By Martin Hutchinson

ORIGINALLY formed in 1991 to celebrate guitarist Tom McGuinness’ 50th birthday, The Manfreds show no sign of stopping.

Made up of four members of the original Manfred Mann, who had hits with Mighty Quinn, Pretty Flamingo and Do Wah Diddy Diddy among others.

South Wales Argus:

Guitarist Tom McGuinness, keyboard player Mike Hugg, original singer Paul Jones and the man who replaced him in 1966, Mike D’Abo, are all part of the band today – along with Marcus Cliffe on bass, Simon Currie on sax and flute plus Rob Townshend on drums.

The band is just back from a sell-out tour of New Zealand, a tour which put a smile on singer Paul Jones’ face. Despite more than 50 years in the industry his voice is still in prime condition.

South Wales Argus:

Mr Jones said: “I warm up before a show and I’ve got exercises that I do, but I only started doing that in the late 70s.

“Back in the early days I sometimes misused my voice; if that happened, I just screeched my way through a show. There were so many girls screaming that nobody noticed.

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Mr Jones explained that the band had to make some changes for their latest tour and said: “Mike Hugg and Rob Townsend are both hors de combat. So, we’ve brought in Mike Gorman, who played on bassist Marcus Cliffe’s new album on keys, and the excellent Frank Tontoh on drums.”

The Manfords 2019 tour will include a feature tune, from sax player Simon Currie, with bassist – Marcus Cliffe – featuring a song from his new album: People Get Ready. It will also feature a song from McGuiness’ latest album and one, written by Nat ‘King’ Cole, from Jones’ current album.

South Wales Argus:

These will by among Manfred Mann songs. Even with the band’s vast catalogue of hits, Mr Jones can still pick out a few favourites, including 5 4 3 2 1, The One In The Middle, Smokestack Lightnin’ and Oh No Not My Baby.

“Don’t miss this. Firstly, because it’s a line-up you may never hear again and we fire off each other, added Mr Jones.

“And secondly because we look really stupid when there’s no-one there. What’s important is the people who are there.”

The Manfreds will be bringing their Hits, Jazz and Blues tour to Riverfront Theatre, Newport, on Saturday May 18.

Book your tickets through tickets.newportlive.co.uk or call 01633 656757.