Co-Co (band)

Lore & Background

Co-Co began as Mothers Pride, releasing two singles in 1974 and 1975. They first attempted the UK Eurovision selection in 1976 as a quintet (Bradford, Hasler, Baker, Peter Perrera, Vivien Banks) with the song "Wake Up," placing second. Perrera appeared with a shaved head, having promised his bandmates he would go bald if they made the final. The group later won A Song for Europe in 1978 as Co-Co, with the lineup of Bradford, Andrews, Baker, Hasler, and Rogers, adding drummer Charlie Brennan for the Paris performance.

After Eurovision, the group returned as a quartet (minus Andrews and Rogers, plus Helen Bailey) under the name The Main Event for the 1980 UK final, where they placed last with "Gonna Do My Best." Oddly, Josie Andrews still appeared on stage providing backing vocals. Bradford also wrote a song for the 1979 UK final, "Harry, My Honolulu Lover," performed by The Nolan Sisters, which placed fourth; it had originally been recorded as a demo by Co-Co featuring Cheryl Baker.

Cheryl Baker later joined Bucks Fizz, winning the 1981 UK final and then the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with "Making Your Mind Up." She became one of the few Eurovision artists to win at their second attempt. According to John Kennedy O'Connor, Baker made the second biggest improvement by a Eurovision competitor, moving from eleventh in 1978 to first in 1981.

Reader's Guide

Co-Co is primarily remembered for their 1978 Eurovision entry "The Bad Old Days," which marked the UK's worst result at the time. The group's significance lies partly in its connection to Cheryl Baker, who later achieved Eurovision victory with Bucks Fizz. The band's history illustrates the revolving-door nature of UK Eurovision hopefuls: members appeared in multiple selection contests under different names, and songwriters Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater won A Song for Europe again in 1980 with Prima Donna, beating the new Co-Co lineup. Co-Co's sole album, Bad Old Days, and their single reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart represent their modest commercial impact. The group disbanded in 1980, but Bradford and Hasler continued collaborating into the 21st century, releasing new tracks in 2020 as COCO featuring Terry Bradford, Sussie Arvesen & Keith Hasler.

Did You Know?

• Co-Co was originally called Mothers Pride.
• Cheryl Baker, a member of Co-Co, later won Eurovision 1981 with Bucks Fizz.
• Songwriters Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater also won A Song for Europe in 1980 with Prima Donna.

The Marketing Paradox of Mixed-Gender Acts

Co-ed vocal groups—ensembles pairing male and female singers, typically in their teens or twenties—have long occupied a peculiar niche in popular music. Despite their obvious appeal on paper, they have historically struggled to match the commercial dominance of single-gender girl groups and boy bands. Industry analysts have identified a fundamental marketing dilemma: the core audience for teen pop, pre-teen and teenage girls, responds to gendered archetypes in very specific ways. Music writer Jake Austen argued that girl groups are sold as aspirational role models while boy groups are sold as objects of romantic desire, and that blending both categories into one act creates what he called an "unnecessarily confusing" proposition. Slate contributor Dann Halem added a more personal dimension, noting the inherent awkwardness of a singer crooning about teenage longing and heartache while literally harmonizing alongside the person who embodies that longing. This structural tension has made co-ed groups a persistent but underrepresented format across global pop markets.

A Shifting Landscape Across Asia

In Asian pop scenes, mixed-gender ensembles have always been the minority, though their fortunes have shifted by era and country. South Korea saw a brief flowering in the 1990s, when acts like Koyote, Roo'ra, Sharp, and Cool achieved notable success. Since the 2000s, however, the format has receded sharply; groups such as AKMU, Kard, and AllDay Project have found only varying degrees of traction. Sociologist John Lie traces this decline to an "accentuation of gender archetypes" that cemented the industry habit of producing single-sex acts, while author Roald Maliangkay points to the commercial logic of a clearly targetable visual audience as the deeper cause. Japan offers a different picture: AAA has been called a rare commodity precisely because it courts both female teenagers and male fans simultaneously. Shorter-lived examples include Folder, a late-1990s act that released two albums before two members departed and the group rebranded as Folder 5, and the 2015 debut of lol. Thailand's 3.2.1, debuting in 2010, represents another modest foothold for the format in the region.

European Breakthroughs and the Disposability Factor

While mixed-gender teen pop has largely failed to gain a foothold in the United States, Europe—particularly Scandinavia and the United Kingdom—became an unexpected proving ground in the early 2000s. A wave of co-ed acts achieved genuine commercial success, including Aqua, Vengaboys, S Club 7, A-Teens, Hear'Say, Ace of Base, Steps, KidToniK, A Touch of Class, and Liberty X. The sheer number of groups that found audiences in these markets suggests a cultural receptivity that other regions have not replicated. Music writer Jake Austen offered a pointed explanation for the British success in particular, theorizing that it stemmed from the public's comfortable acceptance of what he termed the "disposability of pop acts." In a market where novelty is embraced and fashions rotate quickly, the novelty of a mixed-gender lineup became a selling point rather than a confusing one, allowing these groups to capture attention and chart positions that their American counterparts rarely achieved.

The Latin American Tradition of Grupos Mixtos

In Latin America, mixed-gender vocal groups carry their own distinct cultural vocabulary, known locally as "grupos mixtos" or "bandas mixtas." A defining feature of the region's tradition is its deep entanglement with television: many of these ensembles originated in soap operas, serialized dramas, or music-themed programs rather than in traditional record-label pipelines. Mexico emerged as the primary incubator, producing a long lineage of well-known acts including Timbiriche, Fresas con Crema, Kabah, OV7, RBD, and Garibaldi. South America contributed its own wave between the early 2000s and 2010, with Erreway, Teen Angels, and Kudai standing out. The tradition continues to evolve: LemonGrass, a seven-member group of young singers and dancers discovered in 2015 by producer Ari Borovoy, has positioned itself as a spiritual successor to OV7, releasing singles such as "Mi mundo gira contigo" and a 2016 Spanish adaptation of Crayon Pop's "Bar Bar Bar" titled "Vértigo." Meanwhile, MIX5, the winning act of the 2016 reality competition La Banda, brought together two girls and three boys of varied nationalities, underscoring the format's ongoing vitality in the region.