"The Golden Days are Over" or "Golden Days" is a 1983 song, popularized a year later by the UK pop group Bucks Fizz. Written by

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

and Sue Shifrin, it was the follow-up to their top 20 single " Talking in Your Sleep", but failed to chart as highly. A month later it was featured on the band's fourth studio album ''

I Hear Talk ''I Hear Talk'' is the fourth studio album by the pop group Bucks Fizz. It was released in November 1984, the album featured the singles " Talking in Your Sleep", " Golden Days" and "I Hear Talk". Overview Bucks Fizz had been consistently in ...

''. "Golden Days" was originally recorded by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

Background

Released in October 1984, this was the thirteenth single by the group but failed to achieve the success of the group's previous hits and stalled at No. 42 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

.Official UK Charts - Bucks Fizz
/ref> With lead vocals by member Bobby G, the song tells of a fading movie star who is desperate to regain some of her former glory. The song was written by

and Sue Shifrin and was produced by Britten – the only Bucks Fizz single not to be produced by Andy Hill. The

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

for the song featured the group as 1920s film stars, depicting them in a black and white film as well as behind the scenes in colour. The movie star in question was played by member

Cheryl Baker Rita Maria Stroud (''née'' Crudgington; born 8 March 1954), known professionally as Cheryl Baker, is an English singer and television presenter. She was a member of 1980s pop group Bucks Fizz, who won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and now p ...

. As well as a 7" and 12" single, "Golden Days" was also released as a limited edition 7"

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

EP, which featured a live medley of rock tracks which the group had performed in concert.Discogs - Bucks Fizz "Golden Days" EP
/ref> "Golden Days" was then included on the group's album ''

,'' released soon after the single. The song was originally recorded by

as "The Golden Days are Over" a year previously on his album, ''Silver''. Allmusic - Cliff Richard ''Silver''
/ref> A new extended mix of the song was produced in 2008 and featured on the Bucks Fizz album, '' The Lost Masters 2 - The Final Cut''.

Track listing

;7" single # "Golden Days" (Terry Britten / Sue Shifrin) (4.12) # "Where Do I Go Now" (Cheryl Baker) (4.31) ;12" single # "Golden Days" (4.12) # "One Touch Too Much" (Andy Hill / Sue Shifrin) (3.39) # "Where Do I Go Now" (4.31) ;Limited edition EP # "Golden Days" (4.12) # "Where Do I Go Now" (4.31) # "Rock Medley (Live)" (featuring the songs: "

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", "

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", "

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", " Whatever You Want" (8.24)

Chart history

References

{{authority control 1983 songs 1984 singles Bucks Fizz songs Songs written by Terry Britten RCA Records singles