"Figaro" is a song by British pop group

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initia ...

. It was released as a single in January

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and became the group's third and final number one hit in the UK.

Background

By 1978, Brotherhood of Man had experienced a certain amount of chart success in both the UK and Europe, notably so with "

Save Your Kisses For Me "Save Your Kisses for Me" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed for the 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 ...

" and "

Angelo Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...

". Following this, came the failure of their next single "Highwayman" (released in late

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

). In January 1978, they released this song, which borrowed the title-idea from their previous No.1 "Angelo". The song became a No.1 hit in February, spending one week on top of the charts in the UK and becoming one of the twenty best selling singles of the year. This was to be Brotherhood of Man's final No.1 single. It was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the BPI in February 1978. The single featured a track, "You Can Say That Again", from their previous album on the B-side, while in Canada, a Special Disco Mix of the A-side was released on 12" single. "Figaro" was written by band members

Lee Sheriden Lee Sheriden (born Roger Pritchard; 11 April 1944 in Horfield, Bristol) is an English singer/songwriter and musical director, best known as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. Early career As a child, Roger Pritchard learned the piano and ...

and

Martin Lee Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, JP (; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He ...

along with their manager

Tony Hiller Anthony Toby Hiller (30 July 1927 – 26 August 2018) was an English songwriter and record producer. He was best known for writing and/or producing hits for Brotherhood of Man, including " United We Stand" (1970) and "Save Your Kisses for Me" (19 ...

, who also produced the track. The lead vocals are sung jointly by members

Sandra Stevens Sandra Stevens (born 23 November 1944, Leeds, Yorkshire) is an English singer and member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. Early career Sandra Stevens first entered into a singing career in the 1960s when she joined the club band, The Track (w ...

and

Nicky Stevens Nicky Stevens (born Helen Maria Thomas in Carmarthen, Wales, 3 December 1949) is a singer, famous as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. She is the only Welsh person to have won the Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Nicky Stevens be ...

. The distinctive opening drum roll on the song was performed by

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

of the 1960s band

The Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits ...

. The song tells of a (presumably) Spanish cabaret singer who is intent on gaining the interest of young ladies. As co-writer Hiller stated; My daughter had just come back from vacation in Spain and was full of stories about the young waiters trying to romance the young girls". "Figaro" became a hit in many European countries, including Ireland, where it was also a No.1 hit. The song featured on the group's album ''

B for Brotherhood ''B for Brotherhood'' is the fifth album by pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in June 1978 and released on Pye Records. The album featured the UK No.1 single " Figaro" and top 20 hit "Beautiful Lover". On the UK albums chart it reached ...

,'' and was followed up by top 20 hit "Beautiful Lover". "Figaro" went on to be voted best song of the first half of 1978 by readers of ''

Look-in ''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior ''TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

''. A cover version was recorded for the

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

album series, appearing on Volume 63 and The Best of 1978.

Track listing

*7" single # "Figaro" (Tony Hiller / Lee Sheriden / Martin Lee) – 2:57 # "You Can Say That Again" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) – 3:22 *12" (Canada only) # "Figaro (Special Disco Mix)" – 4:24 # "You Can Say That Again" – 3:20

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Figaro (Song) UK Singles Chart number-one singles 1978 singles Brotherhood of Man songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Tony Hiller Songs written by Lee Sheriden Songs written by Martin Lee (singer) 1978 songs Pye Records singles