30 yrs ago did I think I’d still be ripping my skirt off at 60? No, but here I am...
ARE BACK ...PARTYING HARDER THAN EVER Bucks Fizz were big in the 80s after their Eurovision success. Following legal fights over the name, a horror coach crash and fallouts, the quartet are back – as The Fizz
– believed to include Victoria Beckham and Mark Ronson – are “hugely excited” about the new album.
Jay, 56, reveals that some of the band’s mega-fans still attend as many gigs as possible.
She said: “One lady spent thousands to come and see nearly all our gigs. Her kennel bill was £2500. She had four dogs and her mum was in a wheelchair.
“I’m not saying in any way that she’s too much but they are so passionate about coming that some of them get a little bit too close. Or they expect a little bit too much and we don’t know what they’ve sacrificed. We’re just trying to get on with our jobs.”
Jay lives with her husband Dave Colquhoun and their 14-year-old daughter Josie who, until recently, adored her mum’s profession. Jay said: “My daughter is at that teenage stage. Two years ago, she’d come and watch my shows and sing along and clap, then she’s gone through the stage of ‘not interested’.
“It’s love and hate for her as she gets teased, as you would do. I go to work and rip my skirt off. Other people go to work and do a day’s work.”
The band have been through several incarnations since the original members went their separate ways after a devastating coach crash in 1984.
They were travelling with their band after a packed-out gig at Newcastle’s City Hall when the coach they were on collided with a lorry.
The impact of the crash catapulted Mike and Cheryl, who were not wearing seatbelts, through the windscreen and on to the road.
Mike needed life-saving brain surgery and was left in a coma.
Shortly afterwards, Jay, who suffered back injuries, left the group.
She said: “I did make my mind up, pardon the pun, in my hospital bed.
“There was always a lot of animosity within the band. When we had the coach crash, it seemed to get worse when I thought that
would be a time that we’d pull together. We all nearly died and I just had it. That was it.” Mike developed epilepsy after the accident and will have to take pills for the rest of his life. He has also lost 50 per cent of his vision, which makes performing on stage a challenge as often he can’t see his bandmates. After pursuing other opportunities, the band reformed in 2004 – but not without difficulty. Mike, Jay and Cheryl were embroiled in a legal feud with former bandmate Bobby G, whose wife had trademarked the name Bucks Fizz. Bobby G was in the original Eurovision-winning line-up and his wife Heidi Manton joined the group in the early 1990s. They remain the legal owners of the Bucks Fizz name, which means that Cheryl, Mike and Jay have been forced to use “The Fizz”. In 2015, the group recruited former Sweet Dreams vocalist and Eurovision contestant Bobby McVay. So would they ever do the Eurovision Song Contest again? “No, because you can’t get better than winning,” said Bobby.
We get the beers in, the curries in and the vodka flowing BOBBY McVAY ON TOURING