If you’re debating whether to follow the blog or not, here is a brand new post that is 100% guaranteed to help with making your mind up! It’s time for your Thursday post!

Funny story, I was recently in a lecture and my tutor turned up, jokingly testing the microphone by saying he was “Stevey G” and he was going to “be playing all of your favourite records”, before questioning whether they play Bucks Fizz anymore. He’s a sound guy and naturally, I knew exactly what he was on about. As a result of this, I thought I would use the idea to write about the song on my blog. “Making Your Mind Up” is a pop track from 1981 which famously won the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the UK, in April 1981! That’s something that we never do any good at in now and something we’ll likely never win for any year in the foreseeable future because we’re leaving the European Union. It was a track that would have felt like a one-hit wonder, although they went on to become a very commercially successful British pop group over the 80’s, with the group topping the singles charts in many international territories and they have gone on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide, with other hits like 81’s “The Land Of Make Believe”, 82’s “My Camera Never Lies” and 83’s “When We Were Young”, all of which reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. They went on to release 5 LP records, with the self-titled debut released back in 1981 becoming the most notable hit, although the critical reception was mostly unfavourable. The original line-up consists of Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston, which changed over a few years, as Shelley Preston replaced Aston when Aston split from the rest of the group. Aston was 19 years old at the time.

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“Making Your Mind Up” was specifically produced for the Eurovision Song Contest of 1981, with an incredibly famous dance routine which saw the male vocalists of the group used to physically rip off the skirts of the female vocalists of the group to reveal a much shorter, controversial, skirt beneath it. It’s a move which they definitely wouldn’t be allowed to do in this day and age, which is certainly a good thing. I can see why the critics hated this track, as it has a very basic pop melody and no real artistic expression to it of any real credibility or merit, but it’s an interesting piece of trivia from it’s time that acts as a fascinating snapshot of how the pop music industry used to operate at the time of it’s original release. The track has an infectious groove to it, with lyrics that are absolutely poppy, but catchy and fashionable of the time: “You gotta speed it up and then you gotta slow it down/ ‘Cause if you believe that our love can hit the top you gotta play around/But soon you will find that there comes a time – For making your mind up” are cheesy and not a bad choice for a drunken Karoake performance. It’s essentially the 1980’s equivalent of fruity, gassy fizzy drink, with a sickly sweet melody, but with an uninspiring lack of taste which can overload your listening ear buds a stretch too far. It doesn’t really hold up very well in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a novelty and a bite-sized slice of 80’s nostalgia for some. It went on to become a certified gold record and Jay Aston recently became an MP in August to stand for Brexit! Let’s all hope that she’s making her mind up on the matter!

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Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at a brand new record which features Sal Principato on vocals, the lead band member of post-punk rock legends Liquid Liquid! It’s a track which was nicked, a little bit, from Principato’s original group! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every daily new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/