Brotherhood Of Man: "Save Your Kisses For Me" (1976)

"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. This was the third consecutive occasion on which a group had won the contest.

"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 Charts two weeks before the Eurovision final, due to be held on 3 April.


- Lyrics:

Though it hurts to go away
It's impossible to stay
But there's one thing I must say before I go
I love You --you know
I'll be thinking of You in most everything I do
Now the time is moving on
And I really should be gone
But You keep me hanging on for one more smile
I love You --all the while
With your cute little way
Will You promise that you'll save your

Kisses for me
Save all your kisses for me
Bye bye baby
bye bye
Don't cry honey don't cry
Gonna walk out the door
But I'll soon be back for more

Kisses for me
Save all your kisses for me
So long honey so long
Hang on baby hang on
Don't You dare me to stay
Cause You know I'll have to say

That I've got to work each day
And that's why I go away
But I count the seconds till I'm home with You
I love You --it's true
You're so cute honey -gee
Won't You save them up for me -your

Kisses for me
Save all your kisses for me
Bye bye baby bye bye
Don't cry honey don't cry
Gonna walk out the door
But I'll soon be back for more

Kisses for me
Save all your kisses for me
So long honey so long
Hang on baby hang on
Don't you dare me to stay
Cause you know
You've got to save your

Kisses for me
Save all your kisses for me
Bye bye baby bye bye
Don't cry honey don't cry
Won't You save them for me
Even though you're only three...