Former Bucks Fizz star Bobby G turned down the opportunity to celebrate the group’s 40th anniversary with new music.
The group shot to fame after winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with Making Your Mind Up and went on to release five albums throughout the 1980s.
Following years on the touring circuit, original members Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston returned in 2017 as The Fizz and have since released three albums of original material.
Celebrating their latest milestone, they’re back with ‘Everything Under The Sun’ – written and produced by Mike Stock – and speaking in Retro Pop’s October 2022 issue, Jay Aston reveals they hoped to bring Bobby G on board to revive the original line-up.
“Mike Stock actually spoke to Bobby and asked if he would like to sing on this album given that it was our anniversary,” she reveals. “Obviously there was a pandemic which kind of nudged it forward a bit. But Bobby just wasn’t interested. I don’t think that’ll ever happen, which is a shame.”
Cheryl adds: “It would have been lovely for the fans – it would make their lives if we even did one gig or one album. It’s such a shame that he said no to that.
“We do have a history and I am a bit bitter about the fact that he won’t let us use the name,” she continues. “However, taking that aside, we should all celebrate being together and the fantastic achievements that we had in the day.”
Following the group’s initial separation, Bobby continued to perform as Bucks Fizz and his wife, Heidi Manton, holds the copyright in the name.
Despite numerous efforts to reclaim the title, the trio eventually opted for a name change, but the spat between the former bandmates has proven difficult – particularly for Jay, who admits she was closest to Bobby during their eighties heyday.
“I don’t understand what he’s done in preventing us from co-owning the name,” she confesses. “I find that quite tough to deal with, that it was his choice and that was what he was aiming at doing. He was trying to prevent us from working. I can’t understand him for doing that I just find it completely – it’s not what I ever expected of him, put it that way.
“He’s obviously got his problems with all of us – either collectively or individually – but you’d think with an anniversary and a pandemic and all of that, and now maybe Eurovision, that might make a difference. But I suspect not.
“I’m just terribly disappointed in the way he’s gone about things, because I actually considered him and I to be quite friendly. I was certainly closer to Bobby than I was to Cheryl – but Cheryl and I are now mates and Bobby’s got his own thing.
“I don’t understand him, that’s all I can say…”
Although a reunion appears off the cards, the new album ‘Everything Under The Sun’ is a celebration of the band’s legacy, with tracks like I Close My Eyes, Treasure Forever and I’m On My Way (Better Run) referencing their past successes.
“I’m so proud of it and I think it’s better than any of the Bucks Fizz ones,” says Cheryl, with Mike agreeing: “I think, actually, this is the best one we’ve done so far.”
‘Everything Under The Sun’ is available now.
Read the full interview in the October 2022 edition of Retro Pop, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
