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Thinkman
Biography
Fake groups usually come from record label executives eager to make money by marketing an "ideal" band they put together from scratch. Famous examples include the Monkees and Milli Vanilli. Thinkman was such a group, but the idea came from bandleader/songwriter/producer Rupert Hine and consisted of a plot to get his solo career back on tracks without the music press knowing it.

Although his 1981 LP Immunity had received critical acclaim, Hine's next two albums (Waving Not Drowning and The Wildest Wish to Fly) garnered cold reviews. In the meantime, he had become a high-profile record producer, scoring hits with the Fixx, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, and Chris DeBurgh. Putting the reaction of the press over his solo work on the count of his success behind the mixing desk (which could very well have been true), Hine presented to Island Records an album and movie project titled Thinkman. He planted the first seed while producing the soundtrack for the movie Better Off Dead, which was to include some of his songs, by crediting the track "Come to Your Rescue" to Thinkman, a fictive group including him, Matthew Harte, Cellophane, and Leo Hurll (all characters in the developing script).
Selected Discography