In 1999 boyband ‘A1′ broke onto the Uk music scene. Unlike some bands that explode with their debut and slowly fall from grace, A1 started off as a sort of cheap and fun, cheesy pop band. Their debut single – Be The First To Believe (which is one of my all time favorites) peaked at #6 which wasn’t bad for a debut single, but it wasn’t great either.

At the time the Uk was being flooded with pop acts that were lucky to have a second single let alone an album. But the band stuck to it and their management/record labels continued to push the band. Their next two singles each improved with their chart placings… peaking at #5 with Summertime of Our Lives and then a #3 with Ready Or Now/Everytime.

Somehow the stars aligned and in Summer 2000 ‘A1′ hit the big time. The first single from their second album was a cover of A-Ha’s – Take On Me. Gone were the cheap and cheesy videos, the band had a fresh and polished look, their videos had much bigger budgets and in return the band were rewarded with #1 singles for ‘Take on Me’ and ‘Same Old Brand New You.’ A1 weren’t like every other boy band at the time, they wrote most of the songs on their albums and could sing live.

The band also had considerable success across Asia which led to the deaths of 4 teenage girls when their fans caused a stampede at a tour stop in Indonesia. The band were scheduled to appear and perform at a record store in a local mall. It soon became clear that there was a security risk to the group and as a result the band left the mall without making an appearance. As a result there was a stampede where 4 girls fell and were trampled to death. The band found out about the accident 5 hours after and immediately cancelled the rest of the tour to return to the Uk. To illustrate how big the band had become an appearance in the Philippines had to be cancelled when 20′000 people showed up at a record store to see the band when only 1′000 were expected.

After things slowed down the band decided to change things up with their 3rd album by recording a traditional rock influenced album. The first single was ‘Caught In The Middle’ which debuted at #2. Unfortuantely it was soon after the single release that Paul announced he was leaving the group for personal reasons and the band decided to split. Their final single ‘Make It Good’ was their only single not to hit the top 10 when it peaked at#10.

There is no sign of an A1 reunion on the books, but some of the band remains active in music today. Christian carved out a solo career in Norway, while Ben Adams released one solo single in 2005 and had written songs for various artists in the Uk. He is currently working developing new and upcoming artists.

The 3 albums that A1 released are great because each one shows an evolution from the one previous but all 3 are great examples of fun pop music. They’re a snapshot of what pop fans were listening too from 1999 – 2002.

I know a lot of blogs have posted about Ben Adams in the past… but I had to throw my 2 cents in. He looks GREAT! Also am I the only one who LOVED ‘Sorry?’ I know it bombed and It took me a long time to really get into the song, but I still listen to it to this very day!