Bucks Fizz
Bucks Fizz were an English pop group that achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comprised four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston. They received attention for the dance routine which accompanied the song, in which the male members of the group ripped the female members' outer skirts off to reveal much shorter mini-skirts beneath. The group went on to have a successful career around the world, but the UK remained their biggest market, where they had three No.1 singles with "Making Your Mind Up", "The Land of Make Believe" and "My Camera Never Lies" and became one of the top-selling groups of the 1980s. They also had UK Top 10 hits with "Now Those Days Are Gone", "If You Can't Stand the Heat", "When We Were Young" and "New Beginning ".
The line-up of the group has changed a number of times over the years, most famously the first change when Jay Aston quit the group in 1985 and was replaced by Shelley Preston. Bobby G's official version of Bucks Fizz has been almost inactive since 2018, while another group, the Fizz, continues with other Bucks Fizz alumni.
Career
Formation
In late 1980, Nichola Martin and Andy Hill sought to create a new group to enter their song "Making Your Mind Up" in the Eurovision Song Contest. The first member to be recruited was Mike Nolan, who was known to Martin. Together, they recorded a demo of the song and entered it for inclusion in A Song for Europe – the preliminary heats for the contest. Realising that a name was needed for the performing artists, Martin quickly decided on Buck's Fizz, as it was her favourite drink. In January, Martin contacted Cheryl Baker to join them, as she remembered her from the 1978 Eurovision group, Co-Co. Concurrent to this, Martin was holding auditions for another male vocalist and female vocalist, should Baker turn down the position. At the end of these auditions, Martin had found a male singer, Stephen Fischer and female, Jay Aston. Unsure of which female vocalist to use, she ultimately decided to use both Baker and Aston as she felt their vocals complemented each other and Martin stepped down from the group in order to team up with Hill for another line-up as they had two songs in the competition. Fischer then became unavailable as he was appearing in a musical at the time and Martin hired another auditionee, Bobby G for the group. The four members came together for the first time on 11 January 1981. Jill Shirley, with whom Martin had been in a group called Rags who had appeared in the 1977 A Song for Europe contest, agreed to manage the group.Eurovision
During rehearsals, a dance routine was devised for the song which went on to become famous for the moment where the girls' skirts are ripped off halfway through – only to reveal shorter skirts underneath. The routine itself was choreographed by Chrissie Wickham, a former member of dance troupe Hot Gossip, although Martin, Baker and Aston have all since laid claim to the skirt-rip idea, Martin had used a similar idea when Rags had taken part in the earlier A Song for Europe contest in 1977; subsequently performing the same routine on Top of the Pops after failing to win the competition.On 11 March, A Song for Europe took place with the then unknown Bucks Fizz competing against well-known act Liquid Gold, as well as Hill and Martin's own group, Gem. "Making Your Mind Up" became an easy winner and the group recorded the song with Hill as producer. Later in the month it was released as a single and entered the charts at No. 24. By the time the contest was staged, the single had risen to No. 2.
On 4 April, Bucks Fizz represented United Kingdom in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Dublin. Although they were favourites to win, the song faced stiff competition, and early votes were poor. Halfway through the voting process, Bucks Fizz took the lead, although they remained close throughout. Ultimately, Bucks Fizz won the contest by a margin of four points, beating Germany into second place. "Making Your Mind Up" became a major hit around the continent, reaching No. 1 in the UK as well as eight other countries. It charted highly in other countries such as Australia, eventually selling four million copies worldwide.
Post-Eurovision success
With Shirley remaining as the group's manager, Hill as producer and Martin as co-songwriter, they worked with record company A&R head Bill Kimber to continue the group's success, determined that they would not become another Eurovision one-hit wonder. A follow-up single was recorded amid promotional tours and the group's image was revamped. In May, the single "Piece of the Action" was released. The song boasted a contemporary pop sound and high production values, in contrast to the rock and roll style of "Making Your Mind Up". As Baker has stated: "Our follow-up single was nothing at all like 'Making Your Mind Up', it was a good, strong, contemporary pop song". "Piece of the Action" became an immediate hit and quickly rose to No. 12 in the UK charts. It also charted highly across Europe. Buoyed by this success, the group launched into recording their debut album for RCA Records with producer Andy Hill. Released in July, the self-titled album also became a top 20 hit in the UK charts, as did their third single, "One of Those Nights". In November 1981, Bucks Fizz represented the UK at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, where they achieved the "Best Song Award" and fifth place overall with their song "Another Night". The song was released as a single there and went on to be included on their second album.Continued popularity (1981–1984)
In late 1981, Andy Hill, along with former King Crimson member Peter Sinfield, wrote the fourth Bucks Fizz single. Titled "The Land of Make Believe", the song was produced by Hill and featured a strong melody. Released in November, it hit the charts and by Christmas was in the top five. In January 1982, it overtook the Human League's "Don't You Want Me" to reach No.1. It stayed there for two weeks and remained in the UK charts for 16 weeks, becoming the group's best-selling single and one of the top-selling singles of the decade. It also reached No. 1 in the Netherlands and Ireland and became the group's best-selling single in Germany. The song has since been hailed as a 1980s classic and is regarded as the group's best song by some critics.Early in 1982, the group were awarded 'best group' at the Daily Mirror Rock and Pop awards ceremony and received a nomination at the Brit Awards. In March they released their fifth single, "My Camera Never Lies", which swiftly climbed the charts and became their third number-one single. With this they became the first British group of the 1980s to score three number ones within a year. Further success followed in May with the group's second studio album, Are You Ready, which went Gold and became their first top-ten album. This album received particularly good reviews, including a 10-out-of-10 rating in Smash Hits. Attempting diversity, a mostly a cappella ballad, "Now Those Days Are Gone", was released as the next single, giving the group another top-ten hit, reaching No. 8 in the UK charts. Soon after this, Bucks Fizz were invited to appear before the Queen and Queen Mother in the 1982 Royal Variety Performance, performing the old standard "You'll Never Walk Alone".
In February 1983, Bucks Fizz arrived in Chile for the promotion of their Spanish album. They performed in the music festival Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar, which was broadcast in Chile and many countries in South America, as well as in Spain. In the UK, chart success continued with the release of the hit singles "If You Can't Stand the Heat" and "Run for Your Life". The group's third studio album, Hand Cut, was released in March 1983, becoming another top-twenty hit and certified silver by the BPI. By this stage, although Bucks Fizz faced harsh criticism in the media for their lightweight pop image, the music press were acknowledging the group's highly polished performances and sturdy productions, gaining favourable mentions in the NME and Record Mirror. With an eye to harden their sound, the group's next single, "When We Were Young", featured a heavy production and doom-laden lyrics. With a rock-style lead vocal by member Jay Aston, the single became one of the group's biggest hits, featuring in the top 20 of many European countries, including top ten in the UK and top five in France. However, toward the end of 1983, it seemed that the group's success was beginning to dim as singles "London Town" and "Rules of the Game" failed to reach the top twenty — their first singles to miss. Along with these came the group's Greatest Hits album, which, despite reaching the top thirty and remaining on the charts for three months, fell short of expectations.
Early in 1984, the group decided to take time out of the public eye, fearing overexposure for their recent downward trend and instead concentrating on recording in Switzerland. In May, they embarked on a 40-date tour of the UK, selling out many venues. In August they revealed their new look and new harder-edged rock sound with the single "Talking in Your Sleep". The break proved to be advantageous, as this single returned the group to the UK top 20, peaking at No. 15. The follow-up single "Golden Days" was released alongside group's fourth studio album, I Hear Talk. The group had recorded "What’s Love Got To Do With It" for inclusion on the album, but the track was omitted when Tina Turner released her version first. The group saw their fortunes tumble once again, as neither the album nor "Golden Days" dented the top 40. As Christmas 1984 came around, the group embarked on another UK tour and released the album's title single, a minor hit that reached No. 34.