Richard Peebles (born 1956), working under the stage name Rikki, is a Scottish singer who won the BBC's A Song for Europe contest in 1987 with his own composition, "Only the light". Although he had been writing and performing with the group Marmalade at the time he was picked to represent the UK, he was a mini-cab driver in Glasgow. At the Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels the song fared poorly and was placed 13th out of the 22 entries.This was the worst result for a UK entry in the history of the contest, outstripping the 11th place achieved by Co-Co which had held the record to this point. It wouldn't be until 2000 that any British song fared worse, when Nicki French placed 16th. There was further disappointment for Rikki when his single of "Only the Light" failed to reach the UK singles chart Top 75. This is one of only three occasions this has happened. But he did release an album, similarly titled, in 1987, which also failed. He has not released any material since.
Links To Peel[]
On his 11 May 1987 show, Peel mentioned seeing Rikki's wife in Brussels at the Eurovision Song Contest getting distraught when the results saw him being placed at 13th position. Peel felt sorry for Rikki's result and dedicated him by playing his Eurovision song entry "Only The Light" on the programme. After playing the track, Peel mentioned that he thought it was a good pop song.
Peel was pictured with Rikki in the Radio Times (30 May-5 June 1987) on the radio guide page for Sunday 31 May 1987 when John Peel at Eurovision was broadcast at 2.00 pm.
Shows Played[]
Eurovision 1987 United Kingdom - Rikki - Only the light
- 1987
- 11 May 1987: Only The Light (British Eurovision Song entry)