Whatever happened to... A1?

When they made their chart debut back in 1998, A1 met all the right boyband criteria with their impeccably-gelled coiffures, cheesy dance routines and matching outfits. Having notched up a string of top ten hits and a trio of gold albums, it was all going swimmingly until group member Paul Marazzi decided to sling his hook in 2002, spelling an abrupt end to the band. But with news abound of a possible comeback, we caught up with Mark Read - now working on his solo career - to find out just what's going on.

What was the best thing about being in A1?
"It was such a crazy time and it's all a bit of a blur. We were constantly travelling the world and it's only recently that I've really started to acknowledge what we achieved. I was round at my Mum's the other day looking at all the press cuttings and it just blew me away. I can't believe we managed to do so much in our time. Getting a Brit Award was very special to us because it was actually voted for by the public."

How did it feel topping the UK charts on two occasions?
"Getting those number ones was just amazing, but we were always on the other side of the world somewhere so it almost felt like we never got to celebrate it properly. It still amazes people when I tell them we used to sell 80,000 copies to get in the top three. They're like, 'You'd be number one forever with sales like that now'. It's a bit crazy how much it's changed."

You just performed together in Norway - does this mean you're coming back?
"The three of us are currently doing some writing but not really pinning it on any project yet. It's more a nice excuse for a get together. The Norwegian show came about really quickly - Christian called us up and we only had about five minutes to rehearse beforehand. The three of us get on so well and we had a lot of fun so never say never in terms of getting back together. At the moment we're doing our own thing, but let's see what 2010 has in store!"

Is there any chance of Paul, the fourth member, getting on board again?
"We haven't stayed in touch with Paul quite so much and he might not be interested anymore. He's been doing his own thing with a new band and we wish him all the best. If we were to reform, I wouldn't say the door is wide open for him to come back and join us, but it's a little bit ajar."

How different is your solo material to what you released with A1?
"Peace At Last basically infuses all of my own musical inspirations into a single body of work. Some people have compared it to The Feeling or what Take That have been doing recently, so maybe it's man-pop! A lot of the songs are very personal and document things I've been through over the past couple of years. I'm just really eager for as many people to hear it as possible."

Press play below to watch the 'Caught In The Middle' video:



More info on Mark Read's solo material at: http://www.markreadmusic.com/

What was your favourite A1 song? Would you like the boys to make a comeback? Use the space below to leave your comments.