Bucks Fizz
‘Britain's answer to Abba’, Bucks Fizz was originally conceived as a vehicle for singer/producer/manager Nichola Martin to appear in the Eurovision Song Contest. With her partner and later husband Andy Hill producing and composing material, Martin auditioned hundreds of applicants before deciding on Mike Nolan (b. 7 December 1954), Bobby G (b. Robert Gubby, 23 August 1957, Epsom, Surrey, England), Jay Aston (b. 4 May 1961) and Cheryl Baker (b. Rita Crudgington, 8 March 1954, Bethnal Green, London, England). Of the four, Baker had the most experience having previously appeared as a Eurovision entrant with Coco. So impressed was Martin with her discoveries that she suppressed her singing ambitions and reverted to a wholly managerial role. Having signed the group for publishing, she soon abandoned the management reins which were passed over to Jill Shirley of the Razzmatazz agency. Armed with the catchy Making Your Mind Up, the manufactured Bucks Fizz duly won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and scored a UK number 1 in the process. During the next 12 months they emerged as probably the most commercially successful pop group in Britain with two further number 1 hits, The Land Of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies. For the next two years all was well but after When We Were Young, their chart performance declined significantly. In 1984 the group was involved in a much publicized coach crash and Nolan was incapacitated for a considerable period. Matters worsened when Aston became involved in an affair with Hill, thereby straining the relationship with the awesome Martin. Feeling ostracized, guilty and emotionally confused, Aston attempted suicide, sold her dramatic story to the press and sought legal redress against Martin's Big Note Music after departing from the group. Martin and Shirley subsequently conducted another mass audition to find a replacement before choosing the totally unknown 21-year-old Shelley Preston (b. 16 May 1964, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England). Although the new line-up could not hope to match the success of its predecessor, the aptly titled New Beginning returned them to the Top 10. Chart success was relatively sparse thereafter and America remained unconquered, yet Bucks Fizz remained a strong live draw thanks mainly to their middle of the road appeal and backlog of eminently hummable hits. Cheryl Baker meanwhile, has increasingly found work as a children's television presenter.