Love City Groove and Eurovision 1995

As Eurovision is almost upon us, I've been fishing in the archives and reeled in this. And no, it doesn't smell fishy.

Back in 1995 the faceless BBC committee that decides such things hit upon the idea of jazzing the contest up, and so ran a public poll for the UK entry. A peculiar mix put themselves up for consideration, and for once some weren't complete unknowns. You had the proto-Steps group Deuce, London Beat, and Samantha Fox (then trading as 'Sox', bizarrely). The Great British public were captivated, nay, obsessed. Fancying something a bit different to send across the Irish Sea, they selected the first urban (and I use that in the loosest sense) tune to grace the Eurovision stage.

It's hard to believe now but Love City Groove's Love City Groove broke the mould and offered something new among the schmaltzy ballads and, as it was the 90s, riverdancing. It paved the way for Gina G's classic monster Ooh, Aah ... Just a Little Bit the following year and the UK's eventual triumph in 1997. In short, the mid-late 90s were a golden time for the UK - both Love City and its successor got heavy play rotation on Radio 1 too. Will we ever see its like again?

So when you see Eurovision 2014 with all its eurodancey numbers and bastardised dubstep, the song to blame - the one what made your favourite contest acknowledge modern-sounding music - began with this: