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"Making Your Mind Up"
Single by Bucks Fizz
from the album Bucks Fizz
B-side	"Don't Stop"
Released	12 March 1981
Genre	Pop
Length	2.39
Label	RCA Records
Writer(s)	Andy Hill / John Danter
Producer	Andy Hill
Certification	Gold [1]
Bucks Fizz singles chronology
- Making Your Mind Up (1981) Piece of the Action (1981)
"Making Your Mind Up" Eurovision Song Contest 1981 entry Country United Kingdom Artist(s) Bobby G, Mike Nolan, Jay Aston, Cheryl Baker As Bucks Fizz Language English Composer(s) John Danter Lyricist(s) Andy Hill Conductor John Coleman Finals performance Final result 1st Final points 136 Appearance chronology ◄ Love Enough for Two (1980)    One Step Further (1982) ►

"Making Your Mind Up" is a song by British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and a UK Number-one single. From 2004 to 2007 the BBC used the name Making Your Mind Up for their Eurovision selection show in honour of the song.

Background

"Making Your Mind Up" was the United Kingdom's entry to the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, having won the National finals that year with ease.^[2] The song went on to win the Contest itself and began a successful pop career for the performing group, Bucks Fizz, who became one of the UK's biggest selling artists of the 1980s.^[3] It was #1 in the UK singles chart for three weeks in April 1981 and performed well throughout Europe, selling four million copies in total. ^[4] It was written by Andy Hill and John Danter and also produced by Hill. The song title has also given the name to the UK selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest. ^[5] The song is held in affectionate regard by many Eurovision fans, and is generally considered to be a good example of a pop song from the Contest. It has a strong beat and catchy lyrics. Receiving of less favourable response however was the group's performance of the song, which was considered to be off-key, and led to much criticism that the members were chosen more for appearance than vocal ability. In addition, the performance is remembered for the point at which the two male members of the group removed the skirts of the two female members – only to reveal shorter skirts beneath them. This move (which was mirrored by Mick Jagger and Tina Turner at 1985's Live Aid) has appeared in many contests since that time – most notably as part of Latvia's Marie N's performance of "I Wanna", which won for Latvia, in 2002. ^{[6] [7]}

The lyrics of the song are largely meaningless, although it can be argued that they are about making the decision to commit to a serious relationship. ^[8]

In the Eurovision, the song was succeeded as a UK entry by "One Step Further" by Bardo, who were managed by the same team as Bucks Fizz. As a winner, it was succeeded by "Ein Bisschen Frieden", sung by Germany's Nicole.^[9]

"Making Your Mind Up" was spoofed by many artists following its success, with alternative titles: "Me vas a volver loco (You're Going to Drive Me Crazy)" (by Spanish group Parchís), "Rock and Roll Cowboy" and "It's Only a Wind Up".

The single began a run of 20 UK hits for Bucks Fizz and was immediately followed up by "Piece of the Action" and debut album, Bucks Fizz. At the end of the decade, "Making Your Mind Up" was No.47 in the UK top selling singles of the 1980s.^[10] Despite the success of the song, fans of the group don't consider it to be a good reperesentation of their work, while member Cheryl Baker doesn't rate it as one of their best songs.^[11][12]

Track listing

1. "Making Your Mind Up" (Andy Hill / John Danter) (2.39)
2. "Don't Stop" (Andy Hill / Nichola Martin) (4.08)

Chart positions

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 1981
• United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

References