Let’s shimmy and shake to the number
They call it the Jubilee Rhumba
To welcome the Monarch, ole!– Eric Smallshaw, Monach Olé!, The Nationwide Jubilee Song Contest, 1977
On May 17th 1977, the BBC hosted the final of the Nationwide Jubilee Song Contest. Queen Elizabeth II had been on the throne for 25 years and to celebrate the milestone, the BBC’s Nationwide teatime TV show was looking for a winning song as part of its Jubilee Fair.
By Thursday May 17th 1977, the hundreds of musical tributes to Her Majesty have been whittled down to five.
Before we get to them, the Top 10 selling singles for 14 May 1977 were:
1. When I Need You, Leo Sayer
2. Sir Duke, Stevie Wonder
3. Hotel California, Eagles
4, Southern Nights, Glen Campbell
5, Couldn’t Get It Right, Climax Blues Band
6, Right Time Of The Night, Jennifer Warnes
7, So In To You, Atlanta Rhythm Section
8, I’m Your Boogie Man, KC & The Sunshine Band
9, Got To Give It Up, Marvin Gaye
10, I Wanna Get Next To You, Rose Royce
Host Richard Stilgoe introduced the finalists:
Eric Smallshaw
Eric from Eccles, a town in Greater Manchester, kicked things off with Monarch Ole!.
Hucklow First School
The Sheffield kids played balalaikas in a song written by their headmaster.
Richard Gwyn and Cameo
The Welsh entry included a verse about the Prince of Wales.
The Singing Butcher and the Coventry Kids
Giving full throat to Let’s Celebrate The Royal Jubilee.
The Farringdon Infants School
The school children from Sunderland play recorders.
The voting followed the Eurovision Song Contest. Each region awarded points in order of preference and was blocked from voting for itself. Scoring was four points for the favourite song down to one point for the worst one.
And the winner? No, not Eric. The Coventry Kids and Singing Butcher Rod Woodward won.