Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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BUCKS FIZZ

UK vocal group named '80 by husband/wife management/ prod. team of Andy Hill/Nichola Martin after home counties term for champagne and orange juice. Martin had been prot‚g‚e of Sandie Shaw's manager Eve Taylor; would-be Eurovision star aimed to build vocal group around herself, with ad jinglewriter Hill supplying material. 900 auditioned; end result in the image of ABBA of two boys/two girls: Mike Nolan (b 7 Dec. '54), Bobby G (b Robert Gubby, 23 Aug. '53), Jay Aston (b 4 May '61), Cheryl Baker (b 8 March '54). Impressed by both girls, Martin stood down as a performer. "Making Your Mind Up' won Eurovision '81 as planned, first UK win since similarly manufactured 2+2 Brotherhood of Man '76. They were lent some memorability by the gimmick of removing girls' skirts mid-song, borrowed from Martin's Eurovision hopefuls Rags, whose heat of Song For Europe was blacked out by a technicians' strike. Two subsequent singles in identical style breached UK top 20; fourth hit "Land Of Make Believe' performed pantomime style made no. 1 late '81; early '82 "My Camera Never Lies' also made it. Variations on theme with a cappella-styled "Now Those Days Are Gone', reggae-tinged "If You Can't Stand The Heat' were notably less successful; fall was arrested by importing material: cover of Romantics' '83 US hit "Talking In Your Sleep' restored top 40 UK status '84, the boys playing instruments in an image shift towards adulthood. Coach crash Dec. '84 in which Nolan was seriously injured preceded split in ranks: Aston, whose sexy image was at odds with cleancut appeal of group, quit mid-'85 for solo career; replaced after more mass auditions by lookalike Shelley Preston (b 14 May '64). (Aston's move delighted the tabloids with revelations about hanky-panky in group and resulted in lawsuits needed to free her from management contract.) Baker meanwhile became part-time TV show host; Gubby wrote/sang theme to BBC's Big Deal sitcom. "You And Your Eyes So Blue' took them back to charts mid-'85, also middle-of-the-road musical stance, outside writers (bizarrely incl. former King Crimson lyricist Pete Sinfield) collaborating with Hill.