Dollar (group)

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Dollar
WEA
  • Arista
    • Past members

    Dollar were a British pop vocal

    O l'amour
    " (1987).

    History

    Formation

    Thereza Bazar and David Van Day met at 17 when they successfully auditioned for the pop act Guys 'n' Dolls. The group enjoyed a number of hit singles in the mid-1970s and during this time Van Day and Bazar became romantically involved. By 1977, the group was in decline and the pair complained about the choice of material and musical direction.[2] Van Day and Bazar were asked to leave the group in July of that year, with them publicly stating they had decided to leave to concentrate on songwriting.[3] Van Day originally planned to go solo, but ultimately they agreed to form a duo.[4] in 1978 they met Chris Youle who had just left RSO records and formed Acrobat records, but as he wanted to put out a record quickly by them, but as Acrobat did not have a distribution deal yet, he did a deal with French label Carrere Records, to release the single he had made under the name Dollar.

    1978-1982

    Dollar's first single, "Shooting Star", was released in late 1978 and, after a slow climb, reached number 14 in the

    UK Singles Chart.[5] The follow-up, "Who Were You With in the Moonlight?", was released in early 1979 and also reached number 14. After two hit singles featuring Van Day on lead vocals, their third, the ballad "Love's Gotta Hold on Me" was sung by Bazar. It became Dollar's first self-penned hit as it entered the Top 10 and was one of their biggest, climbing to number 4 in the UK chart. Encouraged by this steady run of success, the group released their debut album, Shooting Stars, which made the top 40. In a change of pace, the band released a cover of The Beatles' song "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which reached number 9. At the same time, Dollar had their first (and only) US hit with "Shooting Star", which made it to No.74 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

    In 1980, Dollar moved to

    WEA Records. Buoyed by the success of "Love's Gotta Hold on Me", the pair decided to write and produce all the songs for their second album. Attempting a move towards a rockier sound, the album, along with its singles, failed to sell well. In a bid to generate sales, Van Day and Bazar announced their engagement, but this was later revealed to be a publicity stunt.[7]
    In reality they had split up as a couple months earlier.

    In 1981, Bazar approached record producer

    Silver by the BPI.[8]

    Split and reformation

    During a promotional trip to Japan in February 1983, relations between the duo had become increasingly tempestuous and Van Day quit the band. Their latest single ("Two Hearts") went unreleased in the UK and Dollar split.

    Van Day had ambitions to be a solo artist after he and Bazar split. He released the single "Young Americans Talking", which was written and produced by the people behind

    Gotcha! with composer Bill Conti
    . This was released as a single.

    Neither member of the duo enjoyed the same kind of success as solo artists as they had had as Dollar,

    PWL. Harding described the recording sessions as strained, with the band feeling intense pressure to make a hit.[10] "They were quite fragile sessions," recalled Harding. "I think they were fairly desperate [for a hit], especially Thereza."[10]
    The single was to be their last release as it flopped, and work on a possible album had been long delayed. In late 1988, Dollar disbanded again.

    Van Day again attempted to launch a solo career, but to no avail. Bazar decided to finish with the music industry and moved to Australia where she concentrated on raising her family. During the 1990s, Van Day teamed up with a succession of female singers for a touring version of Dollar. In the latter half of the decade, he joined a rival variation of the group

    Bucks Fizz with original member Mike Nolan. Two versions of Bucks Fizz were touring the UK and another Bucks Fizz original member, Bobby G brought a case in the High Court against Van Day. In 2001, a judge refused to grant a court injunction against Van Day as he had been operating in Bucks Fizz for five years at the time, while also running a burger van in Brighton.[11][12]

    2000s

    In the early 2000s, Van Day persuaded Bazar to rejoin him in Dollar for a reunion tour. In 2002, they took part in the 'Here And Now' tour, a series of arena-sized concerts featuring other singers and bands from the 1980s. They followed this up by appearing on the reality television show Reborn in the USA in 2003. This show involved a number of formerly successful chart acts touring together in America with the public voting off a different act each week. They quickly became the centre of attention when they were involved in an argument with pop star Sonia, which was televised and reported in the newspapers. Dollar were the first act to be voted off and they returned to the UK.[13] Dollar made another live appearance in 2004, in a show celebrating the career of Trevor Horn. It took place at Wembley Arena and Dollar appeared alongside ABC and Pet Shop Boys, amongst other acts who had worked with Horn over the years.[14]

    In July 2008, Dollar came together again to take part in a UK reality television programme entitled Pop Goes the Band, in which a number of former pop stars were remodelled and restyled to try to recapture their former glory. The programme aired on

    Living TV
    on 23 February 2009. To date, this has been their last activity as an act.

    On 15 February 2010, Cherry Red Records re-issued remastered and expanded editions of The Dollar Album and The Paris Collection for the first time on CD. In 2019 Cherry Pop re-released their catalog in a 6-CD/1-DVD box set. The box contains expanded versions of all three of their original studio albums with rare and new-to-CD bonus tracks including demos, single A- and B-sides, backing tracks, outtakes, and 12-inch mixes. A DVD (in Region 2 PAL) has eighteen promo videos and television appearances.

    Discography

    Main article: Dollar discography

    References

    1. ^ Dollar. "Dollar | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
    2. ^ "Guys & Dolls - Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
    3. ISBN 978095600810-7
      .
    4. ^ Top 10 Duos, Channel 4 Television
    5. ^ a b "Dollar - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
    6. ^ "Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com.
    7. ^ "Dollar - Shooting Stars: Biography". Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
    8. ^ "BPI – Certified awards – search Dollar". Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
    9. ^ "David Van Day - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
    10. ^ a b c "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 21: A Detour With Harding & Curnow Part 2 on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
    11. ^ "Bucks Fizz name dispute settled". News.bbc.co.uk. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
    12. ^ "Virgin Media - Official Site". Virgin Media. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008.
    13. ^ "Reborn in the USA". Ukgameshows.com.
    14. ^ "Produced by Trevor Horn, Wembley Arena, London". The Independent. 16 November 2004.
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