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 (in line with the part of the lyrics "... when you see some more"). The group went on to have a successful career around the world (although they were commercially unsuccessful in the United States), but the UK remained their biggest market, where they had three No.1 singles with "Making Your Mind Up" (1981), "The Land of Make Believe" (1981) and "My Camera Never Lies" (1982) and became one of the top-selling groups of the 1980s. They also had UK Top 10 hits with "Now Those Days Are Gone" (1982), "If You Can't Stand the Heat" (1982), "When We Were Young" (1983) and "New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)" (1986). Bucks Fizz have sold over 50 million records worldwide.[1][2]
This article is about the band. For their self-titled album, see Bucks Fizz (album). For the cocktail, see Buck's fizz.
Bucks Fizz
1981–2018
- Bobby G
- Mike Nolan
- Cheryl Baker
- Jay Aston
- Shelley Preston
- Amanda Szwarc
- Heidi Manton
- David Van Day
- Karen Logan
- Louise Hart
- Graham Crisp
- Nikki Winter
- Tammy Choat
- Wayne Chinnery
- Paul Fordham
- Jenny Phillips
- Paul Yates
The line-up of the group has changed a number of times over the years, most famously when Jay Aston quit the group in 1985 and was replaced by Shelley Preston. Bobby G's official version of Bucks Fizz has been inactive since 2018, while another group The Fizz continues which comprises the other three original members – Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston.
Career[edit]
Formation[edit]
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.[3] 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 (which she didn't). 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.[4] 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 (placing fourth), agreed to manage the group.[4]