Co-Co (band)

British band

For the singer Coco who had a number one hit with Fragma, see Coco Star.

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Co-Co

Also known as|

* Mothers Pride
* The Main Event

Origin| United Kingdom
Genres| Pop
Years active| 1974-1980
Labels|

* Pye
* Ariola/Hansa
* RCA
* Carrere

Past members|

* Terry Bradford
* Josie Andrews
* Cheryl Baker
* Keith Hasler
* Paul Rogers
* Peter Perrera
* Charlie Brennan
* Helen Bailey
* Vivien Banks
* Sue Lane

Co-Co was a six-piece British band who represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, staged at the Palais de Congrès in Paris, France, on 22 April 1978, with the song "The Bad Old Days". The song was written by the song writing team Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater (aka Stewart James). It was finally placed eleventh of the 20 entries, which at the time was the worst showing ever for a UK entry. It would not be until 1987 that any British song fared worse in Eurovision. The group were originally called Mothers Pride.

## Eurovision

[edit]

At the time, the group consisted of Terry Bradford, Josie Andrews, Cheryl Baker, Keith Hasler and Paul Rogers. For their performance in Paris, a drummer named Charlie Brennan was added to the group. They won the preliminary heat A Song for Europe, having previously placed second, again as a quintet, but with only Bradford, Hasler and Baker in the original line-up, together with Peter Perrera and another female singer, Vivien Banks (who would later join The New Seekers) when they appeared in the 1976 UK final, singing Wake Up written by the Arrows I Love Rock 'n' Roll songwriting team of Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker. Perrera appeared in the 1976 contest with a shaved head, having promised his bandmates he would go bald if they made the final. Additionally, the group returned as a quartet (minus Andrews and Rogers, but with a new female singer Helen Bailey) as The Main Event, for the 1980 A Song for Europe contest. Oddly, despite this new line-up, Josie Andrews still appeared on stage with the group, providing backing vocals to the main quartet. On this occasion they placed last with the song Gonna Do My Best, written by Bradford. Bradford also wrote a song for the 1979 UK final, Harry, My Honolulu Lover, performed by The Nolan Sisters, which placed fourth, having originally been recorded as a demo by Co-Co featuring vocals by Cheryl Baker. Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater went on to win the A Song for Europe contest a second time, in 1980, with the song Love Enough for Two performed by Prima Donna, ironically beating the new line up of Co-Co in the process.

## Cheryl Baker in Bucks Fizz

[edit]

In 1981, Cheryl Baker returned to the UK contest, as part of the group Bucks Fizz. When Bucks Fizz won the UK final, Baker thus became only the third singer ever to represent the UK twice, following in the footsteps of Ronnie Carroll and Cliff Richard. When Bucks Fizz went on to win the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up", Baker became one of the few artists to take part in Eurovision to win at their second attempt. According to The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History by John Kennedy O'Connor, Baker also made the second biggest improvement by a Eurovision competitor in the contest, moving up from eleventh in 1978 to first in 1981.[1]

## Post Eurovision

[edit]

"The Bad Old Days" reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] The group had no further hit singles, and only released one album, Bad Old Days in 1978.[3]

Bradford and Hasler continued to work together long after the group's demise in 1980 and are writing and producing new work in the 21st century. In 2020, together with Sussie Arvesen, they released several new tracks including "Road to the Unknown" as COCO featuring Terry Bradford, Sussie Arvesen & Keith Hasler.[4]

## Discography

[edit]

### Albums

[edit]

Co-Co

* 1978 – Bad Old Days (Hansa International)

### Singles

[edit]

Mothers Pride

* 1974 – "Follow the Man with the Music" (Pye)
* 1975 – "Oh Well, Oh Well" (Pye)

Co-Co

* 1976 – "Wake Up" (Pye)
* 1976 – "Don't Push Me 'Round" (Pye)
* 1977 – "The Money Song" (Ariola)
* 1978 – "The Bad Old Days" (Ariola)
* 1978 – "I Can't Talk Love on the Telephone" (Ariola)
* 1978 – "Way Out" (Ariola)
* 1980 – "Keep On Dancing" (RCA)

The Main Event

* 1980 – "Gonna Do My Best" (Carrere)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books UK ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 111\. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
3. ^ Official Charts - Co-Co chart discography
4. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "ROAD TO THE UNKNOWN "COCO" ft. Terry Bradford, Sussie Arvesen & Keith Hasler". YouTube.

Awards and achievements

Preceded by

Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran
with "Rock Bottom"

|  UK in the Eurovision Song Contest
1978 | Succeeded by

Black Lace
with "Mary Ann"

* v
* t
* e

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

* Discography
* National selection (Contestants)

Participation|

* 1957
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* ~~2020~~
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Artists|

* Andy Abraham
* Olly Alexander
* The Allisons
* Michael Ball
* Bardo
* Belle and the Devotions
* Black Lace
* Blue
* Patricia Bredin
* Brotherhood of Man
* Bucks Fizz
* Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson
* Ronnie Carroll
* Co-Co
* Josh Dubovie
* Electro Velvet
* Emma
* Jade Ewen
* Scott Fitzgerald
* James Fox
* Nicki French
* Jessica Garlick
* Gina G
* Mary Hopkin
* Engelbert Humperdinck
* Imaani
* Samantha Janus
* Javine
* Jemini
* Joe and Jake
* Bryan Johnson
* Lucie Jones
* Katrina and the Waves
* Kathy Kirby
* Lindsay
* Live Report
* Love City Groove
* Lulu
* Kenneth McKellar
* Molly
* Matt Monro
* Mike Moran
* Mae Muller
* The New Seekers
* James Newman
* Olivia Newton-John
* Lynsey de Paul
* Precious
* Prima Donna
* Michael Rice
* Cliff Richard
* Rikki
* Clodagh Rodgers
* Frances Ruffelle
* Ryder
* Sam Ryder
* Daz Sampson
* Scooch
* The Shadows
* Sandie Shaw
* Sonia
* SuRie
* Sweet Dreams
* Bonnie Tyler
* Vikki

Songs|

* "All"
* "Are You Sure?"
* "The Bad Old Days"
* "Beg, Steal or Borrow"
* "Believe in Me"
* "Better the Devil You Know"
* "Bigger than Us"
* "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
* "Children of the Universe"
* "Come Back"
* "Congratulations"
* "Cry Baby"
* "Dizzy"
* "Don't Play That Song Again"
* "Embers"
* "Even If"
* "Flying the Flag (For You)"
* "Give a Little Love Back to the World"
* "Go"
* "Hold On to Our Love"
* "I Belong"
* "I Can"
* "I Love the Little Things"
* "I Wrote a Song"
* "I'm Never Giving Up"
* "It's My Time"
* "Jack in the Box"
* "Knock, Knock Who's There?"
* "Let Me Be the One"
* "Long Live Love"
* "Looking High, High, High"
* "Love City Groove"
* "Love Enough for Two"
* "Love Games"
* "Love Is..."
* "Love Shine a Light"
* "Love Will Set You Free"
* "Making Your Mind Up"
* "A Man Without Love"
* "Mary Ann"
* "A Message to Your Heart"
* ~~"My Last Breath"~~
* "Never Give Up on You"
* "No Dream Impossible"
* "One Step Further"
* "One Step Out of Time"
* "Only the Light"
* "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit"
* "Power to All Our Friends"
* "Puppet on a String"
* "Ring-A-Ding Girl"
* "Rock Bottom"
* "Runner in the Night"
* "Save Your Kisses for Me"
* "Say It Again"
* "Say Wonderful Things"
* "Sing, Little Birdie"
* "Space Man"
* "Still in Love with You"
* "Storm"
* "Teenage Life"
* "That Sounds Good to Me"
* "Touch My Fire"
* "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)"
* "Where Are You?"
* "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong"
* "You're Not Alone"

* Note: Entries scored out signify where the United Kingdom did not compete

* v
* t
* e

Eurovision Song Contest 1978

Countries|

* Austria
* Belgium
* Denmark
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Monaco
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Portugal
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* United Kingdom

Artists|

* Baccara
* Caline and Olivier Toussaint
* Co-Co
* Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta
* Gemini
* Harmony
* Mabel
* Nilüfer and Nazar
* Joël Prévost
* Ricchi e Poveri
* Ireen Sheer
* Seija Simola
* Björn Skifs
* Springtime
* Jahn Teigen
* Tania Tsanaklidou
* Jean Vallée
* José Vélez
* Carole Vinci
* Colm C. T. Wilkinson

Songs|

* "A-Ba-Ni-Bi"
* "L'Amour ça fait chanter la vie"
* "Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus"
* "The Bad Old Days"
* "Bailemos un vals"
* "Boom Boom"
* "Born to Sing"
* "Charlie Chaplin"
* "Dai li dou"
* "Det blir alltid värre framåt natten"
* "Feuer"
* "Il y aura toujours des violons"
* "Les Jardins de Monaco"
* "Mil etter mil"
* "Mrs. Caroline Robinson"
* "Parlez-vous français ?"
* "Questo amore"
* "Sevince"
* "'t Is OK"
* "Vivre"

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

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