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| Unable to find a big-name artist the BBC opened up Song For
Europe to all-comers in 1976. A grand final was
staged at the Royal Albert Hall where twelve acts performed for
the regional juries. This was also the start of a period
when groups would dominate the UK selection. Among the
soloists who fell by the wayside were Tony Christie,
Tammy Jones, Frank Ifield, making his last attempt to sing
for the UK and Hazell Dean making her first. In a bizarre
twist Polly Brown first sang solo then as one half of
Sweet Dreams. All were bested by a reconstituted
Brotherhood of Man, but lets not forget that Eurovision would be
missing an all-time classic if just one jury had voted
differently. |
| After such a resounding success the identical formula was
used in 1977, and a similarly semi-starry field was
present, including Carl Wayne, chart-toppers Sweet
Sensation and Lyn Paul, who had sung co-lead for the
New Seekers in 1972. Unfortunately a strike at the BBC
meant that the contest was not televised (a strike that would
even delay the song contest itself later in the year) so
Lynsey De Paul and Mike Moran's song was chosen by the juries
purely on the radio broadcast. |
| 1978 saw another twelve song final, but the list of
entrants was quite significantly lesser know than the previous
years, a trend that would sadly be continued in subsequent SFEs.
Labi Siffre was about the only notable artist, at least
winners Co-Co perhaps deserved a chance at Eurovision as
they had only lost out by a couple of points two years
earlier. This final saw a higher number of black
performers than previously and their collective lack of
success caused dismay in some quarters at the time. |
| The 1979 contest was again marred by BBC strike
action, this time not even being broadcast on radio. The
regional juries reached their decision based upon cassette
recording, that is, all but the Manchester jury which could not
be contacted!. Guys and Dolls, Herbie Flowers and
the mighty Nolan Sisters were thus unable to strut their
stuff to the nation, and so perhaps it's no surprise that the
rather banal "Mary Ann" took the crown. |
| After this debacle it was inevitable that SFE would be a less
attractive proposition for established acts and so the 1980
contest saw yet another reduction in even semi-famous names.
1978 winners Co-Co were back, now calling themselves The Main
Event, but they finished a resounding last of the dozen songs.
Perhaps the best known artist was Maggie Moone and her
very strong song finished equal top before sadly being pipped in
a tie-breaker. |
| 1981 saw the SFE continue to contract and diminish as
the number of finalists was reduced from twelve to eight. Gary
Benson who'd had a hit with his own composition from the 1975
SFE returned as a performer this time, but by far the biggest
names were pop/disco band Liquid Gold, who came a strong
second but had to give best to the gimmickry from Bucks Fizz.
The song in fourth place, "Have You Ever Been In Love" went on
to be a huge hit for Leo Sayer.
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| Despite the success of "Making Your Mind Up", the 1982
SFE did not see big names queueing up to defend the crown in
Harrogate, in fact quite the opposite. The winning song by Bardo
was virtually indistinguishable from most of the songs around
it. Paul Curtis, who was a constant presence a as songwriter in
80s SFE, took his first bow as a performer. The most interesting
song was "Dancing In Heaven" by Q-Feel which
became something of a cult electro dance classic, and
even cracked the American Hot 100 seven years later!. |
| By 1983 the curse of Bucks Fizz was in full swing as
SFE was swamped with bouncy, upbeat tunes sung by manufactured
"groups". Whether it was one-guy-two-girls,
two-guys-two-girls, or any other permutation the sound remained
the same, and quite often the singers too would be recruited each
year from the same pool of beaming wannabees. As
these tunes weren't setting Eurovision on fire, it was clearly
time for a shake-up. |
       
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