Ryder was a purpose-made pop group led by Maynard Williams whose primary purpose was to represent the United Kingdom at the

1986 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcasting Unio ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway. Ryder performed the song " Runner in the Night" which was placed 7th. They were criticised in the media for being a particularly weak and unsuitable entry. The song was the first UK Eurovision entry to fail to reach the top 75 since 1964, managing a peak of only #98. "Runner In The Night" was the only single released by the band, but Williams teamed up with the song's composers Maureen Darbyshire and Brian Wade to compose the theme song to the BBC drama series ''Truckers'', in which he appeared. The single from the programme failed to chart. Williams, the son of actor

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' ...

, had previously reached the final 24 of the UK heat in 1985. He had earlier featured in the BBC's 1975 Christmas production ''Great Big Groovy Horse'', a rock opera based on the story of the Trojan Horse shown on BBC2 starring

Julie Covington Julie Covington (born 11 September 1946) is an English singer and actress, best known for recording the original version of " Don't Cry for Me Argentina", which she sang on the 1976 concept album '' Evita''. Early life Julie Covington was born ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Ground" ...

and Paul Jones. It was later repeated on BBC1 in 1977. At the time of the band's victory in the '' A Song for Europe 1986'' contest, Williams had just completed a lengthy run as 'Electra' in the

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

and

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

stage musical ''

Starlight Express '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and el ...

Discography

Singles

References

External links