LOVE THE 80’s: Bucks Fizz – Five Of Their Very Best

Bucks Fizz celebrate five decades with a definitive anthology

Bucks Fizz are one of only a handful of acts to have survived the Eurovision Song Contest and gone on to enjoy huge success in the years after their entry. Indeed, after many years of pursuing solo projects, the quartet regrouped in 2004 and have gone on to record a number of albums and tour under the name of ‘The Fizz’, although now reduced to a trio. The original line up have just released a compilation of B sides and rare, previously unheard recordings from their back catalogue, “The Land Of Make Believe”, along with all their singles as part of a 5 disc collection.

Mike, Cheryl, Bobby and Jay came together to represent the UK at the 1981 Contest and won it with “Making Your Mind Up“. THAT routine may have helped things, but it was also an uplifting, joyous song that captured the hearts of the jury that night to give the UK their first win since 1976. The single went to number one and it wouldn’t be their last to top the charts over the coming years with a succession of top ten hits pouring out for much of decade to come. Their debut album would yield two further top twenty hits but it was Christmas/New Year 1981-82 that would put Bucks Fizz back on top with the lead single from their next album, “Are You Ready?”.

That album would produce a third number one with “My Camera Never Lies” and the ballad “Now Those Days Are Gone” (UK No.8). Further chart hits would come with “If You Can’t Stand The Heart” (1982) and “When We Were Young” (1983) and the group clocked up top twenty successes with “Talking In Your Sleep” in 1984 and “New Beginning” in 1986. A greatest hits album came in 1988 and the group called it a day, for now with Bobby continuing Bucks Fizz with new members into the 1990’s. Cheryl became a TV presenter, hosting Eggs And Baker and Record Breakers, But in 2004, all four members of the group came back together for an ‘original Bucks Fizz’ tour. They recorded the album “Fame And Fortune” in 2012 and followed this with “The F-Z Of Pop” in 2017, which made No.25 on the album chart, their first album chart success since “Hand Cut” in 1983.

Bobby left the group in early 2018 but Mike, Cheryl and Jay have continued as a trio, delivering “Smoke And Mirrors” in 2020 and “Everything Under The Sun” in 2022 as well as the singles “Don’t Start Without Me” (2018), “Winning Ways” and “The World Left Behind”, both 2020. Now we have a definitive collection, spanning 43 years of recordings, some well known, some previously unreleased. But which ones are your all time favourite Bucks/The Fizz sounds? Here are ours…

“Making Your Mind Up” (1981) No.1