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 (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.
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
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 (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. 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.
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.