IntroductionWe didn’t win last year, we came second if you remember and Luxembourg won so this year’s glittering Eurovision occasion came, on 6 March 1966, from the Villa Louvigny in Luxembourg as it did in 1962.
This year as our singer we choose the resolute Kenneth McKellar, an excellent singer, to sing five songs from which the British public picked ‘A Man Without Love’ as our entry.
UK Entry
Our song, ‘A Man Without Love’, was written by Cyril Ornadel a British songwriter, conductor and composer who had a good reputation in musicals and had recently written a hit for Matt Munroe.
The song is very much a song that would sit well in a musical, a vast expansive song with a great arrangement of strings behind it. It’s very dramatic and bold and Mr McKellar, being a Scot, chose (at the last minute I believe) to sing it dressed in a kilt. Harry Rabinowitz is conducting so, as ever, tune into YouTube and look for ‘eurovision 1966 uk‘ and have a listen to the song and see if you think that its Eurovision material?
The Winning Entry
I’m afraid the jury didn’t think it was winning material either and we came 9th on the night with only 8 points. Before you complain, of course, remember that this song was picked by the general public so we chose it and, in my opinion, we got what we deserved!
The winner was Austria with Udo Jürgens and “Merci, Chérie” which means ‘Thank you, darling’.
Have a listen to this song, change the search to ‘eurovision 1966 austria‘ and you will find it. The song is a very nice song, very simple but not, I would have thought, hit material but this is the Eurovision so you never know what will happen! Udo Jurgens went on to be a very famous composer and singer.
On a more serious note, this is an example of what can happen when you have ordinary people choosing the songs and then ordinary people deciding which is the best. Presumably this is why Xfactor doesn’t have ordinary poeple as judges!
Kenneth McKellar
Our song went on to reach number 30 in the charts and then slowly sank beneath the waves and this is the first time I have heard it, I am sure, since 1966!
Kenneth McKellar was a forester in the forests of Scotland but then studied music at the Royal College of Music destined for life as an opera singer. However, he didn’t enjoy opera and decided to strike out on his own, singing Scottish songs at which he was quite successful. His most famous song, of course, you already know this: it’s the ‘The Song Of The Clyde’, a good old stirring river song.
What? You’d like to hear the Song Of The Clyde sung by Kenneth Mckellar? OK, there’s a rather nice version I came across with a great video on YouTube at the link here. The clips zip by a little fast so it’s probably worth watching twice but it’s well worth it.
Sadly, Kenneth McKellar died at his daughter’s home in April this year in America at the age of 82.
So, no win this year in the Eurovision, that’s six years without any luck; perhaps next year success in the song contest will grace our sandy shores.
