions. Check the photos match what you're being sold.
- Long sides, quiet bits. Side one runs three tracks in about 21 minutes, including "Blinded By The Light" at seven minutes and "Singing The Dolphin Through" at over eight. Long sides and soft passages show up surface noise, so the grade matters.
- Sleeve wear. The cover is a pale flesh colour, so ring wear, grubby edges and biro show up more than on a dark sleeve.
- Grade honestly. Our vinyl grading explainer covers what VG, VG+ and EX really mean, and our guide to spotting a first pressing covers the label small print.
We won't make up values for you. Condition and completeness matter far more than any "rare" wording in a listing title, and VG is a perfectly playable grade when it's graded honestly.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the WholelottaVinyl crates
In stock as we write: all used vinyl, hand-graded and photographed as the actual copy, at our independent record shop in Mansfield.
The birthday record: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – The Roaring Silence LP (ILPS 9357, 1976), graded VG+/VG, £10. A UK Bronze pressing, A1/B1 in the run-out, with the lyric-and-credits back cover, Mary Hopper's tea credit included at no extra charge.
The one before the one before: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Solar Fire LP (ILPS 9265, 1973), graded VG+/VG, £5. The 1973 space-themed album on Bronze, UK pressing with its printed inner. Stars, flames and the sort of red you could warm your hands on.
The single they left off it: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Joybringer 7" (6059 083, 1973), graded VG+/VG, £2. Holst's "Jupiter" turned into a pop single, which reached No. 9 in the UK in 1973. On the Vertigo swirl label, which hypnotises you before it starts.
The follow-up: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Watch LP (LLP 123, Legacy reissue), graded VG/G+, £5. The next studio album after The Roaring Silence, first out in 1978, with "Davy's On The Road Again" and their live-and-overdubbed "Mighty Quinn". This copy is a later Legacy Records reissue (barcode on the back), so it's priced as a player.
The hit from it: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Davy's On The Road Again 7" (BRO 52, 1978), graded VG/VG, £2. A UK Bronze single that charted in May 1978 and peaked at No. 6, exactly like "Blinded By The Light". Consistent chaps.
The one with the note: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Angel Station LP (Bronze, 1979), graded VG+/G+, £10. A UK pressing with the lyric sheet. On the back, Manfred's handwritten note says this is Chris Thompson's last album with the band, as he's off to form his own. He was back for the next one. Never believe a farewell note.
The next one, in German: Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Chance LP (202 970-320, 1980), graded VG/VG, £5. A German Bronze pressing with its printed inner. Thompson's back, and so is Springsteen: there's a version of his "For You" on here.
The 1960s band: Manfred Mann – As Is LP (STL 5377, 1966), graded VG/VG, £15. A UK Fontana stereo pressing with a laminated sleeve, from the decade before the Earth Band.
The songwriter's own: Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark 7" (A 4436, 1984), graded VG/G+, £2. A UK CBS single. Not a Manfred record, but it seemed rude to write 1,500 words about Bruce's song without inviting him.
The three 7" singles are £2 each, so they count towards our 10 singles for £10 deal.
Buy any three records and 10% comes off the whole crate at checkout, so three £5 LPs come to £13.50. New customers can use Autumn10 for 10% off instead (one code per order). Every record gets a Pro-Ject VC-S3 clean before it's posted (see why choose us), and you can add a Degritter ultrasonic clean for £2; details are on the cleaning service page.
After the "Blinded By The Light" 7", or a copy of Nightingales & Bombers? Put it on our wanted list and we'll keep an eye out.
Where does The Roaring Silence sit in the Earth Band's run?
It's the hinge. Before it came six albums with the original line-up, including Solar Fire, The Good Earth and Nightingales & Bombers. The Roaring Silence brought in Chris Thompson's voice and the band's biggest hit. After it came Watch (No. 33 in the UK in 1978), Angel Station (No. 30 in 1979) and Chance in 1980, with the line-up changing almost every album.
It was a good year for big-sounding records, too. 1976 also gave us ELO's A New World Record and Elton's Blue Moves, and we've written up both: ELO's A New World Record turns 50 and Elton John's Blue Moves turns 50.
Clearing the loft? We'll take it off your hands
Got a box of 1970s prog and rock gathering dust? We buy second-hand vinyl collections, big and small. Have a look at sell your vinyl records or get in touch and tell us what you've got. Ladder not included.
Dig the crates
Browse our Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Manfred Mann pages (artist pages don't always show everything, so search too), all our used vinyl records, and the wanted list. You can reserve online and collect from our Mansfield record shop. We'll have the kettle on. Probably not 3,736 times, but we'll try.
