Brotherhood of Man freely admit that being a success in Europe helped them win the Eurovision Song Contest.

Their critics call them middle of the road and their fans call them blue-eyed soul but the essence of the four piece is, and always was, Euro-pop. They will be bringing their platforms, hot pants and white suits to Swindon next week with a new stage show called The Seventies Story.

Their winning Eurovison entry in 1976 was Save Your Kisses For Me, and it was voted into the top five Eurovision songs of all time, the highest UK entry. Two weeks before Eurovison final Brotherhood of Man topped the UK chart, staying at number one for six weeks. The pop anthem is currently one of the top 100 selling songs ever in the UK, selling six million copies worldwide.

The band’s manager Tony Hillier said: “Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby was a hit all over Europe in 1975 so I firmly believe it opened the door for us a year later. It helped us do well because they knew us. Every weekend we’d travel to do TV sports in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.’’ It was Tony who conceived the idea of the band in 1969, as a vehicle for his own songs, but it was a concept band with various session musicians. It wasn’t until 1973 that the group became the band they are today, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens, Lee Sheriden and Sandra Stevens, no relation to Nicky. Various chart successes followed with songs such as Angelo, Oh Boy The Mood I’m In, Figaro and Beautiful Lover and the singers have been touring and performing, apart from a short break ever since.

Today the same four singers have created a theatre show from their experiences. The Seventies Story is a musical romp through the decade with songs from each year backed up by stories of the events of that era.

The Seventies Story is at Swindon’s Arts Centre on Thursday February 6 from 8pm. Tickets to see Brotherhood of Man are £16 and £16 concessions from 01793 614837.- Flicky Harrison