Part Two of my trawl through the wonderful wacky world of Eurovision.

After the Allisons relative success the UK carried on with upbeat songs and for the following two years was represented by Ronnie Carroll, in 1962 with "Ring a ding girl" and 1963 with "Say wonderful things". Both songs finishing in fourth place.

Ronnie Carroll Ring a ding girl

        

Ronnie Carroll Say wonderful things to me

 Ronnie had huge chart success with both songs here in the UK and is also remembered for his version of "Roses are red"

1964 saw us move from wonderful things to little things when Matt Monro was chosen to sing the song "I love the little things" Matt was an ever present performer on British TV and a popular choice with the UK public with his gentle but powerful singing style. Could this be the time for our first UK winner of the contest, sadly not, once again we only achieved second spot behind Italy.

Matt Monro I love the little things

The UK finished in second place yet again the following year in Naples when Kathy Kirby finished behind France Gall singing a Serge Gainsbourg song "Poup de cire, poupée de son".

Kathy had a massive UK hit with the song "I belong" 

The following year in retrospect was a disaster for the UK when Kenneth McKellar finished ninth with "A man without love" This prompted the UK committee to rethink and the following year 1967 saw our first winner.

By choosing one of the UK's most popular singers of the time who had a solid run of chart hits behind her, the choice of Sandie Shaw was genius. The song though not Sandie's own favourite was of course "Puppet on a string" The song was such a popular winner that Sandie was asked in 1970 to perform it once again at the finals in Spain, singing partly in Spanish much to the enjoyment of the audience.

Sandie Shaw Puppet on a string

The following year London hosted the contest as previous years winners and looked certain to win again with the Peter Pan of pop Cliff Richard singing the number one hit "Congratulations" Cliff however only managed second place behind Spain's "La la la". So onto Madrid in 1969 and a real close contest with four songs eventually finishing in joint first place including the Uk's Lulu with "Boom bang a bang" another instant Eurovision favourite. Once again it was an inspired choice with Lulu already an international singing star.

Lulu Boom bang a bang

So by the end of the sixties the UK had now won twice. What would the seventies do? Could we carry on the success? More to follow in the next blog.

Most weeks I spend a few hours with a group of friends who I I have now known for a good few years, most who used to be old customers when we had the shop at Sutton. We get together and take it in turns to produce a general knowledge quiz. Amongst the regular questions that crop up are ones about music and with a fair regularity ones about Eurovision Song Contest winners, so I thought it time to take a look at this much maligned (in this country) competition.

The first competition was in 1956, the countries competing were, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland, the hosts who went on to win with the song "Refrain" sung by Lys Assia.

Lys Assia

The United Kingdom joined in the competition the following year along with Austria & Denmark.  Our entry was sung by Patricia Bredin with a song called "All"

Patricia Bredin

Patricia finished in seventh place with just six points, but did at least avoid what was to become the dreaded "Nil Point" For whatever reason we didn't take part in the following years competition, but came back in 1959 to finish in second place with "Sing little birdie" by Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson. This is the first contest I remember seeing on TV at a family friends house, we didn't have a TV at home yet. The song also gained some notoriety years later when it was subject of a question in a Monty Python spoof Quiz.

Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson

Monty Python "Sing ritle Birdie"

The following year Teddy Johnson's younger brother Bryan also came second with "Looking high, high, high"

Bryan Johnson

The first really popular song that I remember buying as a single was the following years entry by the Allisons, "Are you sure". By now Sweden, Monaco, Norway, Finland, Spain & Yugoslavia had joined the fold and the competition was being shown all over Europe.

The Allisons

   The Allisons went on to have a huge chart hit with this entry and supported many of the UKs top groups during the early sixties including The Beatles.

This seems to be a good time to take a break from this wander down memory lane for now, but more to follow, with the UKs first Eurovision winner soon to come.

  

It's been a while since I last posted, mainly due to family commitments. But last night I went to see a concert here in Mansfield at the Palace Theatre (Still call it the Civic). It featured some of the great musicians to come out of Birmingham in the sixties and seventies and was compered by Jasper Carrott.

Definitely a show worth seeing if you get the chance. Danny King is superb. The use of projected screens behind the band showing old shots of the bands from the sixties and also of Birmingham past and present made the show even more special. And last night they also showed pictures of Mansfield past and present.

Sad news today, local lad Alvin Lee as passed away at the age of 68. Alvin best known for being the main man with blues rockers Ten Years After was from my home town of Mansfield. Ten Years After took the Woodstock Festival in 1969 by storm and became worldwide superstars.

Ten Years After Live at Woodstock 1969

Read more here

Sad news today, Tony Sheridan one of the original Beatles before they made the big time passed away yesterday aged 72. Sheridan was the vocalist on the recording of "My Bonnie" that Beatles manager Brian Epstein's shop in Liverpool kept getting asked for and is said to have inspired him to go to The Cavern club to see them play, and the rest, as they say is history.

      

Record Store day will soon be upon us once again.

This is everyone's chance to support your local independent records store (if you still have one).

Saturday, April 20

Record Store Day 2013

To find out what's happening and to learn about some of the great limited editions and competitions click on the link above.

R.I.P. Reg Presley

Sad news today that Reg Presley, lead singer with sixties legends The Troggs passed away after suffering with lung cancer. The Troggs had a series of major hits throughout the sixties, "Wild Thing", With a girl like you", I"I can't control myself" and "Love is all around", the latter being covered by Wet Wet Wet  in 1994.

Reg who's real name was Reginald Maurice Ball was 71

Wild Thing

With a girl like you

Love is all around