Jay Aston tells ME & MY MONEY: ‘I by no means made massive bucks in Bucks Fizz’

Jay Aston, 62, shot to fame as a singer with pop group Bucks Fizz which received the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, writes York Membery. 

Their track, Making Your Mind Up, went straight to No 1 within the UK and eight different international locations. 

The four-piece went on to have two additional British chart-toppers – The Land Of Make Believe and The Camera Never Lies – and offered 50 million information worldwide.

Jay left Bucks Fizz in 1985, however in 2009 acquired again with two ex-bandmates to kind The Fizz. 

In 2018, Jay, who lives in Westerham, Kent, together with her guitarist husband Dave and daughter Josie, was identified with mouth most cancers however has since made a full restoration.

What did your mother and father educate you about cash?

My dad was a comic book and my mum was a singer/dancer, they usually had a double act referred to as Ted Durante and Hilda. They performed a number of cabaret gigs and appeared on The Good Old Days, [the BBC light entertainment TV show that ran from 1953-83], a report 25 occasions. 

They had been in just about fixed demand (Dad was even being provided gigs when he was later in a care house) however acquired extra work some months than others, so that they taught me the significance of getting different irons within the fireplace whenever you’re in showbusiness.

Dad at all times had a property on the go, apart from our house, that he was both doing up or promoting, in order to high up the household revenue. And like them, I’ve purchased plenty of homes through the years that had been a wreck, accomplished them up and offered them at a revenue. I’ve additionally acquired an Airbnb that I hire out.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Oh sure, particularly after leaving Bucks Fizz after I confronted litigation. At my lowest level, I used to be on housing profit and residing in a bedsit in Croydon, surviving on cups of tea. The pandemic was additionally a troublesome time financially – The Fizz needed to cancel a string of gigs and for 16 months we had no revenue, whereas my husband had to return to educating.

Have you ever been paid foolish cash?

I acquired nicely paid for taking part in cowl songs with my very own band, Aston, at company occasions within the early 2000s however it wasn’t foolish cash. The Fizz additionally do the occasional company/personal gig, in addition to Eighties festivals.

But regardless of getting a good price for such occasions, any cash that we earn must be break up between the band members and our help staff – a two-strong highway crew, the duo who deal with our merchandise and our PA. That’s 9 folks, in all. Being in showbusiness will not be for the financially faint-hearted.

What was one of the best yr of your monetary life?

People assume we had been coining it in throughout our heyday with Bucks Fizz within the Eighties however that wasn’t the case.

Our first yr’s revenue was about £7,000 every regardless of having scored a few multi-million promoting singles (we had a horrible report deal), and we walked away with simply £1,600 every after doing our first tour. Ironically, we’re making extra as The Fizz – a gradual, constant quantity – greater than we ever made in Bucks Fizz, however I am unable to consider any excellent money-making yr.

What’s the most costly factor you have got purchased for enjoyable?

A black Canada Goose winter coat, which was in a sale however nonetheless price £700. I purchased it a few months in the past as a result of I really feel the chilly. It’s all too straightforward to catch a chill whenever you’re rehearsing in a draughty corridor and in the event you get a chilly in my enterprise, whereas on tour, then you definately’ve had it. My Canada Goose coat is perhaps the most costly merchandise of clothes I’ve ever purchased however it’s good at protecting me heat so was price each penny.

They can bury me in it as a result of it will final me perpetually!

What is your greatest cash mistake?

Probably leaving Bucks Fizz. I should not have left however I used to be hospitalised for my again accidents and had pains after a coach crash in 1984 which left my bandmate Mike Nolan in a coma.

I most likely made the choice to stop after I wasn’t absolutely recovered. I subsequently had a string of lawsuits taken out in opposition to me for supposedly breaking my contract, and regardless of successful each case that wasn’t settled out of court docket, I needed to promote my West Kensington home to pay my £400,000 authorized charges. That home might be price a couple of million kilos now, so I’d have had a really totally different life if I hadn’t left the band.

Best cash resolution you have got made?

It’s a toss-up between my 5 property purchases and becoming a member of The Fizz. I appear to have a capability to identify a property and know it should go up in worth, and have made cash on all of the locations I’ve purchased. My husband Dave has develop into excellent at DIY, too, and learnt the best way to renovate a property – though he could not even put a shelf up after I first met him.

Do you have got a pension?

I cashed in a small personal pension I had simply earlier than Covid as a result of I wanted the cash, so I’ll solely get the state pension after I retire at 67. The solely factor I’ve made cash out of is property.

Do you personal any property?

Yes, a indifferent six-bedroom home set in seven acres close to Westerham in Kent which my mum and pop purchased for £12,500 in 1976 however just about rebuilt.

I purchased my brother out after our mother and father died, and Dave, Josie and I’ve lived there for the previous 15 years. We’ve spent a minimum of £100,000 constructing an extension and it is now price round £1.5 million.

If you had been Chancellor, what would you do?

Oh my goodness, I’d love that job. I might increase the tax threshold [currently £12,570] to about £18,000. I do not assume folks ought to should pay taxes if their earnings are beneath that quantity, given how a lot the price of residing has risen in recent times, and the way exhausting it’s for younger folks to get on the property ladder.

What is your primary monetary precedence?

To repay my mortgage. I’m getting there – we needed to remortgage the home to construct our extension – however it’ll take a couple of years.

• Jay’s solo releases, I Spy and Alive & Well, can be found now by way of all digital platforms. The Fizz (previously Bucks Fizz) play London’s indigo 02 on June 28. the02.co.uk