A song almost left off a debut album took an unexpected path to the top of the charts, becoming another band's biggest success along the way.

Chris Thompson was the new guitarist and vocalist with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1976. And his first single with the group couldn’t have been bigger: “Blinded by the Light,” a cover of a deep cut ...

During the Swinging ’60s in London, between the British Beat and R&B boom, Manfred Mann, led by the keyboardist of the same name, made their way onto the charts with “5-4-3-2-1” in 1964, which became ...