Ha! Ha! Said the Clown

Throughout 1966, Manfred Mann had been through a bit of crisis, losing both their lead singer Paul Jones and numerous other line-up changes hampering their efforts.[1][2] However, riding on the charts with the number-one single "Pretty Flamingo", their commercial success was not declining.[3] After securing a line-up featuring vocalist Mike D'Abo and bassist Klaus Voormann they signed with Fontana Records in June of that year.[4] After their cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" reached the top ten, it established their "commercial credibility" according to Bruce Eder of AllMusic.[4] Following the success of their second single on Fontana, October 1966's Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" the group began to "reshape their sound and image" to incorporate a more "pop-sound" into their music.[4] However, both these tracks were written by outside writers, something which was standard for Manfred Mann.[5] This led the group to look for new material from outside writers following the success of "Semi-Detached".[6]

Manfred Mann with Dave Berry in 1967.

In the May 1967 issue of Beat Instrumental, Tony Hazzard claims to have "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" in his head "out of the blue" but states that it took him weeks to finally record a demo of it.[7] Peter Dunbavan states that Hazzard then entered the offices of Manfred Mann's manager Gerry Bron, who had signed him in 1966.[8] There, Hazzard played three demo recordings for Bron, who deemed them uncommercial.[8] Following this, Hazzard became reluctant to play the fourth song he'd demoed, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown", though at the insistence of Bron he did so.[8] Bron liked the song well enough to almost demand Manfred Mann to record the song.[8] Manfred Mann himself, however, was not keen on recording it:

We would have got a demo. I remember it very clearly, it was from Tony Hazzard and I didn't like the song at all and didn't want to do it. But Lillian Bron (then wife of manager Gerry Bron) kept going on and on and on, and in the end I thought, "well, perhaps it's better than it seems". So we did it. I didn't want to do it at first.[9]

On 10 February 1967, the group recorded the song at Philips Studio in Stanhope House, Marble Arch, London.[10][11] The production was handled by Shel Talmy, who had collaborated with Manfred Mann on all their releases since the June 1966 recording of "Just Like a Woman".[12] Neil Innes has claimed that the recording of the song took eight hours, as Gerry Bron would constantly nag about it to him.[13] Drummer Mike Hugg instead states that the entire recording session lasted 22 hours, 12 of which were dedicated to the final master take of the song.[14] As with "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James", Manfred Mann plays the Mellotron Mark II on the recording, the second of three of their single A-sides featuring the instrument.[15][nb 1] However, Andy Thompson believes Mann's performance of the Mellotron on "Semi-Detached" is superior to the playing heard on "Ha! Ha! Said The Clown", though notes it is "still well worth hearing".[15]

In the United Kingdom, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" would be released on 24 March 1967 through Fontana Records.[9][16][nb 2] Unusually for the UK at the time, the single was released in a picture sleeve,[9] depicting a clown's makeup. The B-side "Feeling So Good" was written by Mann and drummer Mike Hugg, and once again followed the pattern of having self-composed B-sides contrasting to A-sides written by outside writers.[5] According to Greg Russo, "Feeling So Good" was an "experiment with Mann and Hugg on lead vocals" where guitarist Tom McGuinness was mixed high and Klaus Voormann provided background vocals.[9] Russo notes however that the nature of the record was never attempted again by the group.[9] In the United States, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" was released through Mercury Records on 30 March 1967.[18][nb 3] It would be the final Manfred Mann release until "Mighty Quinn" was released there in February 1968.[18]

"Ha! Ha! Said the Clown reached number-one on Wonderful Radio London's (ship on right) Fab 40 chart.[19]

Nonetheless, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" entered the Record Retailer chart two weeks after it was released on 5 April 1967 at a position of number 46.[3] It peaked at number 4 on 26 April, staying there for two weeks before beginning its descent down the charts again.[3] On the chart, it was last seen on 14 June at a position of number 50, having spent 11 weeks.[3] In the charts published by rival magazines Melody Maker, New Musical Express and Disc and Music Echo, it also peaked at number 4.[20][21][22] However, on pirate radio station Radio London's own list, Fab 40, it peaked at number one on 16 April 1967.[19] The single saw extended appeal in Europe, reaching number one in Austria,[23] Belgium,[24][25] the Netherlands,[26][27] and West Germany.[28] In Africa, it also reached number one in South Africa,[29] while it reached number 3 in Rhodesia.[30] In Oceania, the single peaked at number 10 in Australia,[31] and 2 in New Zealand.[32] It did however fail to make the US chart despite being released there.[9]

Both sides of the single got their first album released in November 1967 when it was released on the compilation album One Way, which was released by Fontana in Holland.[33] In the United Kingdom, the song would first get an album release on Manfred Mann's fourth studio album Mighty Garvey!, released in the UK on 28 June 1968, almost one and a half years after it was recorded.[34] On the album, it is sequenced between "Cubist Town" and "Harry the One-Man Band" on side two.[34]The B-side's first UK release came on the compilation album What A Mann, released on 16 March 1968.[33] In the United States, it was first released on the US equaivalent to Mighty Garvey!, The Mighty Quinn through Mercury Records on 6 May 1968, where it is sequenced as the second song on side one, following the title track.[34]

In the UK, the single was met by mixed reviews. Writing for Disc and Music Echo, Penny Valentine states that the song "is excellently made" and "very well written", though she believes the title is a "little macabre".[36] She writes that although "D'Abo sings well", she thinks there's "something about the record that doesn't quite click as a smash single."[36] She believed the first half of the song was "marvellous", though she lost focus halfway through.[36] She ends by claiming that it will be a hit, "though it doesn't sound top-5".[36] The staff writer for Melody Maker believes that "Manfred Mann and his men have been around long enough now to know what's happening",[37] noting that the band seemingly stopped making bad or "uncommercial records", and that Mike D'Abo has settled down.[37] They claim that the single will become a hit, while also speculating over how big of a hit it will be, which they deem impossible without repeated listens.[37] They end by claiming that the single has "catchy lyrics" and a "clever chorus" without sounding corny.[37]

Manfred Mann, interview, Beat InstrumentalIn New Musical Express, Derek Johnson writes that the song was "conceived in much the same style as 'Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James'", comparing their falsetto harmonies, Mellotron sound, and "shake beat".[38] Johnson calls the chorus "whistling" while simultaneously praising D'Abo's vocal performing, stating that he's handling it in style.[38] Musically, however, he deems "Semi-Detached" to be better as it had a direct impact but ends with the notion that "it's a disc that grows on you."[38] In Record Mirror, Peter Jones calls it "light-toned and very pacey".[39] He writes that the song features some notable "instrumental tricks behind", while stating that it is musically different from the group's earlier material.[39] Though he claims it most likely will become a hit "due to sheer professionalism and a sense of style", it most likely won't be a smash.[39]

Retrospectively, the single has also received mixed reviews. Mike d'Abo, singer of the song, claims that he sung the song "10,000 times" while never liking it.[40] McGuiness states that the record was "alright" as it was a big hit across Europe.[13] Hugg also stated difficulty in performing the number one stage, owing to the multiple studio effects the song was dependent on.[14] Greg Russo claims that "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" predated the Moody Blues album Days of Future Passed by at least a few months.[9] However, Russo also states that the Moody Blues saw great success with their albums because of the Mellotron, while Manfred Mann were confined to playing it on their singles and some album tracks.[9]

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