UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
Winners -- A Song for Europe ( 1961–1995 )
Table:
Year

Artist

Song

UK Chart

At Eurovision

1961

The Allisons

"Are You Sure?"

2

2nd

1962

Ronnie Carroll

"Ring-A-Ding Girl"

46

4th

1963

Ronnie Carroll

"Say Wonderful Things"

6

4th

1964

Matt Monro

"I Love the Little Things"

Failed to chart[d]

2nd

1965

Kathy Kirby

"I Belong"

36

2nd

1966

Kenneth McKellar

"A Man Without Love"

30

9th

1967

Sandie Shaw

"Puppet on a String"

1

1st

1968

Cliff Richard

"Congratulations"

1

2nd

1969

Lulu

"Boom Bang-a-Bang"

2

1st

1970

Mary Hopkin

"Knock Knock, Who's There?"

2

2nd

1971

Clodagh Rodgers

"Jack in the Box"

4

4th

1972

The New Seekers

"Beg, Steal or Borrow"

2

2nd

1973

Cliff Richard

"Power to All Our Friends"

4

3rd

1974

Olivia Newton-John

"Long Live Love"

11

4th

1975

The Shadows

"Let Me Be the One"

12

2nd

1976

Brotherhood of Man

"Save Your Kisses for Me"

1

1st

1977

Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran

"Rock Bottom"

19

2nd

1978

Co-Co

"The Bad Old Days"

13

11th

1979

Black Lace

"Mary Ann"

42

7th

1980

Prima Donna

"Love Enough for Two"

48

3rd

Drawing on the following table together with the supplementary paragraphs below.

Respond to the question below: Which band was covered by the musician with the song Puppet on a String when she sang Hand in Glove ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

The United Kingdom was represented by The Allisons in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Are You Sure ? . The Allisons an English pop duo were chosen as to represent the UK , the song came 2nd in the contest and reached No2 in the UK singles charts . They went on to come 2nd in the contest .
The Allisons were an English pop duo consisting of Bob Day ( born Bernard Colin Day ; 2 February 1941 - 25 November 2013 ) and John Alford ( born Brian Henry John Alford , 31 December 1939 ) . They were marketed as being brothers , using the surname of Allison .
Are You Sure ? is a song by British pop duo The Allisons , that represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 , performed in English . The song was performed 15th on the night of the contest , held on 18 March 1961 , following Luxembourg 's Jean-Claude Pascal with Nous les amoureux , and preceding Italy 's Betty Curtis with Al di là . The song received 24 points , placing 2nd in a field of 16 , the third consecutive second place Eurovision finish for the UK for whom two subsequent Eurovision entrants would also be second-place finishers before Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw would give the UK its first Eurovision victory at Eurovision 1967 . Are You Sure ? was also the first UK Eurovision entrant to become a Top Ten hit reaching # 2 UK , the best chart showing for a UK Eurovision entrant until Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw reached No . 1 in 1967 . The song was succeeded as the UK representative at the 1962 Contest by Ronnie Carroll with Ring-A-Ding Girl . The lyrics are memorable for a possibly unique example of the bizarre grammatical error Comes tomorrow , you wo n't want me .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1962 . It was held on 11 February 1962 and presented by David Jacobs . Ring-a-Ding Girl won the national , performed by Ronnie Carroll went on to come 4th in the contest .
Ronnie Carroll ( born Ronald Cleghorn ; 18 August 1934 - 13 April 2015 ) was a Northern Irish singer , entertainer and political candidate .
Ring-A-Ding Girl was the British entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1962 , performed in English by Ronnie Carroll , On the night of the contest the song was performed 13th , following Yugoslavia 's Lola Novaković with Ne pali svetlo u sumrak and Luxembourg 's Camillo Felgen with Petit bonhomme . At the close of the voting the song had received 10 points , placing 4th in a field of 16 . The song reached # 46 on the UK Singles Chart . Ronnie Carroll returned as the British representative at the following year 's Eurovision Song Contest held in London with Say Wonderful Things .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 . It was held on 24 February 1963 and presented by David Jacobs . For a second year running Ronnie Caroll represented the UK with a song called Say Wonderful Things and went on to come 4th in the contest . In addition to hosting the national final , David Jacobs provided the BBC TV commentary at the Eurovision final . Nicholas Parsons served as the jury spokesperson for the UK .
Say Wonderful Things is a popular song with music by Philip Green and lyrics by Norman Newell , published in 1963 . It was the United Kingdom 's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 , held in London . The singer was Ronnie Carroll , who also represented the UK the year before . The song finished fourth behind Denmark , Switzerland and Italy ; eventually reaching No . 6 in the UK Singles Chart . The most popular version of the song in the United States was recorded by Patti Page , as the title song of her first album for Columbia Records . Page 's record peaked only at No . 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 but was more successful in Australia , continental Europe and in Asian territories such as Hong Kong and Japan .
The United Kingdom held a national selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 . It was held on 7 February 1964 and presented by David Jacobs . Matt Monro was chosen to sing the entry and juries made up of members of the public in sixteen UK cities selected I Love the Little Things for him to sing at the Eurovision final , where it placed 2nd in the contest . Monro released all six songs from the UK final on an Extended Play maxi single A Song for Europe , which reached number 16 in the EP top 20 chart . He subsequently released the winning song on single , with the runner up on the B-Side , but this single failed to reach the official UK singles chart . At the Eurovision the BBC TV commentary was provided by David Jacobs , whilst Ian Fenner provided radio commentary for British Forces Radio . The Austrian entry in the 1964 contest Warum nur , warum ? , performed by songwriter Udo Jürgens , caught Monro 's ear , despite its sixth-place finish , and he recorded an English version titled Walk Away ( lyric by Monro 's manager Don Black ) , earning him another hit single late in 1964 .
Matt Monro ( born Terence Edward Parsons , 1 December 1930 - 7 February 1985 ) was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s and 1970s . Known as The Man with the Golden Voice , he filled cabarets , nightclubs , music halls , and stadiums across the world in his 30-year career . AllMusic has described Monro as one of the most underrated pop vocalists of the '60s , who possessed the easiest , most perfect baritone in the business . His recordings include the UK Top 10 hits : Portrait of My Love , My Kind of Girl , Softly As I Leave You , Walk Away and Yesterday ( Originally by The Beatles ) . He also recorded several film themes such as From Russia with Love for the James Bond film of the same name , Born Free for the film of the same name and On Days Like These for The Italian Job .
I Love the Little Things was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 , performed in English by Matt Monro . The song was written by Tony Hatch The song was performed eighth on the night ( following France 's Rachel with Le chant de Mallory and preceding the Germany 's Nora Nova with Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne ) . At the close of voting , it had received 17 points , placing 2nd in a field of 16 . The song deals with Monro telling his lover that he loves the little things she does and says , that he is so much in love with her that he wants to stay together forever . When you touch me and hold me And kiss me tenderly I know I 'm so lucky That you came along for me It was succeeded as British representative at the 1965 Contest by Kathy Kirby with I Belong .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 . It was held on 29 January 1965 and presented by David Jacobs . The BBC internally selected the singer for the second time . They chose a solo female singer , Kathy Kirby , whose looks were compared to Marilyn Monroe and who had just scored four consecutive top 20 hit singles . The song was then selected by viewers of The Kathy Kirby Show on BBC1 , casting votes on postcards via post , with the winner I Belong , receiving 110,495 votes . Kirby released all six songs from the UK final on an Extended Play maxi single BBC TV 's A Song for Europe , which reached number 9 in the UK EP top 20 chart . She subsequently re-recorded the winner and the runner up with different arrangements and released these tracks on a single , which peaked at number 36 in the UK singles chart . Chris Andrews had written one of the six finalists , One Day which was recorded by Sandie Shaw with whom he regularly collaborated . Shaw would be the artist selected to represent the UK in the 1967 contest , when again Andrews submitted a song . At the Eurovision final in Naples , the UK finished in 2nd place for a record fifth time . At the Eurovision final the BBC TV commentary was provided by David Jacobs with David Gell providing the domestic BBC radio commentary . Ian Fenner provided radio commentary for British Forces Radio .
Kathy Kirby ( born Kathleen O'Rourke ; 20 October 1938 - 19 May 2011 ) was an English singer , reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation . She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day 's Secret Love and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest where she finished in second place . Her physical appearance often drew comparisons with Marilyn Monroe . Her popularity peaked in the 1960s , when she was one of the best-known and most-recognised personalities in British show business .
I Belong is a song that served as the United Kingdom 's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 . Its music was written by singer Daniel Boone ( credited under his real name , Peter Lee Sterling ) , and its lyrics were written by Phil Peters . It was performed at Eurovision by Kathy Kirby , where it came in 2nd place , losing to Luxembourg 's Poupée de cire , poupée de son , performed by France Gall . Kirby also recorded the song as a single , and it peaked on the music charts at No . 36 in Britain and No . 5 in Singapore . The song tells of the joy of finding true love for the first time , after a string of bad relationships :
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 , with the BBC selecting Kenneth McKellar to perform all the entries under consideration . After performing the five shortlisted songs weekly on BBC1 's Kenneth McKellar 's A Song For Everyone , the final was held on 27 January 1966 and presented by David Jacobs . McKellar released an extended play maxi single featuring the five songs , subsequently releasing a single featuring the winner and the runner up , which reached number 30 in the UK singles chart . Viewers cast votes on postcards via mail to choose the winning song , which was A Man Without Love . At the Eurovision Song Contest , McKellar performed last in the contest , finishing 9th out of 18 entries , the worst showing to date for a British entry ; a record maintained until 1978 . David Jacobs provided the BBC Television commentary , it was Jacobs ' sixth and last time he provided the British commentary for the Eurovision . British Forces Radio also broadcast the contest with commentary provided by Ian Fenner . Michael Aspel served as spokesperson for the U.K Jury .
Kenneth McKellar ( 23 June 1927 - 9 April 2010 ) was a Scottish tenor .
A Man Without Love was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 , performed in English by Kenneth McKellar . The song is a ballad , with McKellar comparing a man without love and a man with love . He explains that a man without love is only half a man , this nothing , and a man with love is everything in life . For the performance of the song in Luxembourg , McKellar wore the traditional Scottish kilt . A Man Without Love peaked at no . 30 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1966 . It was performed eighteenth and last on the night , following Ireland 's Dickie Rock with Come Back to Stay . At the close of voting , it had received eight points ( five from Ireland and three from Luxembourg ) , placed ninth in a field of 18 ( the worst placing for the United Kingdom until 1978 . It was succeeded as British representative at the 1967 contest by Sandie Shaw with Puppet on a String .
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 . It was held on 25 February 1967 and presented by Rolf Harris . Harris 's weekly show had been the showcase for the five songs in the competition , which had been performed in successive weeks prior to the final . Harris himself would be the BBC 's commentator for the final in Vienna . The internal BBC selection of Sandie Shaw as the singer was something of a departure ; in recognition of changing trends in the contest , she was arguably the first real pop star to be chosen as the UK representative . Shaw and her manager Eve Taylor were permitted to select one of the finalists , submitting Had a Dream Last Night written by her regular songwriter and producer Chris Andrews , who had previously had a song in the 1965 UK final , One Day performed by Kathy Kirby . Shaw had recorded a version of that track herself . Viewers voted on postcards via mail to decide the winner and the chosen song was Puppet On A String . After placing second five times , the UK finally won Eurovision 10 years after the nation 's first entry performed by Patricia Bredin in 1957 . Shaw released all five songs from the contest , with the winner featuring the runner up on the B-Side of a single that reached No.1 in the single chart for three weeks and selling in excess of 4,000,000 copies worldwide . Some estimates make this the biggest selling single globally by a British female artist . In Germany it sold in excess of 1,000,000 copies and was the biggest selling single of the year .
Sandie Shaw , MBE ( born Sandra Ann Goodrich ; 26 February 1947 ) is an English singer . One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s , she had three UK number one singles with ( There 's ) Always Something There to Remind Me ( 1964 ) , Long Live Love ( 1965 ) and Puppet on a String ( 1967 ) . With Puppet on a String , she became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest . She returned to the UK top 40 , for the first time in 15 years , with her 1984 cover of the Smiths song Hand in Glove . Shaw announced her retirement from the music industry in 2013 .
Puppet on a String is a song recorded by British singer Sandie Shaw . The song was written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter . It is best known as the British winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 , held in Vienna . It was her thirteenth UK single release . The song was a UK Singles Chart number one hit on 27 April 1967 , staying at the top for a total of three weeks . Al Hirt released a version of the song in 1967 that went to number 18 on the Adult Contemporary chart and # 129 on the Billboard Hot 100 .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 . It was held on 5 March 1968 and presented by Cilla Black as a special edition of her debut BBC1 TV series 'Cilla ' . Black had been the BBC 's first choice to sing the 1968 UK entry , but she had turned it down as she did not believe any nation was likely to win back-to-back contests . As in 1967 when the UK won with Sandie Shaw , a current pop singer , Cliff Richard , was chosen to sing the song . Unlike the last three UK selections , the songs were not presented at all before the final . Instead , for the first time , the songs were broadcast twice in the final , with the performances repeated immediately after Richard had sung them successively . Viewers cast votes by postcard via mail to choose the winner and 171,300 chose Congratulations , a catchy party song , with the runner up over 140,000 behind in the poll . The result was broadcast one week later on 12 March 1968 . Richard released all six short listed songs on an Extended Play maxi single titled Congratulations : Cliff sings 6 Songs for Europe , with the winner and the runner up being released on a standard single that spent two weeks at No.1 in the UK singles chart . This was the first of only two tracks from the Eurovision Song Contest that topped the UK chart without winning the competition . Cliff recorded French , German , Italian and Spanish versions of the winning song , as well as a German version of Wonderful World , which was also recorded ( in English ) by Elvis Presley . Congratulations finished a close second in the contest , losing only to Spain by one point .
Sir Cliff Richard OBE ( born Harry Rodger Webb on 14 October 1940 ) is a British singer , musician , performer , actor and philanthropist . Richard has sold more than 250 million records worldwide . He has total sales of over 21 million singles in the United Kingdom and is the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history , behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley . Richard was originally marketed as a rebellious rock and roll singer in the style of Elvis Presley and Little Richard . With his backing group , the Shadows , Richard dominated the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s to early 1960s . His 1958 hit single Move It is often described as Britain 's first authentic rock and roll song ; in the opinion of John Lennon of the Beatles , before Cliff and the Shadows , there had been nothing worth listening to in British music . Increased focus on his Christianity and subsequent softening of his music led to a more middle-of-the-road image and he sometimes ventured into contemporary Christian music . Over a career spanning 60 years , Richard has amassed many gold and platinum discs and awards , including two Ivor Novello Awards and three Brit Awards . More than 130 of his singles , albums and EPs have reached the UK Top 20 , more than any other artist . Richard has had 67 UK top ten singles , the second highest total for an artist behind Elvis . Richard holds the record ( with Elvis ) as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all of its first six decades ( 1950s-2000s ) . He has achieved 14 UK number-one singles , and is the only singer to have had a number-one single in the UK in five consecutive decades .
Congratulations is a song recorded by British singer Cliff Richard . The song was written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter . It is best known as the British entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 , held in London .
The United Kingdom held a televised national pre-selection broadcast on BBC1 to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 with Scottish singer Lulu chosen to represent the UK .
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns , OBE ( born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie ; 3 November 1948 ) is a Scottish singer-songwriter , actress , TV personality and businesswoman . She is noted for her powerful singing voice . She is internationally known , but especially by UK audiences in the 1960s . Later in her career she had hits internationally with To Sir with Love from the 1967 film of the same name and with the title song to the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun . In European countries , she is also widely known for her Eurovision Song Contest 1969 winning entry Boom Bang-a-Bang , and in the UK for her 1964 hit Shout , which was performed at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow .
Boom Bang-a-Bang is a song recorded by British singer Lulu . The song was written by Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne . It is best known as the British winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 , held in Madrid . It was the joint winner with three other entries : Salomé singing Vivo cantando for Spain , Lenny Kuhr singing De troubadour for the Netherlands , and Frida Boccara singing Un jour , un enfant for France . The song was the second consecutive entry with a nonsense title to win the contest ( after Massiel 's triumph in 1968 with La La La ) , and became infamous in the comedy world - most notably inspiring Monty Python 's Flying Circus to parody it with Bing Tiddle-Tiddle Bong ( Python precursor I 'm Sorry , I 'll Read That Again had previously had Bill Oddie do something similar with a song for which the title was rendered entirely in sound effects ) . The Python parody song was part of the Europolice Song Contest sketch in the How To Recognize Different Parts of the Body episode in 1970 . Lyrically , the song is a plea from the singer to her lover to cuddle me tight . She then goes on to explain that my heart goes boom bang-a-bang boom bang-a-bang when you are near , complete with appropriate musical accompaniment . The single made No . 2 in the UK Singles Chart and was a major hit throughout Europe . The song was succeeded as the winner in 1970 by Dana singing All Kinds of Everything for Ireland . Over two decades after its first release , the song was included on a blacklist of banned songs issued by the BBC during the 1991 Gulf War .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 . Knock , Knock Who 's There ? won the national preselection and went on to come 2nd in the Eurovision final . The song was released as a single and became a hit across Europe , peaking at No.2 in the UK , with the runner up I 'm Gon na Fall In Love Again on the B-Side . Belatedly , it also became a minor US hit for her in 1972 .
Mary Hopkin ( born 3 May 1950 ) , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti ( from her marriage to Tony Visconti ) , is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single Those Were the Days . She was one of the first to sign to the Beatles ' Apple label .
Knock , Knock Who 's There ? is a song written and composed by John Carter and Geoff Stephens . It was originally sung and recorded by the Welsh singer Mary Hopkin and was the United Kingdom 's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 , where it came second . The single version was produced by Mickie Most and reached No . 2 on the UK charts .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 . It was held on 20 February 1971 and presented by Cliff Richard as part of the BBC1 TV series It 's Cliff Richard ! Clodagh Rodgers , a singer and actress from Northern Ireland , best known for her hit singles including , 1969 hits Come Back and Shake Me and Goodnight Midnight sang all the six finalists in the contest , having been chosen by the BBC to represent the UK , in part due to worries as to what reaction the UK artist would face at the contest in Dublin . Rodgers performed the songs weekly , before showcasing all six in the Song for Europe edition of the Cliff Richard Show , where they were also immediately repeated . Due to a postal strike , viewers were unable to cast votes for the songs this year , so 8 regional juries , consisting of 10 jurors with just one vote each for their favourite song , were constructed from members of the public . These juries were located in Belfast , Birmingham , Bristol , Cardiff , Glasgow , London , Manchester & Norwich . Jack in the Box was chosen as the winning song , with two songs tying for second place . Rodgers released a standard 7-inch single of the winner , with one of the runners-up Someone To Love Me on the B-Side . She also released a three-track maxi single which included the other second placed song , The Wind of Change . The combined sales of the two singles reached No.4 in the UK singles chart ; Rodgers last top 10 single in the UK . Later in the year , she released a fourth song from the final Look Left , Look Right , together with the three already released tracks on the LP Rodgers and Heart . Another Time , Another Place was then included on the 1972 budget LP Clodagh Rodgers , after it had become a No.13 hit single for Engelbert Humperdinck .
Clodagh Rodgers ( born 5 March 1947 ) is a singer and actress from Northern Ireland , best known for her hit singles including Come Back and Shake Me , Goodnight Midnight , and Jack in the Box .
Jack in the Box , written by David Myers and composed by John Worsley , was the United Kingdom 's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 , performed by the Northern Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers . The singer expresses her strong feelings of love to a man who treats her like a toy , thus providing the jack in the box simile , as she feels that in exchange of his love , she would gladly bounce on a spring like the aforementioned toy ( but is n't so thrilled to do it without reciprocation ) . At the end of the song , however , she lets this man know that one day she will be fed up enough to leave , so she hopes he will tell her he loves her , as she will do anything ( within a reasonable time frame ) to hear those words . On 20 February 1971 Rodgers sang six songs at the UK National Final , A Song for Europe , which was aired on the television series It 's Cliff Richard ! . Rodgers was chosen by the BBC to be the United Kingdom 's representative for that year , with the intent to ease tensions between Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Due to a postal service strike , regional juries voted and picked Jack in the Box , the third song performed that evening , to accompany Rodgers to Dublin . Rodgers later said she received death threats from the Irish Republican Army for representing the United Kingdom at Eurovision . In 1971 , each national broadcaster was required to show preview videos ; the BBC used footage from It 's Cliff Richard ! to showcase during Preview Week . At Dublin , the song was performed ninth on the night , after Luxembourg 's Monique Melsen with Pomme , pomme , pomme , and before Belgium 's Lily Castel and Jacques Raymond with Goeiemorgen , Morgen . For the performance Rodgers wore a pink frilly top and spangled hot pants . At the end of judging that evening , Jack in the Box took the fourth-place slot with 98 points .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 . It was held on 12 February 1972 and presented by Cliff Richard as a special edition of his BBC1 TV series It 's Cliff Richard ! All songs were performed by the group The New Seekers , the first group ever to represent the UK in the contest and the first quintet ever to appear in Eurovision as a group . Contemporary press reports suggested that Cliff Richard was the first artist selected to represent the UK in 1972 by the BBC , but he was already committed to a concert on the date of the contest - 25 March 1972 - and was thus unavailable . As The New Seekers were booked to appear on his 1972 UK series , the BBC opted to offer them the opportunity . The group had just spent five weeks at No.2 with the song Never Ending Song of Love when they were confirmed as the UK entrants and their single I 'd Like To Teach The World To Sing hit No.1 for four weeks at the same week the group began presenting the six short listed songs weekly on the Cliff Richard show . Beg , Steal or Borrow was chosen by viewers who cast votes via postcard through the mail . The UK was undergoing national and regional power cuts during the winter of 1972 , due to a coal mining strike , leading to many viewers missing the broadcast of the six songs and the result the following week . The postal vote was thus lower than in previous years , but the winner still received 62,584 votes . The group released all six songs from the UK final shortly after the contest . The winner , together with the runner up One By One , was released on single and spent three weeks at No . 2 in the UK singles chart .
The New Seekers are an English pop group , formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group , The Seekers . The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers , but their music would have pop as well as folk influences . They achieved worldwide success in the early 1970s with hits including I 'd Like to Teach the World to Sing , You Wo n't Find Another Fool Like Me and Beg , Steal or Borrow .
Beg , Steal or Borrow was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 , performed in English by The New Seekers . The song was composed and written by Tony Cole , Steve Wolfe and Graeme Hall . On the night of the contest , the song was directed by David Mackay . The theme is a love song to a former lover . The two lovers should be together and one of them will beg , steal or borrow in order to bring the other love . At the Contest , it was performed fifth on the night , following Spain 's Jaime Morey with Amanece and preceding Norway 's Grethe Kausland and Benny Borg with Småting . At the close of voting , it had received 114 points , placing 2nd in a field of 18 .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 . It was held on 24 February 1973 and presented by Cilla Black as part of her BBC1 series Cilla . Cliff Richard performed all of the six finalists in the final , where the performances were then immediately repeated . He had previously performed one of the songs weekly in the run up to the final . Richard had been permitted to choose two songs for the shortlist of 12 entries , from which a panel including his manager and producer selected the final six . Viewers cast votes by postcards through the mail to choose the winning song and Power To All Our Friends was the winner with 125,505 votes , very nearly four times the score of the runner-up Come Back Billie-Jo which polled 34,209 . Both songs were released as the A & B-Sides of a single , which reached No.4 in the UK singles chart , Cliff 's first top 5 hit since Congratulations in 1968 and his last until 1979 . For the first and only time in the history of the contest , all the entries from the UK final reached the UK singles chart . Following the release of the top two songs , the remaining four were issued as an extended play Eurovision Special single , which reached No.29 in the charts later in the year . The lead track , Help It Along was later released as the title track of Cliff 's 1974 live album of Christian gospel music . All six songs were eventually made available on CD compilations . Richard recorded German , Spanish and French versions of the winning song .
Power to All Our Friends is a song by Cliff Richard which was chosen as the British entry to the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest , where it came third . It was released as a single in 1973 and reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and became an international hit reaching number one in numerous countries . The song was selected for the 1973 Eurovision entry by a postal vote which was decided by BBC Television viewers after Richard performed six contending songs on A Song For Europe , featured on Cilla Black 's BBC1 Saturday evening show Cilla . The runner-up song was Come Back Billie Jo , which was included as the B-side on the single . It was criticised for containing a solecism where it described a girl as laying down in Monte Carlo - it meant lying down . For the live performance of the song at the Eurovision final , BBC boss Bill Cotton requested that Cliff sing the correct English lying down in Monte Carlo . Richard had previously represented the United Kingdom in 1968 with Congratulations , which came second .
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 . It was held on 23 February 1974 and presented by Jimmy Savile as part of the BBC1 TV series Clunk , Click . As It Happens , with Olivia Newton-John selected to perform all of the entries , in part due to the recommendation of her close friend Cliff Richard . Originally , as with 1973 , Cilla Black 's 1974 nine-part BBC series was scheduled to feature the 'Song for Europe ' process , but Black was uncomfortable at promoting another female singer ( Newton-John ) each week throughout the series ' run and in a rather last minute decision , the BBC arranged to move the process to another show . This necessitated a truncating of the regularly established format of the chosen artist performing one song a week on the given series , so it was planned that Newton-John would perform two songs a week for three weeks once the series started . However , a BBC strike led to the cancellation of the first show , so another revision was needed and Olivia performed three songs a show over two programmes . In the final , her performances were immediately repeated before viewers were asked to cast votes via postcards through the mail to choose the winner . An extremely low postal vote led to Long Live Love winning with just 27,387 votes . The top two songs from the contest were released on single , reaching No . 11 in the UK Singles Chart , the first UK entry since 1966 not to reach the top ten , or indeed , the top four . Newton-John had just signed a new recording contract with EMI internationally , who released the single in most territories , but it was released on Pye International in the UK as the final commitment of her previously existing contract . All six songs were included on her debut EMI album Long Live Love released later in 1974 , although these tracks were dropped from the US release .
Dame Olivia Newton-John , AC , DBE ( born 26 September 1948 ) is an English-born Australian singer , songwriter , actress , dancer , entrepreneur and activist . She is a four-time Grammy Award winner who has amassed five number-one and ten other top-ten Billboard Hot 100 singles , and two number-one Billboard 200 albums . Eleven of her singles ( including two Platinum ) and 14 of her albums ( including two Platinum and four 2x Platinum ) have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) . She has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide , making her one of the world 's best-selling artists of all time . She starred in the 1978 musical film Grease and its soundtrack is one of the most successful in history , with the single You 're the One That I Want , with co-star John Travolta , one of the best-selling singles of all time . Newton-John has been a long-time activist for environmental and animal rights issues . She has been an advocate for health awareness , becoming involved with various charities , health products and fundraising efforts . Her business interests have included launching several product lines for Koala Blue and co-owning the Gaia Retreat & Spa in Australia . Newton-John has been married twice . She is the mother of one daughter , Chloe Lattanzi , with her first husband , actor Matt Lattanzi . She married John Easterling in 2008 .
Long Live Love was the British entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 in Brighton , United Kingdom . It was sung by Olivia Newton-John in English . The song 's composers , Valerie Avon and Harold Spiro , had worked together as staff writers for Belwin Mills Publishing since 1970 and had placed songs with several artists : Newton-John had recorded the Avon/Spiro composition Do n't Move Away as a duet with Cliff Richard , the track serving as B-side to Richard 's 1971 hit Sunny Honey Girl . Long Live Love was the third bid Avon and Spriro had made to have a song of their composing be the UK Eurovision entrant , having finished 4th in a field of six at A Song For Europe 1970 with Can I Believe while at A Song For Europe 1971 the Avon/Spiro composition In My World of Beautiful Things had finished 6th in a field of six . Newton-John introduced one of each of the six nominated songs on a broadcast of Jimmy Savile 's Clunk Click TV show ; on 23 February 1974 a TV broadcast entitled A Song For Europe 1974 announced the tally of viewers ' mailed-in ballots , with Long Live Love the clear victor at 27,387 votes . The runner-up , Angel Eyes - which was Newton-John 's favourite - gained 18,018 votes . Considered a strong contender for Eurovision 1974 , Long Live Love was performed second on the night of the final ( following Finland 's Carita Holmström singing Keep Me Warm and preceding Spain 's Peret with Canta y sé feliz ) . The conductor for the number was Nick Ingman and Newton-John was backed by a five-woman chorale which included the Ladybirds , the trio who had sung backup for Sandie Shaw on her victorious performance of Puppet on a String at Eurovision 1967 . At the close of voting Long Live Love had received 14 points to place in a three way tie for 4th in a field of 17 , Bye Bye I Love You by Ireen Sheer singing for Luxembourg and Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va by Romuald singing for Monaco also having accrued 14 points . Newton-John admitted post-contest : I was never really happy with the song I had to sing . Newton-John made recorded versions of all the songs she had performed for UK Eurovision 1974 consideration , these tracks making up half of Long Live Love , a December 1974 Olivia Newton-John album release , with Angel Eyes being utilized as the B-side of the single release of Long Live Love . In the British Isles Long Live Love charted in the UK with a # 11 peak and reached # 9 in Ireland : the track also afforded Newton-John a # 11 hit in her adopted homeland of Australia .
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 . The Shadows were selected by the BBC to represent the UK , after BBC executive Bill Cotton had stated that he specifically wanted a group to sing for Britain in 1975 . His choice was met with a negative response by the UK media , the song writing community and the general public . Members of the group were responsible for two of the six shortlisted songs , causing a further outcry from the music publishers associations . The Shadows performed one song a week for six weeks on the BBC1 TV series Lulu , hosted by 1969 Eurovision joint winner Lulu . Uniquely , although the group were seen performing weekly , in fact they only recorded one performance of each of the six songs in December 1974 , for a special edition of the series broadcast on 15 February 1975 . These performances were then shown individually for the six week period , before being shown back-to-back in the final , followed by an immediate repeat of all six . Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song and the winning entry announced on 22 February was Let Me Be The One which received 17,477 votes , the lowest published figure known for a winning song in the UK finals that used either voting by mail or telephone . The choice of The Shadows led to calls from the Music Publishers Association for the songwriters and composers to be allowed to select the artist of their choice to perform the songs in future UK selections for Eurovision and the low postal vote persuaded the BBC that a new format was indeed needed . This was inaugurated in 1976 . The winning song was written by Paul Curtis , who won the Song for Europe contest another three times , making him the most successful writer in the history of the UK selection process . He also wrote a further 21 songs that reached the UK finals .
The Shadows ( originally known as the Drifters ) were an English instrumental rock group . They were Cliff Richard 's backing band from 1958 to 1968 and on numerous reunion tours . The Shadows have placed 69 UK charted singles from the 1950s to the 2000s , 35 credited to the Shadows and 34 to Cliff Richard and the Shadows . The group , who were in the forefront of the UK beat-group boom , were the first backing band to emerge as stars . As pioneers of the four-member instrumental format , the band consisted of lead guitar , rhythm guitar , bass guitar and drums . Their range covers pop , rock , surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence . The core members from 1958 to 2015 were Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch . Along with the Fender guitar , another cornerstone of the Shadows sound was the Vox amplifier . The Shadows , with Cliff Richard , dominated British popular music in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the years before the Beatles . The Shadows ' number one hits included Apache , Kon-Tiki , Wonderful Land , Foot Tapper and Dance On ! . They disbanded in 1968 , but reunited in the 1970s for further commercial success . The Shadows are the fourth most successful act in the UK singles chart , behind Elvis Presley , the Beatles , and Cliff Richard .
Let Me Be the One was the United Kingdom 's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 , written by Paul Curtis and performed in English by the band The Shadows . The song was performed ninth on the night ( following Yugoslavia 's Pepel in Kri with Dan ljubezni and preceding Malta 's Renato with Singing This Song ) . At the close of voting , it had received 138 points , placing 2nd in a field of 19 .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 . Save Your Kisses for Me won the national final , performed on stage with dance moves and four brightly dressed singers , it ultimately went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest itself and become a UK No.1 single , the group had a 2 further UK No.1 singles over the next 18 months . The track was the biggest selling single of 1976 in the UK and the sixth biggest selling for the 1970s in Britain , with sales well in excess of 1 million copies . Globally , the track attained sales of over 6 million , making it the biggest selling winning single in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest .
Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s . They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with Save Your Kisses for Me . Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller , Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers . Early on , they scored a worldwide hit with the song United We Stand . By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee , Lee Sheriden , Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens . This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby , Angelo , Oh Boy ( The Mood I 'm In ) and Figaro . They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums . The group under this line-up still continues , performing shows throughout Europe . Altogether , they have released 16 studio albums , with worldwide sales topping 15 million records .
Save Your Kisses for Me was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 , performed for the United Kingdom by Brotherhood of Man in The Hague , Netherlands . The lyrics and music were written by Tony Hiller , Lee Sheriden , and Martin Lee , the latter two being members of the band . The song became a worldwide hit , reaching No . 1 in many countries , including the UK , where it became the biggest-selling song of the year . Overall , it remains one of the biggest-selling Eurovision winners ever , and the biggest such seller in the UK .
Playing host to the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 , the United Kingdom was expected to , and did , send an entry to the Contest , which was held in Wembley , London . The national final to select the entry , A Song for Europe 1977 , was held on 9 March 1977 at the New London Theatre and presented by Terry Wogan . Minutes before the show went live , a strike by BBC cameramen was called , preventing the televised broadcast of the show . The contest went ahead and a few hours later , the audio was aired on BBC Radio 2 . The voting consisted of 14 Regional Juries , made up of member of the public , located in Belfast , Bristol , Aberdeen , Bangor , Leeds , London , Birmingham , Cardiff , Glasgow , Norwich , Newcastle , Manchester , Plymouth and Southampton . The winning song was Rock Bottom , written , composed and performed by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran . The song says that when people are in a bad situation they should work to solve problems and not be pessimistic about tragedies . Apparently it represents the situation at the time . This was reflected in the unrest surrounding the 1977 Song for Europe and the subsequent Eurovision Song Contest , which was due to take place in Wembley on April 2nd . Due to the cameramen 's industrial action that spread throughout the BBC , many live broadcasts were affected in the coming weeks and the 1977 Eurovision final was cancelled . On 30 March the strike was resolved and the contest was rescheduled for 7 May . At the Eurovision final , the UK entry was performed ninth in the running order and finished in 2nd place , a record 10th British entry to finish 2nd .
Lynsey de Paul ( born Lynsey Monckton Rubin ; 11 June 1948 - 1 October 2014 ) was an English singer-songwriter . She had chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s , starting with the UK top 10 single Sugar Me , becoming the first British female artist to achieve a number one with a self-written song ( in 1972 in Belgium , Spain and The Netherlands and in 1973 in Malaysia ) . She represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest , scoring another chart topping hit in Switzerland and had a successful career as a two time Ivor Novello Award-winning composer , record producer , actress and television celebrity .
Michael Mike Moran ( born 4 March 1948 Leeds , West Yorkshire , England ) is a musician , songwriter and record producer .
Rock Bottom was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 , performed in English by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran . It was also written and produced by de Paul and Moran and released on the Polydor record label . Originally it was written for the group Blue Mink ; and submitted unbeknown to de Paul and Moran as an entry for A Song For Europe by the publishers and when it was selected , de Paul agreed to perform the song if Moran would join her . On 9 March 1977 , Rock Bottom was selected to represent the UK at the A Song for Europe 1977 event held at the New London Theatre , presented by Terry Wogan . It was the first time that a singer/songwriter represent the U.K. at the Eurovision Song Contest . The jaunty sing-a-long song says that when people are in a bad situation they should work to solve problems and not be pessimistic about tragedies . Apparently it represented the situation at the time ; Eurovision 1977 was almost cancelled due to budget restrictions and it was delayed by five weeks due to a strike by cameramen and technicians . The BBC , who had to host the contest that year , did not give the song its whole-hearted support because it was the favourite to win the contest and , if it had won , then they would have to finance and host the 1978 contest . The song contest was planned to take place on 2 April due to the cameramen and technicians being on strike , but it was rescheduled and finally took place on 7 May . The song was performed ninth on the night , following Portugal 's Os Amigos with Portugal no coração and preceding Greece 's Pascalis , Marianna , Robert & Bessy with Mathima Solfege . At the close of voting , it had received 121 points , placing second in a field of 18 entries . It was preceded by Save Your Kisses for Me by Brotherhood of Man as the British representative at the Eurovision Song Contest and succeeded by Co-Co with The Bad Old Days .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 . It was held on Friday 31 March 1978 at the Royal Albert Hall and presented by Terry Wogan . The songs were backed by the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra . The Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast on 22 April 1978 , with Terry Wogan providing the BBC Television commentary and Ray Moore providing the BBC Radio 2 commentary . Colin Berry returned to present the UK jury results .
Co-Co was a six-piece British band who represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 , staged at the Palais de Congrès in Paris , France , on 22 April 1978 , with the song The Bad Old Days . The song was written by husband-and-wife team Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater . It was finally placed eleventh of the 20 entries , which at the time was the worst showing ever for a UK entry . It would not be until 1987 that any British song fared worse in Eurovision . The group were originally called Mother 's Pride .
The Bad Old Days was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 , performed in English by Co-Co . The song , written by Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater was an uptempo love song , with the narrator recalling 'the bad old days ' before they met their current partner .
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 . A Song for Europe 1979 was planned to take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 8 March . After a day 's rehearsals at the Royal Albert Hall a strike by BBC technicians stopped the show . Audio recordings of the songs were voted on by 14 regional juries : Bristol , Bangor , Leeds , Norwich , Newcastle , Aberdeen , Birmingham , Belfast , Cardiff , Plymouth , Glasgow , Southampton and London . The jury in Manchester could not be contacted and since the winner had a more than 12 point winning margin , their scores were not included . This led to an immaterial tie for second place . The following day , the 12 songs were broadcast on Terry Wogan 's Radio 2 show and a recap of the top places , plus an interview with the winners took place on the BBC TV Show Nationwide the same evening . The Manchester scores were eventually verified , with song 12 'Fantasy ' being awarded 2nd place ahead of song 6 'Call My Name ' . Black Lace were the winners of A Song for Europe with Mary Ann and went on to place 7th at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem , Israel . This was also the only Eurovision between 1972 and 2008 in which Terry Wogan did not provide either the television or radio commentary . Wogan had originally been scheduled to provide the television commentary but opted out of going to Israel following comments he made of the 1978 winner A-Ba-Ni-Bi sounding like I Wan na Be a Polar Bear . Instead his Radio 2 colleague John Dunn provided the television commentary .
Black Lace are a British pop band , best known for novelty party records , including their biggest hit , Agadoo . The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest , in which they finished seventh with the song Mary Ann . With numerous line-up changes ( the only original member being Colin Gibb ) Black Lace went on to have success with novelty party anthems such as Superman and Do the Conga . Today , 'Black Lace ' consist of two working bands ; The 'Full time ' International based band ( officially known as : 'The Original Black lace ' ) featuring original member Colin Gibb , who has taken the band around the world playing the party show throughout Europe , the Middle East , Australia , Canada and the US . Also : the 'UK ' based , part time band , featuring 'ex member ' Dene Michael ( aka 'Black Lace Conga party ' )
Mary Ann was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 , performed in English by Black Lace . The song is about a man who is estranged from his girlfriend Mary Ann after her friend caught him with another woman , and is desperate to be reconciled with her .
The 1980 A Song For Europe contest was held on 26 March 1980 ( the same day as that year 's budget ) , at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd 's Bush and was hosted by a dinner-suited Terry Wogan . The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs , but all the music was pre-recorded . The theme music was Te deum the Eurovision theme . 12 songs were chosen by the Music Publisher 's Association .
Prima Donna were the United Kingdom representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 . The group comprised sisters Kate Robbins and Jane Robbins , Sally Ann Triplett , Danny Finn , Alan Coates and Lance Aston ( brother of Jay Aston , who performed with Bucks Fizz , the following year 's contest winners ) . Finn was a former member of The New Seekers and was married to fellow ex-New Seeker Eve Graham . Robbins later embarked on a successful career as a comedian , impressionist and actress .
Love Enough for Two was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 , performed in English by Prima Donna . The song is uptempo and about the love between two people .