Jigsaw (band) - Break-up

Break-up

A little-known fact is that Bernard left the band in 1978 and was replaced by Jon Fox. Campbell also left the band in 1979 and was replaced by Rod Godwin. The band, as a unit, finally ceased touring in 1981 but Scott and Dyer continued to record using Tim Stone on guitar and Pete Dennis on bass. This new group lineup recorded one album for Elektra. The album, a disco influenced set (that was never released in the United Kingdom) was issued in the United States the following year. A final single under the Jigsaw name was released by Splash in early 1983 called "Love Isn't At Home".

Following the group split, Scott and Dyer continued to be successful songwriters, having their work recorded by Nicki French, Bad Boys Inc, Boyzone, Jon Otis and many others. After leaving his music career behind when he quit Jigsaw in 1979, Tony Campbell went back to his first occupation, ophthalmic engineering. Barrie Bernard continued to work in the entertainment business, running night clubs as well as being an active magician. Though no new studio albums have been issued, eight newly recorded songs were included on a 1995 compilation CD, entitled The Best Of Jigsaw, just one of the collections of their music released. Dyer has twice attempted to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest, taking part in both the 1983 and 1985 A Song For Europe competitions. In 1983, he placed third as lead singer of the group Casablanca with the song "With Love". Two year's later, as a soloist, he took "Energy" to fourth place. The song from 1985, "Energy", was reworked to become the album track "Voice Of America" and sung by Nicki French for her first studio album "Secrets". In 1988, Dyer provided backing vocals at the Eurovision final alongside Julie Forsyth and Dominic Grant, both formerly of Guys 'n' Dolls, for the UK entry performed by Scott Fitzgerald, "Go". This song placed second in the Dublin based contest.

Despite the longevity they had, many consider the group to be highly underrated. Much has also been made about their lack of success in the UK charts, where only two of their singles made the Top 40. It has been suggested this was because BBC Radio 1, the most popular station in the UK at the time, gave little or no airplay to their singles after "Sky High" in 1975. However, the group lasted a long time and were big stars in Japan, as well as having four Billboard Hot 100 hit singles in the U.S. Their music is also still in print on compact disc, enjoying healthy sales. The sleeve notes to their 1998 Greatest Hits collection, The Very Best Of Jigsaw stated "A look at Jigsaw’s songs reveals the innovative work of its creators: the advanced song structure, the clever use of classical techniques like counterpoint and a novel approach to using sound effects – leaving the listener with a sadly-overlooked-but-very-impressive catalogue of melodic pop songs".

Founding member Clive Scott died on 10 May 2009. He had an accident at home two weeks earlier and never recovered, despite having brain surgery. He was 64 years old and is survived by his widow and son.