Singer Jay Aston won Eurovision Song Contest, but tells ME & MY MONEY: ‘I never made much money with Bucks Fizz’

Jay Aston, 62, rose to fame as the singer of pop group Bucks Fizz who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981, writes York Membery.

Their song, Making Your Mind Up, immediately reached number 1 in Britain and eight other countries.

The foursome had two more British chart hits – The Land Of Make Believe and The Camera Never Lies – and sold 50 million records worldwide.

Jay left Bucks Fizz in 1985, but returned in 2009 with two ex-bandmates to form The Fizz.

In 2018, Jay, who lives in Westerham, Kent, with her husband Dave and daughter Josie, was diagnosed with oral cancer but has since made a full recovery.

What did your parents teach you about money?

My father was a comedian and my mother was a singer/dancer, and they had a double act called Ted Durante and Hilda. They played many cabaret gigs and appeared on The Good Old Days (the BBC light entertainment TV show which ran from 1953-83), a record 25 times.

They were in almost constant demand (dad was even offered gigs when he was later in a care home), but some months he got more work than others, so they taught me the importance of having other irons in the fire when you are at home. show business.

In addition to our house, Dad always had a house on the road that he renovated or sold to supplement the family income. And like them, over the years I have bought a number of houses that were a wreck, fixed them up and sold them for a profit. I also have an Airbnb that I rent out.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Oh yeah, especially after I left Bucks Fizz when I was faced with lawsuits. At my lowest point, I was on housing benefit and living in a bedroom in Croydon, subsisting on cups of tea. The pandemic was also a difficult time financially – The Fizz had to cancel a series of gigs and we had no income for 16 months, while my husband had to return to teaching.

Have you ever been given stupid money?

I was paid well for playing covers with my own band, Aston, at corporate events in the early 2000s, but it wasn’t crazy money. The Fizz also do occasional corporate/private gigs, as well as 1980s festivals.

But even though we get paid a fair amount for such events, all the money we make has to be split between the band members and our support team: a two-man road crew, the duo that handles our merchandise and our PA. That’s a total of nine people. Working in show business is not for the financially weak.

What was the best year of your financial life?

People think we came up with it during our Bucks Fizz heyday in the 1980s, but that wasn’t the case.

Our first year’s income was around £7,000 each, despite having scored a few million-selling singles (we had a terrible record deal), and we walked away with just £1,600 each after our first tour. Ironically, as The Fizz we are making more – a slow, consistent amount – more than we ever made with Bucks Fizz, but I can’t think of a single outstanding year where we made a lot of money.

What’s the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

A black Canada Goose winter coat, which was on sale but still cost £700. I bought it a few months ago because I’m cold. It’s all too easy to catch a cold when you’re rehearsing in a draughty hall, and if you catch a cold in my place while on tour, you’ve had it. My Canada Goose jacket may be the most expensive item of clothing I’ve ever bought, but it keeps me wonderfully warm so it was worth every penny.

They can bury me in it, because it will stay with me forever!

What is your biggest money mistake?

Bucks is probably leaving Fizz. I shouldn’t have left, but I was hospitalized for my back injuries and left in pain after a bus accident in 1984 that left my bandmate Mike Nolan in a coma.

I probably made the decision to quit when I wasn’t fully recovered. I subsequently had a series of lawsuits filed against me for allegedly breaking my contract, and despite winning every case that was not settled out of court, I had to sell my house in West Kensington to pay my £400,000 legal fees. That house is probably worth a few million pounds now, so I would have had a completely different life if I hadn’t left the band.

Best money decision you’ve made?

It’s a trade-off between my five property purchases and my membership of The Fizz. It seems I have the ability to recognize a property and know that it will increase in value, and I have made money on all the places I have bought. My husband Dave has also become very good at DIY and has learned how to renovate a house – although he couldn’t even put up a shelf when I first met him.

Do you have a pension?

I cashed in a small private pension I had just before Covid as I needed the money, so I won’t get the state pension until I retire at 67. The only thing I’ve made money from is property.

Do you have property?

Yes, a six-bedroom detached house set in seven acres near Westerham in Kent, which my father and mother bought for £12,500 in 1976 but had been virtually rebuilt.

I bought out my brother after our parents died, and Dave, Josie and I have lived there for the past fifteen years. We spent at least £100,000 building an extension and it is now worth around £1.5 million.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

Oh my god, I would love that job. I would increase the tax threshold (currently £12,570) to around £18,000. I don’t think people should have to pay tax if their income is below that amount, given how much the cost of living has risen in recent years and how difficult it is for young people to get onto the property ladder.

What is your number one financial priority?

To pay off my mortgage. I’ll get there – we had to remortgage the house to build our extension – but it’ll take a few years.

• Jay’s solo releases, I Spy and Alive & Well, are now available across all digital platforms. The Fizz (formerly Bucks Fizz) play London’s Indigo 02 on June 28. the02.co.uk