Puppet on a String (Sandie Shaw song)

"Puppet on a String" was written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter,^[4] and recorded by Sandie Shaw.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) internally selected Shaw as their representative for the 12th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. She had never been taken with the idea of taking part in the contest but her discoverer, Adam Faith, had talked her into it, saying it would keep her manager Eve Taylor happy. Taylor wanted to give Shaw a more cabaret appeal and felt that this was the right move – and also felt that it would get Shaw back in the public's good books as she had recently been involved in a divorce scandal.^[9]

Shaw performed the song as one of five prospective numbers for the contest on The Rolf Harris Show. Of the five songs, "Puppet on a String" was Shaw's least favourite. In her own words, "I hated it from the very first 'oompah' to the final 'bang' on the big bass drum. I was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune".^[10] On 25 February 1967, Shaw performed the five songs on A Song for Europe 1967, the national final organized by the BBC to select the song she would perform in the contest. The winner was chosen by postcard voting and on 4 March the BBC announced that "Puppet on a String" had won the competition becoming the British entry for Eurovision.^[11]

Shaw also recorded "Puppet on a String" in French –as "Un tout petit pantin"–, Italian –"La danza delle note"–, Spanish –"Marionetas en la cuerda"–, and German –"Wiedehopf im Mai"–.^[12]

On 8 April 1967, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg in Vienna hosted by Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Shaw performed "Puppet on a String" eleventh on the night, following Belgium's "Ik heb zorgen" by Louis Neefs and preceding Spain's "Hablemos del amor" by Raphael. Kenny Woodman conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the British entry.^[13]

At the close of voting, the song had received 47 points, placing it first in a field of sixteen, and winning the contest^[14]

As a result of it winning the Eurovision Song Contest, "Puppet on a String" became Shaw's third number one hit in the UK –a record for a woman at the time– and was a big worldwide smash. Globally, the single achieved sales in excess of four million, making it the biggest-selling winning Eurovision track to date.^[15] Some estimates suggest this makes the track the biggest selling single by a British female artist of all time.^[16]

Shaw performed her song in the Eurovision twenty-fifth anniversary show Songs of Europe held on 22 August 1981 in Mysen.^[17]