Biography Last Updated: 5th July 2004

David Paul Van Day was born on 28th November 1956 in Brighton UK. He started his showbiz career at the age of ten notching up plenty of handy experience, although it was more in the acting than the singing world. He attended the famous Italia Conti Stage School, and found time between lessons to make TV commercials for everything from Coca Cola (in which he played a French boy) to Clark's shoes. He also made an appearances in a film version of 'Oliver'. It was when he was playing the part of Cousin Yellowstone in a stage version of The Wombles in Manchester that he was offered a place in the cabaret group Guys 'n' Dolls.
Thereza Lorraine Bazar was born on 23rd May 1957 in Toronto Canada. Her parents are English but had emigrated to Canada five years previously only to find they missed the British way of life. They returned to the UK when Thereza was aged just nine months old to live in Cheltenham. When Thereza was ten years old the family moved to Kingston-Upon-Thames where she attended the Tiffin Grammar School. She was determined to make 'showbiz' her career and so attended the Arts Educational, a dance and drama college in London. Although to Thereza it was all to technical, she wanted to go somewhere more showbiz so she could understand that side of things. She eventually left the course and went into several pantomimes and summer shows. During one of her early auditions she met Trevor Horn for the first time. Both had auditioned for a new version of The New Seekers, although they both got the job the group only lasted a few weeks. After the split Thereza joined Guys 'n' Dolls.

Thereza and David first met at the age of 17 in the cabaret group Guys 'n' Dolls. Their first year and a half in the group was happy enough and they both enjoyed and believed in what they were doing. However, new wave music was making the cabaret scene seem stale and contrived. Thereza and David found they weren't satisfied with the kind of music the group was producing, they wanted instead to go for a better quality pop sound. With that in mind it's hardly surprising that among the songs Thereza lists as her all time favourites are pop gems like ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' (for her "the most classic pop record ever made"), 'All You Need Is Love' by The Beatles and 'Band On The Run' by Wings. They made the only choice that was left for them to leave Guys 'n' Dolls and try to make it as a duo. The pair were in love something that wasn't immediate but just 'clicked' after they had been in Guys 'n' Dolls for quite a while. The following long months were tough, they had numerous meetings with record companies in order to gain a recording contract.

In 1978 they signed a contract with Acrobat/Carrere records and in November of the same year they had their first hit single 'Shooting Star' which made it to number 14 in the UK charts. More hits followed in 1979 with their follow up single 'Who Were You With In The Moonlight' released in May, and 'Love's Gotta Hold On Me' released in August. Their first album 'Shooting Stars' was also released in this year and contained all three hit singles. They finished off 1979 with their fourth hit single, a unique version of The Beatles classic 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' which made the UK Top 5 in November.

The following year (1980) saw Dollar change record companies to WEA records. They released the follow up to their debut album titled 'The Paris Collection'. Although three singles were released from this album 'The Girls Are Out To Get Ya', 'Takin' A Chance On You' and 'You Take My Breath Away', it was only 'Takin' A Chance On You' that just got into the UK Top 75 reaching number 62 in October. It was also in October that year when Thereza and David announced their engagement and celebrated in style with a party at the Savoy Hotel in London. In interviews years later they both stated the engagement and party at the Savoy was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend was over by this time and they had both agreed to go their own separate ways emotionally, but still carry on singing together. Thereza was quoted as saying "If ABBA can survive emotional break-ups, can't we?".

In August 1981 Dollar were back in the UK Top 20 with 'Hand Held In Black And White' the first single to be taken from their soon to be released third album 'The Dollar Album'. It also marked their first collaboration with Trevor Horn who co-wrote and produced the track. As previously stated Thereza first met Trevor Horn in the group The New Seekers, but really became aware of his talents when she heard the song 'Video Killed The Radio Star' which Trevor co-wrote and produced. A few months later they were back in the charts again with another Trevor Horn composition 'Mirror Mirror' which spent a staggering seventeen weeks on the UK charts. Obviously the partnership was a winning combination and Thereza and David were sticking with it. Both 'Give Me Back My Heart' released in March and 'Videotheque' released in June the following year (1982) provided ample confirmation that this partnership was working well. Surprisingly Trevor Horn had initially turned down the offer to work with Thereza and David, as he had just agreed to join the group Yes and that was going to be a full time occupation. Upon leaving Yes he got in contact and soon his magic touch blended with the duo's talent to produce a sparkling formula for success. The last Dollar single to be released in 1982 was 'Give Me Some Kinda Magic' which was written and produced by themselves. It made the UK Top 40 in September of that year and was the last Dollar single to be released until 1986.

With all the pressures of managing themselves, writing and recording the songs and promoting them all over the world, they both just had enough. In an interview years later David stated "I really needed a break". During this long break David released his first solo single 'Young Americans Talking' still on the WEA label. It just missed out on a Top 40 place on the UK charts in 1983. He then went into pop management and also travelled around the world. Thereza was contacted by Trevor Horn who offered to produce an album for her to be released on the ZTT label. Unfortunately, as Trevor was so busy at the time Thereza didn't think he could give her the attention she deserves so she signed a deal with MCA records. During this period she spent a lot of time in New York. She made the album 'The Big Kiss' with producer Arif Mardin which she was "incredibly confident about". Sadly record company trouble just prior to it's release and the lack of promotion saw the album and two single releases fail to enter the charts. "It was the lowest point in my career, definitely," she stated. "Everything was out of my control, nothing seemed to make sense". Then just before Christmas 1985 she got in touch with David again. They hit it off straight away over lunch and immediately hatched plans to re-launch Dollar.

In August 1986 the first Dollar single in nearly four years was released. 'We Walked In Love' was issued on the Arista label and produced by their original producer Christopher Neil. Although it received good reviews in the press it stalled at number 61 on the UK charts. Their second release in 1986 was titled 'Haven't We Said Goodbye Before' again on the Arista label. It became a hit in the clubs but sadly didn't make it into the charts. The following year saw them release their first single with their new record company London records. 'O L'Amour' (their cover of the old Erasure song) released in December 1987 went soaring to the UK Top 10 in early January 1988. At last Dollar were back in their rightful place. The next (and sadly Dollar's last) single, 'It's Nature's Way (No Problem)' was released in July 1988. It didn't have the same success that 'O L'Amour' enjoyed but as with 'Haven't We Said Goodbye Before' it became a big hit in the clubs.

After the second split David released his solo single 'She Said She Said' and carried on doing live shows as Dollar with various other female singers. He then joined Mike Nolan in Bucks Fizz for a few years until they split in 2001, after which he toured with his own Bucks Fizz line-up for a while. Thereza retired from show business altogether and went to live in Sydney Australia where she still lives today with her husband (also called David) and two children. In March 2001 she gave her first TV interview for years to the Channel 4 programme 'Top Ten Duets'.

Both Thereza and David said if the right situation came along they would re-form Dollar again. And in 2002 it was announced that Dollar were getting back together again after fourteen years apart to perform on the 80's nostalgia tour 'Hear & Now' in December 2002. Dollar's performance on the tour went down a storm with the crowds. It was clear to see that Thereza and David were enjoying themselves on stage just as much as the audience. The Dollar reunion carried on to 2003 when they agreed to take part in the reality TV show 'Reborn In The USA' in March. Dollar performed two songs live on the programme and also recorded two new tracks for inclusion on the 'Reborn In The USA' compilation CD that was released to coinside with the programme (although only one track made it onto the final CD). After Dollar's appearance on the 'Reborn In The USA' programme they've received many offers, wether they will take up any of them only time will tell. Let's hope there's another reunion just around the corner.