Other activities outside of Bucks Fizz include appearing on stage in a number of Pantomimes. With tensions rising within the band and their team (Aston would later reveal shed been having an affair with Hall) and rockier mid-Eightiessingles seeing their star decline, Bucks Fizzs peak era came to a screeching halt on 11 December 1984 literally and almost fatally. At the end of it I did think, that song and that piece of Velcro has just changed our lives. I love my country, I love saying that Im British, I love my Queen, Im a proper royalist, and to actually represent your country and win that award was everything to me. She tears up when recalling her phone call home from the celebration party. Despite the fact the group was once paid the equivalent of 20,000 to perform a three-minute song at a corporate event, Cheryl has said that cash wasn't passed on. I dont want people to feel sorry for me. Over the weekend (April 4), original members Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston celebrated four decades since winning the Eurovision Song Contest with their classic hit, Making Your Mind Up. The bus roof was no longer there. 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During one especially lean period, she. We grossed an awful lot of money about half a million pounds but we did not see much of it," she previously told This Is Money. The tour bus they were travelling in crashed into a lorry and all four members were injured, but Nolan was most seriously affected when he fell into a coma and at one point was given the Last Rites. More surgery followed and Mike was left with permanent damage to his health. Id say there was one camp, that was me and Mike, she says. I started to suffer mood swings and my personality changed. She and Baker failed to click initially. It will be 22 years this weekend since Mike Nolan won Eurovision with Bucks Fizz but just three years later he nearly died when the group's tour bus hit a lorry. It wasnt really until the last few votes that we all felt, oh my gosh, we could win this. With two countries votes to declare, the UK, Germany and Switzerland were equal; it was a final five points from Sweden that secured the victory. The crash happened after the group, famous for their Eurovision winning hit Making Your Mind Up, left their packed out gig at the City Hall to head to the Gosforth Park Hotel and their bus was hit by a lorry on the Great North Road. And it took doctors a while to get my medication right to stop the seizures. I was born in this block of flats and my sister said, you should have seen it, everyone was out on their balconies, they all threw their windows open, because theyd grown up with me, I was one of theirs. Here he relives the night that changed his life. The Bucks Fizz star has revealed how he has tried to remember what happened. It was about 10.20pm and we were all looking forward to the after-show party. We had disagreements over the way that we should do things but we never fought. Foolishly, I didnt realise just how much the crash would impact my life. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Luckily for me, I had been wearing a very thick leather hat, and leather jacket, both the fashion at the time. The singer was lucky to escape with his life, 31 years later, Mike is still living with the consequences of the crash, The singer still suffers from anxiety when travelling and loss of vision, Eurovision's Cheryl Baker: I fell in love with Bucks Fizz bandmate Mike Nolan, Making Your Mind Up singer Mike Nolan: Six best albums. Id quite often agree with Bobby because Mike and Cheryl, even to this day, would go the opposite of Bobby., Bucks Fizz performing at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, In 2015, Baker admitted to having fallen in love with Nolan when she first saw him but attested that nothing untoward had ever happened between them. Something went wrong, please try again later. But despite her success, she's still paying a mortgage on her 1million, five-bedroom home in rural Kent and lives off her state pension of 700 a month on top of 250 from a private one. I always had a problem with Bobby and he had a problem with me. Jay Aston, one of the members of the original Bucks Fizz. Even a seemingly innocuous knock to the head can have a major impact. In 1980, Nolan was contacted by composer/manager Nichola Martin. Mike is great now, they have changed his medication and he doesnt have to have nearly as many drugs. A big part of why I left was when everyones still being antagonistic when Mikes at deaths door and were all very badly injured, she says. The contractual litigation that followed Astons departure in 1985 would force her to sell her dream home to pay legal bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds; I had hardly anything left by about 91, she says, and it was only a solo deal and the opening of her own Theatre Arts School which turned her life back around. That was Bobby G. He likes to be in control, so he didnt like the fact that I had a lot of knowledge and Im quite outspoken and I wont be talked down to by someone like him., G is more diplomatic. By Christmas, I was allowed to go home to Jersey to be with some of my family my parents were away abroad. We had just performed our second show of a 40-night tour in Newcastle, and had all got on our touring bus to be taken back to the hotel. We all thought that was the end of the band, the end of Mike. I was in and out of hospital for two and half years, in plaster, having physio, or on crutches. My favourite saying is: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and more tired. Much more successful was a rebranding in 2014 as The Fizz, along with new member Bobby McVay. My ribs were left to heal themselves. But the brain injury he suffered in the accident has left him with no recollection. Over the years Ive really tried hard to remember but nothing comes to me. "I did not make big money out of being in Bucks Fizz. You can make an average song sound pretty good because of all the technology today, Aston argues. Bucks Fizz swept through 1981s A SongforEurope and had a top five hit even before the Eurovision ceremony, buoyed by an attention-grabbing gimmick whereby Nolan and G would pull Baker and Astons long skirts off at the lyric if you want to see some more to reveal miniskirts underneath. Then we had to go in the studio and all record Making Your Mind Up and that was the deciding factor. When youre working 365 days of the year, flying here, there and everywhere, and theyre buying five-storey houses in Mayfair and youre still riding around in a Fiat 124, which is a bit like a lawnmower, you start to feel a bit resentful. G disagrees, considering the deal very fair considering the lifestyle and career opportunities it afforded the four. But, on the anniversary of the groups success in the Eurovision Song Contest with Making Your Mind Up, Mike says he still does not remember that night. Today he is still living with the after-effects which include anxiety when travelling and loss of vision. Only two people escaped without injury. We were different animals. Eight months later, the band were back on stage but during a big rehearsal I had another major scare. She had a song entitled "Making Your Mind Up", which had been composed by her boyfriend, Andy Hill, and was intending to enter it for the heats to the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. Police took no action over the crash which happened in December 1984 four days before the singers 30th birthday. As a member of Bucks Fizz, he won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and achieved 20 UK top 60 singles between 1981 and 1988, including three number one hits. Cheryl and I were then rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle where I regained consciousness. The demo was recorded by Nolan and Martin and was accepted as one of the finalists. Bucks Fizz will be performing all their greatest hits the group had a string of smashes after winning Eurovision in 1981 with Making Your Mind Up. The tendon on one rib didnt really knit together properly and I can still hear it click sometimes. He and the keyboard player technically died and had the last rites read because their injuries were so severe. Pat Harris from Busk says: We are still campaigning for every school to have a policy in place around the wearing of seat belts on coaches for all pupils on school trips. Then, I passed out. Like young people do, we thought it was really exciting, as opposed to thinking, we have a death threat on our heads, we could all die at any minute!They did, however, feel intimidated by the strong entries from Germanys Lena Valaitis and Irelands Sheeba. I remember we once did a 42-date sell-out tour. I told her I had a terrible headache. A round-up of the latest Newcastle United transfer rumours. "We did not have a good deal. And in 2016 she was so strapped for cash that she took a job as a cold-caller. The band are set to release another album in 2022. Cheryl added: I know it was a disastrous thing to happen, but we all survived it and I think that is something to celebrate. Mike and Cheryl were thrown through the windscreen, while Jay and Bobby, still on the coach, sustained injuries. At the dress run, when we ripped the skirts off he said to the rest of his band, we might as well go home now. That rip-off skirt was almost like a safety blanket. Pop star Jay Aston says leaving band Bucks Fizz in 1985 was the worst financial decision of her life. I told him I was struggling and needed to earn some money. "The money is not great in my opinion. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Since the crash Mike has performed with Bucks Fizz on and off for many years, including with a different line-up of the band. More than 500,000 people in the UK have the condition and while there is no cure medication can be used to control the symptoms. I was told it was a side effect of the brain injury too. The first nail in the band's coffin was a 1984 coach crash, which happened when the group was returning from a sell-out concert in Newcastle. The Fizz undertook an extensive UK tour throughout 2015.[13]. Bucks Fizz, meanwhile, continued, plucking 21-year-old Shelley Preston from 800 auditionees to replace Aston. I dont remember coming round but one of the paramedics that rescued me from the crash scene later told me that I briefly came round in the ambulance and asked if my face was marked. Next moment, an articulated lorry hit us. A round-up of the latest Newcastle United transfer rumours. It was absolute lunacy, says Baker. I saw it as a three-minute thing, Aston agrees. Outside of the group, Nolan is a staunch supporter of the charity 'HeadFirst', which was set up as a result of the 1984 coach crash and specifically Nolan's head injuries. The impact was about 75 miles an hour, it was horrific, we were thrown all over the place. It took me years to accept it. Life in The Fizz remains wracked with drama. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. He was in such a terrible state, he was given last rites, as was one of our musicians Tom, who had just about every bone in his body broken. BUCKS Fizz star Jay Aston has said that she's unable to move and in agony after getting coronavirus following her mouth cancer battle. When I woke, people had to tell me what had happened. Three years after they won Eurovision Mike nearly died when the groups tour bus hit a lorry. The company is family owned and highly values relationships often going beyond the call of duty to help a customer. Bucks Fizz singer Mike Nolan, 65, spoke to Express.co.uk about his friendship with Gary Rhodes, who died in November age 59. Next to it was a little kitchen area. The group was a four piece boyband, consisting of Nolan, Ben Ellison (who replaced Ricky Gallahad), John Humphreys and Peter Pereira. It cuts across, its a silly song thats just got something. Mike and Cheryl are joined at the hip, they absolutely adore each other. [4] On Saturday 4 April, they won the Eurovision final itself. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Of course, life got very difficult after that too as I was involved in several lawsuits because the management werent happy with my decision to leave. We looked a state, covered in bruises and bumps, and we joked about what our fans would say if they saw us. I even stopped exercising for a bit and put on weight. As the band had work booked in Mauritius in April to film a TV show, we were all just thinking, lets get over this and get back onto our feet again. I keep my brain healthy doing quiz books and Ive spent hours mastering sudoku. A couple of days after the operation my head and face started to swell as fluid began to build up around my brain. The accident really taught me not to take anything for granted, and to live each day as if its your last. We started making more records and going on tour, and so began a hectic whirlwind life. A tangerine saved my life: the coach Bucks Fizz were travelling in after the crash in 1984, Both personally and professionally, the crash shattered Bucks Fizz. I only take a pill at night and one in the morning. Mike was so badly injured that he fell into a coma and was read the last rites. Over the years, Ive been a solo performer, and also run dance and drama schools. There were about 20 of us on the coach at the time. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. As Nolan later reasoned, the idea of the group was 'dated'. We surprised everyone, including ourselves, by winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Making Your Mind Up. Footage of their bus journey to the spot of the crash will be shown on BBCs Look North tonight and tomorrow from 6.30pm. The impact of the smash catapulted Cheryl and me through the windscreen.. To keep fit I go to the gym three times a week and have a personal trainer to help me tone up with weights. My husband now was in a band at A SongforEurope, says Baker. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Cheryl Baker, Jay Aston, and Bobby G talk to Mark Beaumont about Eighties pop stardom, cliques and infighting, the crash that nearly ended their lives, and the little piece of Velcro that changed everything, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile, Clockwise, from top left: Bobby G, Mike Nolan, Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston, A door opened on a grand hallway behind the scenes attheDublinconcert hallRDS Simmonscourt, and the cheers of the 7,000 strong crowd echoing those of 500 million TV viewers across the continent gave way to a blizzard of flashbulbs. I remember the collision and then the silence after and seeing the traffic lights changing. Doctors explained that it was to do with my brain injury. She, Cheryl Baker and Mike - who still suffers seizures - are friends but have . I am left-handed so it was my strongest side affected the most. The nurses said Cheryl was next door so I staggered into her room and we both started laughing. The Eurovision star took to her social media over the weekend . He was a member of the group until 1996. I also lost my driving licence due to my impaired vision. For more details visit formerlyofbucksfizz.com. All four singers were injured and required hospital. It was very painful. It was really lovely to get back into my council flat and have Sunday roast and sit in front of the telly with my family round me and feel normal. Lying unconscious in the road, her spine broken in three places, Cheryl came close to never walking again. He developed epilepsy, lost 50% of his vision in both eyes, became withdrawn, and showed signs of personality change. He suffers after-effects from his injuries to this day. I think I probably had a little bit more business sense, he says of his lack of bond with Baker. When youre 19 and someones 26 or 27, theres quite a big gap in ideas, Aston says. We were travelling at 35mph and so was the lorry. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Singer Mike Nolan still has a black hole in his memory 29 years after he almost died in a Newcastle crash, Sign up for free to get the latest North East news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Doctors initially thought Mike had pulled through but he took a turn for the worse and collapsed after suffering a blinding headache. In 2001, a judge refused to grant a court injunction against Van Day as he had . Im lucky to still be doing the thing I love.. Mikes new album, In My Life, a 14-track collection of songs that have meant most to him since his recovery, is out now. We could do everything together and have a great time. It wasnt my cup of tea, says Laurel Canyon fan Baker, while Bobby G, having heard it had started life as a commercial jingle, had concerns for its longevity.