An 80's (and, apparently, 90's and beyond too) British pop band, which won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom in 1981 with 'Making Your Mind Up', an unashamedly senseless, but nevertheless catchy track. It went to number one (in the UK), and, if my memory serves me correctly, stayed there for a while. 'The Land of Make Believe' also got them to number one and was their fourth top twenty hit within the space of a year.
The band has had numerous line up changes: the original two boys, two girls were Mike Nolan, Bobby G (Gubby, if you're interested), Cheryl Baker (yes, off 'Eggs 'n' Baker' and 'Record Breakers' with the most excellent Roy Castle), and Jay Aston about whom little seems to be known.
In 1984 the band suffered a coach crash, and Mike Nolan was really rather ill for a while. In 1985 Jay Aston left the band, beginning a series of changes. Shelley Preston, Amanda Szwarc, David Van Day and Karen Logan came and went. The line up now is Bobby G, Heidi Manton, Graham Crisp and Louise Hart and the band is going just as strong as ever.
There seems to be eight albums: 'Bucks Fizz', 'Hand Cut', 'Greatest Hits', 'I Hear Talk', 'Writing on the Wall', 'The Story So Far', 'Live at The Fairfield Halls' and 'Are You Ready?'
The truth of the matter, though, is that they were an eighties thing - and none the worse for that. The public first saw them on a Terry Wogan 'Seach for a Eurosong' programme. In amongst all the dross, one band stood out - sure they were all fresh faced... but the song itself wasn't half bad, either. Half way through it, to the lyric 'if you want to see some more', the guys pulled off the long dresses of the girls to reveal mini-skirts underneath. We loved it. I can't really remember why, now.
And, of course, they won the heat, and the search, and finally the lofty heights of Eurovision itself. And they carried on producing music, and being successful. The songs themselves were sort of poppy, sub-Duran Duran-Five Star-Aha kind of things - loads of synthesizers and vastly over-produced when you go back and listen to them. And there wasn't a lot of substance to them - they weren't particularly deep or revealing things. John Lennon wouldn't've been all that impressed, I wouldn't've thought. Credit where it's due though - it was all toe-tappy stuff, and decent enough if you didn't spend too long listening to it.
'My Camera Never Lies', 'If You Can't Stand the Heat (Get Out of the Kitchen)', 'Land of Make Believe' - the song titles, I think, say it all. Fun. If you like that sort of thing.