UK, BROTHERHOOD OF MAN & 'SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME'

Brotherhood for Man in Eurovision, 1976

Today, The Grandma has talked with The Watsons. They continue isolated and working in Rennette Watson's candidature to Eurovision Song Contest.

The Grandma has explained the story of Brotherhood for Man, a British pop group that won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with Save Your Kisses for Me with an unforgettable and simple choreography.

Before talking about Brotherhood for Man, The Grandma has offered a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to The Watsons.

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Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with Save Your Kisses for Me.

Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song United We Stand. 

By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby, Angelo, Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In) and Figaro.

They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe. Altogether, they have released 16 studio albums, with worldwide sales topping 15 million records.

Brotherhood for Man in Eurovision, 1976

The group came together in 1969 and began recording some songs with Hiller. Their first single Love One Another failed to chart, but the follow-up United We Stand, released in January 1970, was a worldwide hit. United We Stand was heavily played on British radio, and broke into the American market.

The single became a Top 20 hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The song has since been used as the closing theme for television's Brady Bunch Hour and as an anthem for various causes. Burrows left the group soon after and as a four-piece, The Brotherhood of Man followed United We Stand with another hit, Where Are You Going to My Love. The song charted in the UK, Canada, and US and has since been covered by Olivia Newton-John and The Osmonds among others. A début album United We Stand followed soon after.

Over the next two years, the group continued in varied line-ups. Goodison left the group at the beginning of 1971 and was replaced by American singer Hal Atkinson, Greenaway left soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They had one more minor hit in the US (1971's Reach Out Your Hand), but experienced no further success in the UK and split after being dropped by their record company.

Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. 

More information: BBC

The trio began recording together, but their first single, Rock Me Baby, to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles Happy Ever After and Our World of Love were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens.

The quartet released their first single, When Love Catches Up on You in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, Lady became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album.

The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. 

 

Brotherhood for Man's arrival

Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby and became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries.

Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called Save Your Kisses for Me.

In early 1976, Hiller was keen for Brotherhood of Man to make an impact in the UK and decided to put Save Your Kisses for Me forward to the A Song for Europe competition. This year saw a change to the contest in that, since 1964, one specific artist had performed all the songs but 1976 saw the return to the format in which any artist was eligible to enter.

Save Your Kisses for Me made it to the final twelve songs and on 25 February, Brotherhood of Man took the title, beating the second placed act, Co-Co by two points. Now signed to Pye Records, Save Your Kisses for Me was released as a single in March and hit the No.1 spot two weeks before the Contest final.

More information: East Anglian Daily Times

On 3 April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed the song, dressed in red, white and black with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman.

The song became a major hit around the world and made No.1 in many countries and returned the group to the US Charts. The song eventually sold six million copies worldwide and is still the highest selling Eurovision winner ever. 

In the UK, it stayed at No.1 for six weeks and earned them a platinum disc. It ended up the top selling single of the year and is still one of the few UK singles to sell a million. The group had recorded a second album and had been released in several countries a year previously.

Brotherhood for Man in Eurovision, 1976

Following their victory, the album with Save Your Kisses for Me added was released. Entitled Love and Kisses, the album was a success in the UK, reaching the top twenty, as well as other countries, gaining a Number six position in Norway for instance. Soon after this, a follow-up single was released.

The group instead released My Sweet Rosalie. The song failed to chart highly. Concerned by the lack of success for the single, the record company did not release anything else in the UK for the rest of 1976, despite the fact that in Europe a new album of material was released along with singles in various countries: I Give You My Love in Germany, Spain and others and New York City in France.

Early in 1977, the group released their next single, Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In). The song was a hit in the UK.

By now the public were picking up on their similarity to ABBA who were currently dominating the charts around the world, this perception was cemented with the release of their next single, Angelo. Criticized by many for its similarity to ABBA's Fernando, the song was released in the Summer of 1977 and was an instant success. The song rose to Number one in the UK Charts and became one of the biggest hits of the year as well as ending up among the 50 best selling singles of the decade.

More information: Express

The group battled on into 1978 with the release of Figaro, which brought them back into vogue and became their third UK Number one single.

In May Beautiful Lover was released and another hit, reaching the UK top twenty, and spending three months in the charts.

As the year drew to a close another single, Middle of the Night was released along with a greatest hits compilation, Twenty Greatest. Twenty Greatest became Brotherhood of Man's most successful album, reaching Number six in the UK Charts and spending fifteen weeks in the top 75.

1979 saw the group going into decline as the hits dried up. This was despite regular TV appearances and radio play, although the group remained popular on the live circuit.

One more album was released in December to fulfill their contract. The album Singing a Song was made up of unreleased songs mixed with new material, but no singles were released from the collection.

More information: Hull Daily Mail

Though it hurts to go away
It's impossible to stay
But there's one thing I must say before I go...

Brotherhood of Man