Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s
Volume Two: The 1970s
Volume Three: The 1980s
Volume Four: The 1990s

ALL VOLUMES AVAILABLE NOW! CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Written by Gordon Roxburgh

Published by Telos Publishing
Available from www.telos.co.uk

Every year since 1956 millions of people around Europe and beyond have tuned in to watch the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It has become compulsive viewing, as viewers support their favourite song or country, and eagerly watch the performances and anticipate the excitement of the international voting as the show heads towards its climax.

Through examination of surviving archive material and documentation, plus interviews with those involved both behind and in front of the camera, this series of books charts the history of the United Kingdom in the contest. Find out more about how the songs were selected to represent the country, and details of the all important voting each year.

This first volume looks at how the contest was created, and how important the BBC was in influencing its development. There is in depth coverage of those contests staged in the United Kingdom, and interviews with artists, composers and production personnel who took part in both the domestic and international competitions.

The second volume examines the 1970s when the contest achieved huge viewing figures, and the songs featured highly in the charts.

The third volume looks at the 1980s, a hugely popular era amongst the fans of the contest.

The fourth volume - published in November 2020 and available here - looks at how the UK fared in the 1990s. There is in-depth coverage of those contests staged in the United Kingdom, and interviews with artists, composers and production personnel who took part in both the domestic and international competitions.

These are detailed and exhaustive works of reference that fans of music and television history will find invaluable and fascinating.

The books are available at £16.99 each. Order via www.telos.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gordon Roxburgh was born in Baillieston, Glasgow in 1960, and grew up in the town of Biggar in Lanarkshire. After leaving school he spent three years at Napier College in Edinburgh studying commerce.

In 1982 he moved to London, and spent the next 20 years working in Smithfield Meat Market. After being made redundant he spent a short spell as a prison officer, a job he admits now didn’t suit him. He is currently self employed as a driving instructor, a job which he thoroughly enjoys, and finds learner pupils much less stressful than prisoners.

Two television programmes caught his imagination as a youngster, Doctor Who and the Eurovision Song Contest. With the former he joined the Doctor Who Appreciation Society and spent a couple of stints as the editor on their newsletter Celestial Toyroom. However it was his role as convention organiser that he is best known. He organised several highly successful Doctor Who conventions in the mid 1980s, securing a number of guests who making their debut appearances. A skilled interviewer, he was one of just a handful of people ever to interview second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton on stage. Deciding that it is best to quit while you are ahead, he stepped down from the role in 1987.

With the Eurovision Song Contest, Gordon has twice been involved on the jury of A Song For Europe, including in 1981, the year that Bucks Fizz went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest itself. Since 1994 he has travelled across Europe to attend the international finals, and in the last decade has reported on the contest for various websites. In 2010 he joined the team as an editor on the official Eurovision Song Contest website www.eurovision.tv.