Eurovision brought joy, fun, music and 100,000 extra people into Liverpool for two fantastic weeks in May. As we continue to bask in the glow of its fabulousness and look forward to its legacy in the city, we delve into MWOTY commère, Pauline Daniels’ brush with Eurovision fame.
In 1979, Pauline was working days in a travel agency, and doing three nights singing with a little trio in the Tavern in Wallasey. One night a local musician, Don Woods walked into the Tavern. Looking at the trio he asked: “Which one of you is Pauline?”.
It emerged that he’d been told that Pauline was a great singer and he had a song he wanted her to perform. Not only that, he wanted to enter it into the Eurovision Song Contest.
“I used to watch Eurovision religiously in those days and had done since I was a kid,” said Pauline. “So of course I accepted the offer.”
Pauline recalls thinking the best-ever Eurovision winner was Waterloo by ABBA (despite England giving it nil points at the time), and very much enjoying the year Cliff Richards represented the UK (“I was a mad Cliff fan at the time, glued to the telly all night”).
But her favourite-ever Eurovision memory was from 1976. “At the time my daughter was a little girl and she used to do the dance to Brotherhood of Man’s entry, ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’. That’s probably my best memory.”
According to Pauline the track she recorded for the song contest was called ‘You’re No Good To Me If You Can’t Boogie’, was a “very typical Eurovision pop song”.
Don entered the track. “In those days there were hundreds and they shortlisted 100,” explained Pauline. “It was 86 on the list, so miles away from being chosen – but at least it wasn’t last!”
She recently spotted a couple of copies of the record on eBay. “I just had to buy a copy. There was one available for £29.99 with a signed photo, and one for £5,” she said. “I got the one for a fiver, which was £4 more than it was originally.”
Pauline’s daughter’s partner is currently remixing the song, so we may hear at 2023 reboot in the near future 😉