Bucks Fizz (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Bucks Fizz
Type = Album
Artist = Bucks Fizz

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Released = July 1981
Recorded =
Genre = Pop
Length =
Label = RCA
Producer = Andy Hill
Reviews =
Last album =
This album = "Bucks Fizz"
(1981)
Next album = "Are You Ready"
(1982) |

"Bucks Fizz" is an album by pop group Bucks Fizz.

Overview

In late 1980, songwriter Andy Hill and his partner Nicola Martin came up with a song that was to be entered into the Eurovision Song Contest. Martin quickly set about bringing a group together to perform it. In January of 1981, Bucks Fizz were born and by April, not only had they won the Contest, but they were also NO.1 in the UK singles chart, as well as many other countries in Europe. [ [http://www.gearchange.org/descriptions/Bucks%20Fizz%20-%20Making%20Your%20Mind%20Up.html gearchange.org - Making Your Mind Up feature] ] [ [http://www.eurovision.tv/index/main?page=66&event=297#event_info_297 eurovision.tv] ] That song was "Making Your Mind Up" and began a career for the group that would take them with success throught the rest of the decade. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6618443.stm bbc.co.uk - Bucks Fizz feature] ]

In May, the all-important follow-up singles was released. "Piece of the Action" proved that Bucks Fizz were destined for further success, despite the reputation of the Contest, and quickly became another worldwide hit. [ [http://www.raffem.com/BucksFizzRecords.htm#1981 Rafaels and Stefans pictures ] ] The record company, RCA were keen to get an album out, and recorded between promotional tours and a hectic schedule, the debut album, Bucks Fizz came out in July of 1981.The song featured 10 pop tracks, most of them quite different to "Making Your Mind Up", the song that had made their name. [ [http://www.ianbairnson.com/discography/bucksfizzbucksfizz/bucksfizz.htm Guitarist Ian Bairnson site with song clips] ] The album was released in a glossy gatefold sleeve, depicting head and shoulders shots of the group. [ [http://www.raffem.com/images/Bucks_Fizz/IMG_1353.jpgInside gatefold sleeve] ] Produced and largely written by Hill, the album also became a success when it reached the UK top twenty the following month. A third single was released, the ballad "One of Those Nights". This, like the others also reached the top twenty in the UK and secured Bucks Fizz as one of the top acts of the year.

No more singles were released from the album, although their next single "The Land of Make Believe" (released in November 1981) went to NO.1 and revived the album in the early months of 1982, where it went as far as 39 in the charts and spent more weeks in the top 100 than it had originally done - eventually clocking up 28 in total. [ [http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=5377 chartstats.com - Album Chart details] ]

A year later, the group recorded the songs "It's Got to be Love", "One of Those Nights","Getting Kinda Lonely" and "Shine On" in Spanish for an album released in Latin America, while "Piece of the Action" and "One of Those Nights" were included on a compilation album released in North America, also in 1982. [ [http://www.raffem.com/BucksFizzRecords.htm#82 Rafaels and Stefans pictures ] ]

The album was re-issued on CD in 2004 with bonus tracks. [ [http://www.bucksfizzearlyyears.co.uk/bmg.htm Bucks Fizz earlyyears.co.uk - Re-issue information] ]

In 2008, demos and early versions of tracks "Piece of the Action", "One of Those Nights", "Getting Kinda Lonely" and "The Right Situation" were included on The Lost Masters 2 - The Final Cut compilation.

Track listing

Original album

Side One
#"Piece of the Action"
#"Midnight Reservation"
#"It's Got to be Love"
#"Took it to the Limit"
#"One of Those Nights"Side Two
#"Making Your Mind Up"
#"Lady of the Night"
#"Getting Kinda Lonely"
#"Shine On"
#"The Right Situation"

CD re-issue (2004)

Bonus tracks:

#"Don't Stop"
#"Always Thinking of You"
#"Noches Sin Ti" (One of Those Nights - Spanish version)
#"Via Libre" (One Way Love – Spanish version)
#"Eso Fue Ayer" (Now Those Days Are Gone – Spanish version)
#"Otra Noche" (Another Night – Spanish version)
#"El Mundo de Ilusion" (The Land of Make Believe – Spanish version)
#"I Used to Love the Radio"
#"Love in a World Gone Mad"
#"Heart of Stone" (12" version)

Personnel

Bobby G - lead vocals on "One of Those Nights"

Jay Aston - lead vocals on "Getting Kinda Lonely"

Mike Nolan - joint lead vocals on "It's Got to be Love"

Cheryl Baker - joint lead vocals on "It's Got to be Love"

Producer: Andy Hill

Writers:
Andy Hill
Nicola Martin

Pete Sinfield
Mike Burns
A. Nicholas
Steve Glen
Dave Most
John Danter
Robert Parr
Buick

Reviews and Reception

The Bucks Fizz album generally received good reviews from magazines including "Smash Hits", "Record Mirror" (3 out of 5) and "Chart Songwords" (4 out of 5). Besides the singles, songs "Midnight Reservation" and "Lady of the Night" were singled out for praise. Negative comments included Record Mirror's claim that the vocals lacked emotion and said only "Shine On" displayed any, while Chart Songwords complained that some songs sounded like "sub Brotherhood of Man, or even worse - Guys n' Dolls".At the time of release, the members of the group listed their favourite tracks on the album with Nolan favouring "Making Your Mind Up",Aston: "Piece of the Action", G: "One Of Those Nights" and Baker: "Midnight Reservation".Baker herself has since stated that she didn't particularly like the tracks "One of Those Nights" and "The Right Situation", while all members (including Nolan) have been quoted as saying "Making Your Mind Up" was one of their weaker singles.

Chart Performance

References