Side One Side Two Side one of the
Puppet on a String album begins with the title track, written by
Bill Martin and
Phil Coulter. They admitted to having written the song deliberately in the style of
oompah band music in an attempt to curry favour in
Continental Europe; for some time thereafter, British Eurovision entries would seem to be written in the style of continental European
MOR or
Schlager rather than other British MOR which was more similar to
American MOR.
Shaw had originally performed the song as one of five prospective numbers to represent the
United Kingdom in the 1967
Eurovision Song Contest on The
Rolf Harris Show. 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 was wanting 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. Of the five songs performed, "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." She was disappointed when it was selected as the song she would use to represent the country. Shaw won the contest hands down, though it has always been felt that this was partly down to her existing popularity on the continent (she had recorded most of her hit singles in French, Italian, German and Spanish). As a result, "Puppet on a String" became her third Number One hit in the UK, Side one finished with "Hide All Emotion" (originally the B-side to "Think Sometimes About Me"), written by
Marty Wilde. The opening song on side two is entitled "Tell The Boys" and was one of the five songs performed on The
Rolf Harris show as a prospective
Eurovision Song Contest representative. Shaw has since confessed that this was the song she most wanted to win. Written by
Peter Callander and
Mitch Murray, it was also used as the B-side to "Puppet on a String." The rest of the album consists of Andrews-written songs, firstly "Don't You Count On It," the B-side to the 1965 Top 10 hit "
Message Understood," and then a new song entitled "No Moon." Next comes "Long Walk Home" (previously used as the B-side to the 1966 single "Run"), and then a brand new recording of "I'd Be Far Better Off Without You," the original version of which had been an A-side for a short time in 1964 before being switched to B-side in favour of "
Girl Don't Come." The
Puppet on a String album finishes with "Had A Dream Last Night," the only Andrews song performed on The
Rolf Harris show as a prospective Eurovision number. Though she liked "Tell The Boys" best of the five, Shaw felt that musically this was the best song.
The Hives sing a different version on
The Black and White Album. In 2006, "Puppet on a String" was used as a sample in the
Lily Allen song "
Alfie". ==2005 bonus tracks==