A1

Description

a1 were a British boy band whose first single, "Be The First To Believe", was released in 1999. Its members were Mark Read, Paul Marazzi, Ben Adams and Christian Ingebrigtsen (from Norway). a1 also won a BRIT Award for 'British breakthrough act' in 2001. They were formed by band manager Tim Byrne, who also formed STEPS. <p>The group's publicity focused on the fact that a1 wrote many of their own songs, and that three of the four play musical instruments. Read plays the piano and drum, Adams plays the piano, oboe and violin and Ingebrigtsen plays the piano and guitar. After an initial period during which they achieved success in the UK singles chart, in autumn 2000 two of their singles went to number one in the chart within nine weeks: "Take On Me" and "Same Old Brand New You". The former was a cover of A-ha's 1985 single, which itself only reached a number two position in the UK charts in 1985. a1 also won the smash hits award for best video for "Take on Me". Ben Adams also won "most...