Created @ LoserAlliance.com
On January 1975, Paul Thomas Leo Marazzi (named after his grand-fathers) was born in Wanstead, the son of Maria and Ivan and little brother to Shareen. He was a very lively kid, yet shy, and one of his early memories include a trip to Holland to see his half cousin and getting a batman bike for one of his birthdays and racing all the kids down the street.
He broke his nose when he was six years old, when he was showing off in front of his girlfriend. He wasn't particularly popular at school and rather a shy and quiet type. He didn't really know how to make friends. He hated secondary school. He got teased for being mixed and being small. When they start pick on him because of his father he went to the principle's office, which didn't quite help.
He grew up with the music of Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which he reckons was a bad combination. He was very young when he got into Prince and imitated him in front of the mirror and even ripped his top off while doing that! His dad loved to sing as well, and he thinks he got his loving from singing from him. But it would be around his 21 that he would get into singing.
When he was around 17/18 years old, his parents and his sister moved to Benidorm, and he went with them as well. This was a real eye-opener to him and learned him that there is a whole lot more in life than he originally thought. He took a job as a driver for his dad's company, which was bringing food from England over to Spain and vice versa with a freezer van. Besides that, he was dancing in clubs, took some modeling jobs, and even walked the catwalk and posed for Christian Dior, worked in demolition, worked in pubs, clubs and also worked for a hypnotised. He was quite busy...
One of the things happening in Spain hit him hard. He witnessed his dog being run over by some van. He didn't sleep for three days because he was desperate to find the one responsible. According to Paul, it was a very good thing he didn't found the one, at least it was a good thing for the person...
He shared flats with his mates and during his time in Spain he had a long term relationship with a girl, described as "dark skinned, natural blond hair and green eyes", to who he got enganged as well. Somehow he got in touch with his current manager and send in a tape for audition. He got chosen and showed up for the audition in London, thanks to his father. From 3000 people he reached the final 10 and in the end he was the only one chosen. He moved to London to get into the project. Being chosen however got its downside, as it caused the break up with his fiancee.
Paul wasthe first member of A1 and started in 1997. Soon Christian, Mark and Ben joined the group and in 1999 they saw their first single, "Be the first to believe" chart in the top 10. 3 singles, a double A-side included would follow from their debut success "Here we come", a class pop album.
Their first number one would be the A-ha cover "Take on me", which features on the band's second album, on which Paul didn't write much on. It gave them anothernumber one, "Same old brand new you" and "No more" didn't chart that bad either, into the top 5.
But then in Asia a tragedy happened as four fans got crushed to dead during an A1 gig. A1 stopped their activities for a while, and were pretty shaken about the whole event. They even dedicated their third album, "Make it good", to the four fans.
Late 2001 A1 was back with a new sound, "Caught in the middle" was promoted frequently, but would only be released in january 2002. Paul later stated that he actually didn't even like the song, even though he wrote it. Their second single, the tittle track, didn't make it into the top 10, but they gained success in the USA, having spent a month there and having starred in an USA soap.
In September France got into A1 as well. French star Eve Angeli wanted to cover "Caught in themiddle", but in the end it ended up as a French/English duet between the French superstar and the boys. Among the heavy promoting in France, A1 was also busy in Scandinavia and the UK. During that period, Paul has been abcent, being ill.
In the evening of 8 october 2002, Paul announced he's leaving A1. It may have come sudden, but somehow, if you think of it, not unexpected. Paul neevr was keen on fame and being famous and always said he was too shy, which gave him the name of being arrogant and rude. Now all of the lads has to do their own ways so I just wish them all the best...
