"Save Your Kisses for Me" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Single by Brotherhood of Man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
from the album Love and Kisses | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
B-side | "Let's Love Together" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Released | 5 March 1976 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre | Pop, MOR, schlager | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Length | 3:06 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Label | Pye | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Writer(s) |
Tony Hiller Lee Sheriden Martin Lee |
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Producer(s) | Tony Hiller | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brotherhood of Man singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Save Your Kisses for Me" | ||||
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Single by Margo Smith | ||||
from the album Songbird | ||||
B-side | "I'm About to Do It Again" | |||
Released | May 1976 | |||
Recorded | Columbia Recording Studio Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
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Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:04 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Writer(s) |
Tony Hiller Lee Sheriden Martin Lee |
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Producer(s) | Norro Wilson | |||
Margo Smith singles chronology | ||||
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"Save Your Kisses for Me" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed for the United Kingdom by Brotherhood of Man in The Hague, Netherlands. The lyrics and music were written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, and Martin Lee, the latter two being members of the band. The song became a worldwide hit, reaching No.1 in many countries, including the UK, where it became the biggest-selling song of the year. Overall, it remains one of the biggest-selling Eurovision winners ever, and the biggest such seller in the UK.
"Save Your Kisses for Me" was originally written by member Lee Sheriden in August 1974. On bringing the song in to the next songwriting session, others thought that the title was clumsy and reworked it into "Oceans of Love". Sheriden was unhappy with the changes and the song was shelved. A year later when it came to coming up with songs for the next album, they discovered that they needed one more song and Sheriden again put forth "Save Your Kisses for Me". This time it was accepted, as he later recalled:
"I'd had a year to think about it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do on the arrangement, the glockenspiel on the beginning and the big 12-string acoustic guitar and the strings, and then came the day to record the song...It was about midnight and I sang it and it went well. I could see everyone behind the glass panel getting excited and I thought great, they all really like the song, and as I finished I was waiting for them to press the button so they could speak to me and say 'great, we've got a hit' or whatever, and the person pressing it said: 'Lee, we think Martin should sing this song'. But I didn't mind because Martin came in and sung it to perfection."
Soon after, manager Tony Hiller was keen for the group to try for Eurovision, now that the qualifying rounds had changed in the UK. Up till now, a singer was nominated to perform, but for 1976 it was opened up to different singers to enter their own songs. Brotherhood of Man put forward "Save Your Kisses for Me" and it was accepted as one of the 12 finalists. It won A Song for Europe on 25 February 1976, beating second-placed Co-Co by just two points. The song was released as a single and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, two weeks before the Eurovision final were held on 3 April.