Pop star Mark Read tells FLICKY HARRISON of his dream to appear on Strictly Come Dancing

When your dad is in a rock band and your mum is a singer/songwriter it is pretty much a forgone conclusion that you too will become a musician.

Mark Read, pop star from boy band A1, was taught to play piano from the age of two, and later joined his mum and dad's band playing on P and O Cruises, including the D Day 50th Anniversary fleet in 1994.

"It was a given that I would be a singer,'' Mark said. "Mum was Karen Carpenter inspired and we have one of the Tiller Girls way back in the family.'' His father originally played with a rock 'n' roll band called The Wild Angels.

Mark had his own big break when he was spotted by Tim Byrne, manager of the pop band Steps. A1 was formed and notched up two number one hits including Old Brand New You and a cover of A-Ha's song Take On Me, along with eight top ten hits and three albums.

Singer songwriter Chesney Hawkes wrote songs for A1 and having similar backgrounds, Chip Hawkes, Chesey's father, was lead singer with 1960s chart-topping band, The Tremeloes, Mark and he became friends.

"We catch up often, he is a family friend. We do gigs together. Recently I did a sellout gig with him and his dad,'' said Mark, who is also a songwriter.

"I wrote a track for Harry Potter Goblet of Fire and sang it for the film. It was a thrill writing for The Hollies, they are a real British Institution, and I was fortunate enough to work with Robin Gibb from the Bee Gees.''

Mark has now turned his piano and vocal skills to performing in musical theatre. He joins the cast of A Spoonful of Sherman, celebrating the music of brothers Robert B Sherman and Richard M Sherman, who wrote songs for the movies Mary Poppins, Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Charlotte's Webb. The brothers were the sons of Al Sherman, the legendary songwriter who wrote for Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.

The latest descendant of this musical dynasty, Robert J Sherman, son of Robert B, has written the stage musical, which is heading for Swindon.

"Robert J Sherman is a good songwriter himself, and there are some of his own songs in it,'' said Mark. "It is fast moving show, number after number, because there are 100 years of songs to cover. We have an eclectic cast including singer and actor Glen Facey who performs on top of the pianos.

"Ben Stock is the musical director and he and I swap pianos in the middle of some numbers when they are moving the set, including the super quick Step In Time and Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious. I am a big Disney fan and the songs keep you on your toes. It is physically demanding,'' he said.

During some of the tour, Robert J Sherman does a talk before the show and there are displays with memorabilia for people to see.

"We have the two Oscars they won on tour with us,'' said Mark.

Having sampled and loved musical theatre, the pop star now has another ambition to achieve - he desperately wants to appear on Strictly Come Dancing!

He joined Kristina Rihanoff, pro dancer from the hit TV series, on tour of her own Strictly show and fell in love with dance.

"We travelled all over the UK and it opened new doors. I would love to get on Strictly, it would be an incredible experience, everybody wants to be a part of it.''

Mark still keeps in touch with the other A1 singers and the band get back together for festival appearances and this year is the 20th anniversary since the boys began, so they are planning to get all four back together.

"We are lucky we have got a fan base that we can sustain. We have shows planned in South East Asia and we will be playing back in the UK in October and November this year,'' said Mark.

A Spoonful of Sherman comes to Swindon's Wyvern Theatre from Monday, April 30 to Tuesday, May 1 and tickets are £18 to £23 from 01793 524481 or visit www.swindontheatres.co.uk - Flicky Harrison