The Intro
Bucks Fizz’s The Land of Make Believe got the group off to a flying start in January 1982. Unfortunately a few months later came their third and final number 1, the interesting but ultimately lacklustre My Camera Never Lies.
Before
Their fifth single was written and produced, as usual, by Andy Hill, but this was their first chart-topping single co-credited to Nichola Martin. She was Hill’s wife and had helped put the group together for their Eurovision entry and first number 1, Making Your Mind Up.
My Camera Never Lies, their second single from the album Are You Ready, was another attempt to give Bucks Fizz more mature material and prove they weren’t just another cheesy pop group. An ABBA for the 80s, perhaps. Lyrically, this song is similar to The Police’s fifth chart-topper, Every Breath You Take – still a year away at this point. The protagonist doesn’t trust his partner and has been following them around with his camera, which has proven to him that ‘there’s nothing worth lying for’ anymore.
Review
We’re off to a promising start with My Camera Never Lies. The intro brings to mind Trevor Horn’s flashy, shiny production, and you can be fooled into thinking this could even potentially outdo The Land of Make Believe. There’s some nice acoustic guitar that even sounds a little like The Smiths, who formed this year. But the big hook never comes. In fact, the most interesting aspect of the song is the backing vocals, where Mike Nolan, Bobby G, Cheryl Baker and Jay Ashton chant the song title repeatedly in a jerky, stop-start way.
There’s some good elements on display here – but they don’t meld together enough to create a memorable song. And as nice as the production sounds, the performances are sorely lacking any meaning. How are we meant to feel sorry for this guy? He’s stalking someone, and doesn’t sound like he gives a fuck anyway. You could forgive him somewhat if his heart sounded broken! I can give or take some of The Police’s material, but Every Breath You Take, which I already considered a classic, does this so much better.
The video doesn’t help either. It’s basically another excuse for Bucks Fizz to swan around in very contemporary, New Romantic-style outfits, interspersed with them recreating scenes from films including The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind – because, cameras, yeah? They missed a trick by not making an ABBA-style video with a bit of relationship drama, G spying on Ashton, who’s run off with Nolan, for example. I chose Ashton over Kennedy for a reason that will soon become apparent…
After
My Camera Never Lies only spent a week at number 1, and Bucks Fizz never bagged the top spot again. Their next single, the mostly a cappella Now Those Days Are Gone, peaked at eight.
Bucks Fizz returned in late-1982 with If You Can’t Stand the Heat, the first fruits of next LP Hand Cut. It couldn’t get higher than 10, and follow-up Run for Your Life finished at 14.
It was perhaps a little early to be releasing a Greatest Hits in 1983, but they did, and although When We Were Young got to 10, London Town scraped in at 34. They disappeared for a while, failing overexposure.
They maybe didn’t go away for long enough. The album I Hear Talk, released in 1984, showcased a more rock sound, but only Talking in Your Sleep performed well, peaking at 15.
On 11 December, Bucks Fizz were returning from a gig in Newcastle when their tour bus collided with a lorry. All four members of the group and members of the crew were injured, but by far the worst was Nolan, who badly hurt his head and fell into a coma for three days. He nearly died, and still suffers from epilepsy, memory loss and poor vision.
Bucks Fizz returned to action the following year, but Aston quit during promotion of their comeback single You and Your Heart So Blue. She sold her story to the press, revealing she and Hill had been having an affair. The rest of the group distanced themselves from her and a replacement, Shelley Preston, was quickly announced.
In 1986 the new-look Bucks Fizz returned triumphantly with a decent song. New Beginning (Mamba Seyra) deserved to do well, and peaked at eight. However, it was their last single to reach the top 40. Preston departed in 1989 after their last studio LP, the ironically titled The Story So Far.
They continued as a trio for a while, but Baker left in 1993 after having started a successful career as a television presenter. Heidi Manton and Amanda Szwarc were picked to return the group to a quartet, but in 1996 Nolan decided to leave, and was replaced by egomaniac and former Dollar star David Van Day.
Things got messy. G and Van Day didn’t get on well at all, so the latter decided to work with Nolan instead and two new members. G got an injunction resulting in the new group reduced to billing themselves as Bucks Fizz starring Mike Nolan and featuring David Van Day. They released an album of re-recordings and were largely slated, even by fans of the group.
In 2001 Nolan couldn’t stand working with Van Day any longer and left. There followed a protracted legal battle over the rights to the name of the group, resulting in an episode of the BBC documentary series Trouble at the Top covering the mess. The whole sorry affair was settled out of court and Van Day briefly toured as the spectacularly named David Van Day’s Bucks Fizz Show, before returning to Dollar.
The Outro
Baker, Nolan and Aston buried the hatchet and became The Fizz in the 10s, working with Mike Stock of Stock Aitken Waterman.
The Info
Written by
Andy Hill & Nichola Martin
Producer
Andy Hill
Weeks at number 1
1 (17-23 April)
Trivia
Deaths
17 April: Peeress Bridget Monckton, 11th Lady Ruthven of Freeland
Meanwhile…
17 April: Canada repatriates its constitution, gaining full political independence from the UK.
21 April: Walsall FC’s bid to become the first Football League club to ground-share ends when officials condemn their plans to sell the Fellows Park stadium and become tenants at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux.
23 April: The first British serviceman dies in the Falklands War.