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| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success.
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| 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.
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| 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
It's impossible to stay
But there's one thing I must say before I go...
Brotherhood of Man
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