Eurovision 1978 United Kingdom

[@cheyennebrennan966]

This was the first time the UK ever scored outside of the top 10...yet, I think it's better than a LOT of the past entries.

[@thomasmarthinussen8978]

Call me crazy this is my All Time Favourite Eurovision Song!

[@florrie8767]

Mine too

[@thomasmarthinussen8978]

@@florrie8767 You've got great taste in music, Florrie! Something about Bad Old Days that's highly addictive. An Old fashioned Beatles feel with elements of both Russian and Greek folk music!

[@thomasmarthinussen8978]

@@Sundae_Times Wait....WHAT!? Gilbert OSullivan is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE ARTIST!!! You take that back!!!!😁 Seriously, I'm his number One fan!

[@brizeeuk]

your not alone

[@berwickboy316]

@@thomasmarthinussen8978 Real feelgood song...

[@Chrisamusic1]

I agree. I dont think us (The UK) have ever had a better entry. Lovely melody, cute performance.

[@nickayling9531]

Just discovered this and it’s rocketed into my top 3 UK entries behind Sweet Dreams ( number 1 ) and Sam Ryder.

[@zybbok6456]

Great Eurovision song. Should have won.

[@francisnancy54]

My clear favourite from 1978. Criminally under-rated!!!

[@ianp7661]

Still MUCH better than the majority of UK entries since 2000, unfortunately :(

[@amirg1645]

Great great song briliant arangment.and harmonies. for me no 1!!

[@verkaforever]

I like this song. Did you know that the woman in the white outfit is Cheryl Baker, who later became a member of Bucks Fizz, who won ESC in 1981?

[@inezfeytons8896]

​@catscan2022better this no way

[@GalaxyNokiaGames]

she also announced the jury points of United Kingdom in 2005 in the contest in Kyiv

[@InezFeytons]

​@catscan2022 making you mind up won this not

[@ishootaliens6264]

Great Song . A winner every time i hear it played

[@Franzhelmut]

Bad old days Remember me? I was tossed and turnin' like a ship without a sea I was lost for learnin' like a song without a key Remember when I was all alone without a soul to call my friend? Who'd have thought those days would ever end? Those were the bad old days Before I had your love to guide me Sad old days You set me free from all those bad old days You put all the good inside of me Those were the bad old days (Those were the sad old days) Before I had you there besides me Sad old days And can't you see? - you took the bad old days And you put all the good inside of me Remember who Walked into my life and put their foot inside my shoe Now what was just a place for one is home for two Remember why I'm gonna stay with you until the day I die We can watch the good old days go by Those were the bad old days Before I had your love to guide me Sad old days You set me free from all those bad old days You put all the good inside of me Oh dooby-doo... Dooby-dooby-dooby-doo... Aah... Those were the bad old days (Those were the sad old days) Before I had you there beside me Sad old days (Those were the sad old days) And can't you see you took the bad old days And you put all the good inside of me? (Those were the bad old days) (Those were the bad old days) You put all the good inside of me (Those were the bad old days) Ah... (Those were the bad old days) You put all the good inside of me

[@LebaneseAtHeart]

It is actually quite good ! 10 points for UK 🇬🇧 from Lebanon 🇱🇧! 🇱🇧 💗 🇬🇧 !

[@Red_Platinuum]

What's 12 points?

[@JeSuisRene]

I really do think this is Cheryl Baker’s better entry to the UK.

[@64andyjh]

Agree. Much better song. Ironically, although tipped to win, they came 11th, which up to that point was the worst ever placing for a UK entry. Still, she got another shot 3 years later with, as we know, altogether different results!

[@juancarlossoton]

I was only 14, I was living with my family in Barcelona, it was my first Eurovision in colour, I went to my aunt home to watch it.

[@florrie8767]

I was 14 that year too. I always loved this entry really quirky .gosh 43 years ago unbelievable

[@babyblue6743]

I was 13, and was doing my beloved artwork, as I have done all my life, listening to the contest, and this was my favourite song of the contest.

[@midnightrain3240]

Absolutely can’t believe we did badly (hahaha, badly, that’s funny) with this after years of doing so well by sending total tripe. It’s one of the few entries from us- and, incidentally, one of even fewer from 1978- I actually quite like

[@jezt42]

I’ve a real soft spot for this song. It’s such a shame it didn’t do better. The main problem perhaps was the lyrics which one could argue was somewhat derivative of Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were The Days”. Also, the line-up is very reminiscent of The New Seekers’ “Beg, Steal or Borrow”. The drummer doing his bit with the megaphone was a nice idea, although it really needed more of an electronic treatment as on the studio recording. The orchestra was too loud - not sure if that was a techie/sound engineer or a conductor problem. All these things conspired for a poor showing in the results. But… it’s a catchy song, it’s nice to hear it sung live and it’s lovely to see Cheryl! Thanks for the upload! 👍

[@JeSuisRene]

Probably a tech problem as the sound mixing throughout the contest was atrocious!

[@revloninlove7716]

Canción nada despreciable con sonido impresionante y muy actual. Tema brillante con una orquestación asombrosa y arreglos a la altura. CoCo dan muestras de un directo brutal, sorprendente y tan increíble! Su undécima posición con 61 puntos es un insulto y todo un sin sentido. Me encanta, me enamora y me enloquece por igual. Sin duda, 12 Puntos.

[@Rickyscul]

lovely song...I'm still singing it... an amazing voice..makes me feel happy inside

[@florrie8767]

This is actually one of my fave uk entries despite not doing well.at the time

[@florrie8767]

I wonder what happened to the blonde lead singer Josie. No internet presence at all

[@npm2457]

The beautiful Josie...and Terry, where are you guys? Hope you and the children are doing great.

[@raywoodman5084]

A great Eurovision tune that again sadly never won but Cheryl Baker was just biding her time whilst making her mind up and then there were no more Bad Old Days and she still has the Fizz these days. Give her a part in Eastenders.......

[@64andyjh]

As it happens, apparently she DID go up for a part in Eastenders recently but sadly didn't get the gig. Ironic really, since she grew up just around the corner from me in Bethnal Green!

[@victorgutierrez111]

Great song, my winner of ESC 78

[@trebleking1641]

Zal Cleminson was on the phone after this to ask the guitarist for his image back...

[@CJBR1966]

Comparing with the weak songs in the ESC (even some winners) nowadays this song is a little treasure....

[@mikeblank7526]

+Carlos Rodrigues Today? Please. Trash. This was a great song. Could combination. Sorry they did not last.

[@CJBR1966]

+Mike Blank I said that this song is a little treasure, a good song.

[@janeslater8004]

45 years ago omg anyone know what happened to the female singer Josie Andrews. What she is doing now. We know cheryl won with bucks fizz 3 years later

[@toinoou03]

True. This is one of the best songs from UK. But it seems that the juries didn't want to have fun in our country !

[@TorkG8]

Cheryl Baker from Bucks Fizz was in this band. I remember watching this on TV, it was the year before my mum and dad took me to see ABBA live in concert in Glasgow!

[@MATTYHOUGH100]

This was UK Entry for the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest which was held in France & won by Isreal,, our song finished in 11th position, its highest awarded score was 8pts from West Germany,

[@Euroviking86]

Then 7 points from Monaco.

[@SallyWilliams]

Germany at that time was into Popmusic like this, New Seekers, BoM, Teach-In & ABBA

[@WelshyM]

Cheryl Baker is giving it what for in her "Flash Gordon" costume... This should have done much better than 11th!

[@arnaudana]

excellente cette chanson elle meritee beaucoup plus de points

[@pipopelao3306]

The Bad Old Days Remember me? I was tossed and turnin' like a ship without a sea I was lost for learnin' like a song without a key Remember when I was all alone without a soul to call my friend? Who'd have thought those days would ever end? Those were the bad old days Before I had your love to guide me Sad old days You set me free from all those bad old days You put all the good inside of me Those were the bad old days (Those were the sad old days) Before I had you there besides me Sad old days And can't you see? - you took the bad old days And you put all the good inside of me Remember who Walked into my life and put their foot inside my shoe Now what was just a place for one is home for two Remember why I'm gonna stay with you until the day I die We can watch the good old days go by Those were the bad old days Before I had your love to guide me Sad old days You set me free from all those bad old days You put all the good inside of me Oh dooby-doo… Dooby-dooby-dooby-doo… Aah… Those were the bad old days (Those were the sad old days) Before I had you there beside me Sad old days (Those were the sad old days) And can't you see you took the bad old days And you put all the good inside of me? (Those were the bad old days) (Those were the bad old days) You put all the good inside of me (Those were the bad old days) Ah… (Those were the bad old days) You put аll the good inѕide of me ((What's a favour between friends? It's a circus workmanship.)) acuerdate de mi, estaba confiada en virar como un barco sin mar, estaba perdida anhelando como una cancion sin clave...acuerdate cuando estaba solo sin un alma a quien llamar amiga, tenemos el recuerdo de aquellos malos tiempos que nunca acabarian...eran los malos tiempos, cuanto mas tenia no era para rellenar junto esos malos tiempos...cuanto mas tenia tu nunca veias junto a esos malos tiempos, me dejaste libre, me dejaste ver, eran los malos tiempos, tu pusiste todo lo bueno dentro de mi, recuerda quien vino a mi vida y puso un pie en mi zapato ahora lo que era solo un lugar para uno es un hogar para dos, recuerda porque iba a quedarme contigo hasta el dia en que muriera, pudimos ver aquellos malos tiempos pasar y desaparecer. 13/6/2024

[@britash94]

this is really good.. only just discovered this uk entry. great one! xx

[@joseluisgarciacampos90]

Era la mejor canción del festival y debería de haber ganado.

[@JeSuisRene]

It is a shame this was our lowest placing song (until 1987) - actually a good quality song, but let down by the styling, I think. Still deserved to do better than 11th!!

[@itsraymond2295]

I think this is one of these you either love or hate, or just "eh i don't know."

[@LastDreamer7]

UK in my 70s ESC rankings : 2nd-3rd-3rd-8th-5th-8th-2nd-Win-Win-5th

[@marychristmas4911]

Wow, I haven't heard this since 1978.

[@marnixvandenberghe5006]

nice song good music

[@RoseleneCandida-b2j]

It was so glam rocky clothes, but a cute song. Not badly at all. I like this song. 🙂

[@fillysarah]

dave neil was the drummer he also worked for suzie quattro..i think he ended up running his own friuit & veg shop....my mum said in margate but that was back in 80,s i wonder what hes doing know

[@berwickboy316]

Good song

[@Thisisace]

0:02 - I'm impressed that the orchestra didn't get completely sea-sick!

[@johnnyb6584]

Great little song. Should have won and done better than #13 in the UK charts

[@unturnthisstone]

Fab!!!

[@kexkaka47]

Very nice entry from the UK and they was very underrated at the night when the contest was. UK have send song who are worse than this and got better place.

[@nestelberg5672]

Good song, bad technical support in France.

[@Havvyer]

The funny thing is, A-Ba-Ni-Bi, was tipped to be the last song in the ranking... but juries made their minds up otherwise in the end. Good old days for the UK in the contest. 😊

[@ElLuchador535]

The song isn't bad but... I have read comments and nobody finds instrumental base a little big annoying?

[@Keithbarber]

I agree this song was a well written number good lyrics and good tune, but it was let down by a poor mime, holding their guitars without playing them, and the drummer not even playing the drums and shouting through the megaphone - it wasn't just how they sounded, it was how they looked and I think that cost us points

[@vaniakrystal388]

Fue un disco EP se compró en casa y que considero algo muy armonioso...

[@amyclarke41]

love this and cheryl tries to be a clown

[@j.t.5178]

Definitely deserved at least 10th place. Considering how close the scoring was from 8th to 11th place, all they needed was for one country to give them at least 6 points and they would have placed within the top 10. It's interesting how 15/19 countries voted for it, but it was all between 2 to 6 points. Honestly, the problem wasn't Co-Co as they performed well, but the production around them was absolute garbage that year. The sound mixing, camera angles, the blurry images, everything about it was just off somehow.

[@Euroviking86]

The way the 1978 contest was lit and shot was an absolute disgrace. Horrible lighting, bad film quality and hopeless camera angles harmed a lot of the acts that year.

[@JeSuisRene]

Indeed. The only exceptions are Monaco who gave 7 and Germany who gave 8.

[@j.t.5178]

Actually that bad film quality was due to the conversion from SECAM to PAL signals. So that explains that bloom effect going on during the contest. Can't really say much about the rest of the production, lol.

[@nicoledickson6099]

One of the best uk entries for me. Better then bucks fizz for me, jay was off key and they didn't sing as good as they did at a song for Europe or studio..... I enjoy making your mind up but this was the BETTER Eurovision performance for the UK and Cheryl.

[@perham44]

It was Cheryl who was off key. She admits it herself. Stop blaming Jay.

[@7geordie]

look at cheryl ,she was not even lead singer ,but you could see she was head of the pack she stuck by her dream and got glory in 1981. I have to admit bucks Fizz shouldve come 2nd to johnny Blue .

[@vordman]

The glam-rock gear appeared a bit dated for 1978. A good song though.

[@nigelwilliams9307]

Bo Selecta!

[@welshyyyyy]

The cameraman/director wasn't too keen on Cheryl in this performance for some reason

[@Mrsnobody875]

Is that peggy from hi de hi next to the clown 😅😅😂😂😂

[@oiooi6460]

Do you think whoever was scraping that violin was just trying to drown out Cheryl Baker's off key warbling? She so could not sing live

[@nigelwilliams9307]

Warbling? Ha ha I guess you're not a fan.

[@oiooi6460]

@@nigelwilliams9307 she seems nice just in every live performance she's so bad

the outfits and the performance was messy not Cheryl bakers finest unfortunately

[@bestie8478]

Place:11/20

[@bestie8478]

What Eurovision Video Should I Do Next?

[@ajay999999]

Co -Co's entry for 1976 was the better but waqs beaten by save your kisses

[@jchdhc]

Brilliant compared to the shite songs sent to Paris

[@stuckinthe60s56]

I only like 🇮🇱 🇮🇪 🇱🇺 🇫🇷 and 🇬🇧, the rest are awful

[@FannomacritaireSuomi]

Thank goodness UK finally got some reality hard in the face. Finland's average position in the seventies and eighties was outside the top10, so this would've just been a normal placing for us... And not even that bad.

[@JeSuisRene]

While I agree with your sentiment, this was the wrong song for this to happen to. I personally think this should have come 3rd with 🇱🇺 and 🇮🇱. On the other hand, 1974, 1976 and 1979 really shouldn’t have done as well as they did.

[@spannamatronic]

Good song, but I agree, the orchestration is too heavy. Could've done better

[@ajay999999]

Yes type in - song for europe 1976 wake up

[@TheWillahern]

the drummer is a good friend of mine ,anybody knows him ,tell him to get in touch,fon

[@nigelwilliams9307]

The drummer wasn't playing.

[@fillysarah]

keith played the guitar...terry the lead singer.....my dad alan daniels played the key boards for co;co....wonder what all thease guys are doing now?

[@KondaaKage]

Sarah Daniels I don't see your dad on the list of members honestly... Did he have a stage name himself?

[@amirgat1285]

It's a great song: great harmony and cool singers. the terible sound of the French orchestra destroyed the song chances.. was it part of the traditional French British conflict?

[@JeSuisRene]

I don’t think it was much to do with Franco-British conflict - the orchestra and sound mixing in Paris in 1978 were terrible!

[@amirgat1285]

@@JeSuisRene well it was a joke Rene, and the outcome of all these mixin and stuf problems , was that our Izhar.C brought the ESC to Jerusalem a year later, and a new classic winner was born there....

[@JeSuisRene]

@@amirgat1285 yeah… I gathered it was a joke after I had sent my reply 😅

[@GroundhogRoy]

Frech? Freach? Chanses? Tradional? Mixin stuf? Er... what? 🤷‍♂

[@amirgat1285]

@@GroundhogRoy well the text was fixed. Unfortunately the sound of this song cant be.

[@nwlman]

I dont think she should have been in Bucks Fizz she already had been in this dreadfull setup, she was totally inferior to Jay.

[@johnnyb6584]

On 81 Eurivision Jay was singing out of tune

[@perham44]

Wrong. It was Cheryl who was out of tune. She even admits this herself.

[@jasongreen9371]

The Jarvis Brothers should have been chosen for the UK 🇬🇧 This is just embarrassing

[@roboi2241]

This is from 1978? Considering uk artists were innovating music and at the forefront of the latest genre punk rock at this time, this is embarrassing and looks and sounds like an entry from 1972. It's actually not a bad Euro song and might have won a few years earlier but even the euro judges must have cringed at how dated it was by 78 even by Eurovision standards.

[@popazz1]

Baker still never masterd the art of HARMONY,lol! Christ,we were crap! And now we're expecting the former 'boy-band',Blue to win it for us! Jeez,let's just give Eurocrap up as a bad job,and get some dignity back!

[@mikebatlinh6650]

The arrangement at Esc was awful. The costumes didnt help either. Good song would have done better

[@ajay999999]

@toinoou03 No its not the best

[@ajay999999]

@claudia39c No it was just rubbish

[@raymondtaylor8525]

Vocals were not good at all.

[@PeterPete]

total rubbish!

[@LarzGustafsson]

ABBA wannabes.

[@ferbilbao6075]

what a meess of song. Terrible