1981 UK: Bucks Fizz - Making your mind up (1st place at Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin)

Performed by: Bucks Fizz Music by: John Danter Lyrics by: Andy Hill Conductor: John Coleman Language: English Placing: 1st (136 points) In late year 1980, songwriter Andy Hill teamed up with John Danter and composed “Making Your Mind Up“ with an eye to entering it into the A Song for Europe finals the following year. Working with his then girlfriend, Nichola Martin, a former singer, they set about recording a demo of the song to enter. This featured the vocals of Hill, Martin and Mike Nolan, a singer Martin had worked with before. Martin then set about gathering a line-up to enter the song with, based around her and Nolan. With the song already entered under the name Bucks Fizz, Martin and future manager, Jill Shirley recruited Cheryl Baker, Bobby G and Jay Aston to the line-up, with Martin herself dropping out. The song was published by Paper Music, which was a year-old publishing company owned by Billy Lawrie – himself a songwriter and brother of singer Lulu. Choreographer Chrissie Whickham, a former member of dance troupe Hot Gossip, spent two days with the group working on the dance routine. The lyrics of the song are largely meaningless, although it can be argued that they are about making the decision to commit to a serious relationship. On 11 March 1981, Bucks Fizz performed “Making Your Mind Up“ at the Song for Europe finals and despite being up against favourites and current chart group Liquid Gold, won the contest with ease. From this point, the group undertook much promotion of the song around the UK, including an appearance on Top of the Pops, whereby the single entered the UK charts at 24. It rose to No.5 the following week. A promotional video was filmed by the BBC for the Eurovision previews as they had done in previous years. The video depicts the group walking around Harrods department store in London. In line with other previous preview videos, the group do not lipsynch any of the words. This video has never been released on any official Bucks Fizz video or DVD release, being usually substituted by the group’s first appearance on Top of the Pops. On 4 April, the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in Dublin. In a close contest throughout the voting procedure, “Making Your Mind Up“ managed to secure a victory with 136 points, beating second-placed Germany by a small margin of four. The song is held in affectionate regard by many Eurovision fans, and is generally considered to be a classic example of a pop song from the Contest. Reaction was less favourable to the group’s performance of the song, which was considered to be off-key, and led to much criticism that the members were chosen more for their appearance than vocal ability. In addition, the performance is best remembered for the startling moment when the two male members of the group whipped off the skirts of the two female members – only to reveal shorter skirts underneath, a shrewd touch generally considered to have just swung the balance in their favour, and to be a defining moment in the competition’s history. Member Cheryl Baker has since commented on their poor performance stating that she sang the song in a higher key to the rest of the group due to nerves. Mike Nolan has said that on the night the microphones got mixed up, with Baker and Jay Aston singing on the lead microphones which had a higher volume. “Making Your Mind Up“ went to No.1 in the UK following the victory and remained there for three weeks, becoming one of the biggest selling songs of the year. It also saw the group in high demand throughout Europe, with the single hitting No.1 in many countries and charting in the top ten in Australia. The record eventually sold four million copies worldwide. The single began a run of 20 UK hits for Bucks Fizz and was quickly followed up by “Piece of the Action“ and debut album, Bucks Fizz. At the end of the decade, “Making Your Mind Up“ was in the UK top selling singles of the 1980s. Despite the success of the song, fans of the group don’t consider it to be a good representation of their work, while member Cheryl Baker doesn’t rate it as one of their best songs. The song is still well liked by members of the general public and remains the group’s best-remembered song. In 2013 BBC Radio 2 listeners voted “Making Your Mind Up“ as the best-ever British Eurovision entry. The now famous skirt rip of the dance routine (which was mirrored by Mick Jagger and Tina Turner at 1985’s Live Aid) has appeared in many contests since that time – most notably as part of Latvia’s Marie N’s performance of “I Wanna“, which won for Latvia, in 2002. “Making Your Mind Up“ was spoofed by many artists following its success, with alternative titles: “Me vas a volver loco (You’re Going to Drive Me Crazy)“ (by Spanish group Parchís), “Rock and Roll Cowboy“ by German singer Maggie Mae and “It’s Only a Wind Up“ by British comedy group Brown Ale.