IN THE 1960s, the name Manfred Mann was synonymous with rock and blues in the British music scene.

During the original incarnation of the band, there were two separate men who fronted the band, Paul Jones from 1962 to 1966, and Mike d’Abo from 1966 to 1969.

Both men had their hits, but the loyal fans of the London band just loved the music which was being produced.

After calling it a day in the early 70s, all of the members went their separate ways.

However, many of the original line-up, minus founding member Manfred Mann, decided in the early 1990s to get the band back together, but which man would front the band?

Simple answer, both.

Renamed The Manfreds, the band has not looked back and are once again on the road touring.

“We try to avoid going back out on the road too often now," said vocalist Paul Jones.

“We probably do big tour about once a year or every other year as we want to keep things as fresh as we can.

“But we do have an incredibly loyal fan base and it is great to see familiar faces in the audience when we come out.”

Once the band was back together they were soon hitting the studio again. But for Jones there was no gap in producing music as he performed as part of the Blue Band – another pioneering band in their field.

He added: “I have never stopped. In one way you could look at that as a penance, but I see it as a blessing.

“I have just wanted to play music and that has always been a big part of my life.”

As part of the upcoming Maximum Rhythm and Blues tour, which comes to Basingstoke on Saturday, 27 October, The Manfreds will play such hits as 5-4-3-2-1, Do Wah Diddy, The Mighty Quinn, Pretty Flamingo, Up the Junction, Sha La La Fox On The Run, Handbags & Gladrags, Big Time Operator and many more.

And with Jones splitting the vocal duties with d’Abo, when asked how it works he added: “We have roughly about the same number of hits each, so everyone has their moment to feature in the band, but also have their moment to be an accomplice.

“In the parts where I sing Mike will play some keyboard, and when Mike is taking the lead I’ll play the harmonica.

“Sometimes that is the best part, being part of the backing group and not the main person, it refreshes your musical muscles.”

The Manfreds will perform at The Anvil on October 27. For more details, go to anvilarts.org.uk/whats-on/maximum-rhythm-and-blues.