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Described by some as "Britain's answer to Abba", Bucks
Fizz were the product of music gurus Nichola Martin and Andy Hill.
They were shot into the limelight in 1981 when they won Eurovision
with 'Making Your Mind Up'. Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan, Bobby Gee
and Jay Aston had a string of chart hits including three No.1 singles.
In 1985, Jay was replaced by Shelley Preston and in later years,
Mike Nolan was replaced by Dollar's David Van Day.
Cheryl
Baker has since become a popular TV presenter. Who can forget Eggs
& Baker and her stint on Record Breakers which lasted throughout
much of the '90s?
TOTP2
tracked Cheryl down to find out her current projects and talk about
her TOTP memories.
Of course, Bucks Fizz wasn't your first Eurovision attempt - we
remember you from Coco in 1978...
Cheryl: I can't believe it was 25 years ago.Ìý I remember
it as if it were yesterday.Ìý It was in Paris at Place de la
Concorde (if my memory is as good as I think it is).Ìý It was
the first time I remember staying in a posh swanky hotel.Ìý
 On
the night of the competition, where we came a miserable tenth (or
was it eleventh?) I remember going back to the hotel feeling totally
disillusioned.Ìý We had been built up by the British press to
be out-right favourites, so to lose so badly was soul-destroying.Ìý
I can't honestly say that I enjoyed anything about my first Eurovision
experience, even though it had been a childhood ambition. Dublin
in 1981 however, was a completely different kettle of fish.Ìý
They know how to party in Ireland!Ìý We had an absolute ball.Ìý
If we had lost, I would have still come out of it with good memories.
How do you feel when you look back at old
clips of you and the gang on
TV?
Cheryl:
I love watching old clips, although all my old videos had been stored
away for years.Ìý I got them out recently (as recent as last
week, some of them!) to show my children and have discovered two
new fans!Ìý The only problem with watching yourself when you
were 20 years younger, is that you were two stone lighter as well!
Pop's never been quite the same since the
Fizz introduced the skirt-ripping-off technique. How inspired! Who
came up with the idea??
Cheryl: Bucks Fizz, our manager and our production company
were sitting in a room discussing what to wear.Ìý Was the song
more '50's or '60's?Ìý In other words, was it Rock and Roll
or mini-skirted Mod?Ìý I remember distinctly suggesting that
we wear both, ripping one off during the song.Ìý Trouble is,
everyone else at that meeting remembers distinctly that it was them
that suggested it!Ìý My story still sticks though.
Want
to know if Cheryl still talks to Jay Aston and what she's up to
now? Read on...
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