Black Lace were a British pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they finished seventh with the song "Mary Ann". The band had numerous line-up changes, with Colin Gibb being the longest serving original member, until retiring in 2024. Black Lace went on to have success with novelty party anthems such as "Superman" and "Do the Conga".
Over the years, Black Lace toured around the world. Playing party shows throughout Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and the US.
Pre-Black Lace (1973–1975)
Terry Dobson and school friend Ian Howarth formed The Impact as a five-piece pop group in 1969, with Alan Barton, Steve Scholey and Nigel Scott. The group also performed under the names Penny Arcade and Love or Confusion.
Ian Howarth left the band for a short while but returned to the line-up in 1974, and Dobson also left, to be replaced briefly by Neil Hardcastle. Dobson then re-joined, and Scott left in 1975, that same year the band adopted the name Black Lace. Ian Howarth left the band for good in 1976, and was replaced by Colin Gibb (born Colin Routh, 8 December 1953).[1]
Black Lace (1976–1981)
After turning professional at the beginning of 1976, the band toured the majority of the UK, managed by Keith Mills, commencing their first summer season at the Skegness Bier Garten. The following year their summer season would take them to Butlins in Filey, North Yorkshire and Skegness, Lincolnshire. An EP was recorded and produced by comedian Freddie 'Parrot face' Davies at his studio, which was to be sold at their shows. The group were voted Yorkshire Band of the Year by BBC Radio Leeds, and best clubland group playing at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool.
In 1979, Black Lace recorded their first single, "Mary Ann", for ATV music and a recording contract followed with EMI. As the song required a more 'throaty' vocal, Alan Barton was moved to being lead singer, with Steve Scholey on backing vocals for the band's recordings, but remaining as lead singer on live performances. The song won the BBC Television's A Song For Europe and the band went on to represent the UK at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest held in Israel, with the band finishing seventh. Other television appearances around this time included Nationwide, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops and Juke Box Jury. "Mary Ann" reached No. 42 in the UK Singles Chart.[1][2]
The band's follow-up single, "So Long Suzy Baby", failed to chart in the UK (as EMI could not decide on which track should be used, and delayed the planned release date), but achieved success in Europe. Black Lace found success with live performances and TV shows, notably the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland, the Golden Orpheus festival in Bulgaria, and on TV in East Germany, West Germany and Spain.
The band toured Denmark in 1980, supporting Suzi Quatro and working with Tommy Seebach, a Danish entertainer. Black Lace and Seebach recorded "Hey Hey Jock McRay" for the Danish singles market, but an intended 1980 tour of Poland was called off because of political unrest in the country.
Chart success (1981–1987)
In 1981, the band split. Dobson joined the Castleford rock band Stormer, who had a recording contract with Ringo Starr. Scholey departed, leaving the others to settle huge debts incurred whilst touring. The band became a duo, consisting of Gibb and Barton.[1] It was this line-up that would give the band its biggest chart success.
The duo played the Northern club circuit using pre-recorded backing tracks, which was controversial at the time. Initially, they used the name Lace, but soon reverted to Black Lace and recruited a new manager, John Wagstaff. They recorded an instrumental single based on the "Chicken Dance", released as "Birds Dance" in 1981 (using the name Buzby[3] instead of Black Lace).[4] However, the record was beaten to the charts by another version of the song by The Tweets, released as "The Birdie Song". "Birds Dance" has since been retitled "The Birdie Song" and included on Black Lace albums.
Black Lace's 1983 "Superman" single was their first one under their own name on the Flair label,[1] and a promotional video was shot at Casanova's nightclub in Wakefield. One of the hired dancers was the then unknown singer Jane McDonald. "Superman" reached No. 9 in the UK chart,[2] but an attempt at a follow-up single, "Hey You!", failed to chart, despite being BBC Radio One's Record of the Week. Black Lace received a silver disc for sales of "Superman". They proceeded to tour Denmark with Danish stars Laban and Snapshots.
The band's biggest success came in 1984 with the single "Agadoo", selling over one million copies worldwide, and reaching No. 2 in the UK chart.[5][6] "Agadoo" was a hit in Europe, South Africa and Australia. Having been presented with a gold disc for sales in the UK, radio interview presenter Richard Whiteley forgot Gibb's name and referred to him as 'Mr Agadoo' (the name Dene Michael later adopted for himself, despite having no connection to the record). The duo recorded their first album, Black Lace, at Stuck Ranch studios in Denmark. Around this time, their record distribution company Pinnacle went into receivership, leading to Black Lace and their record company losing an estimated quarter of a million pounds in unpaid royalties for "Agadoo".
The band's follow-up single, "Do The Conga", reached No. 10 in the UK chart,[2] and the accompanying album Party Party – 16 Great Party Icebreakers sold over 650,000 copies in the first five weeks, reaching double platinum status and leading to the band doing TV shows in Germany, Luxembourg, France and Denmark.[1]
In 1985, another single, "El Vino Collapso", was released, with the video shot in Skegness. It failed to reach the top 40, stalling at No. 42 in the UK Singles Chart due to it being 'banned' by the BBC in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster. As it had references to "drinking whilst abroad", it was deemed unsuitable for radio play.[2] Further releases "I Speaka Da Lingo" and "Hokey Cokey" reached No. 49 and No. 31 respectively.[2]
Black Lace's second album Party Party 2 was released for Christmas 1985, and television appearances included The Old Grey Whistle Test, 3-2-1, ITV Telethon, Miss Yorkshire Television, International Disco Dance Championship, Pebble Mill at One and the Top of the Pops Christmas Special. Because of such a demanding work schedule, Barton and Gibb found it necessary to charter a private aircraft to meet the deadlines, but the band's success led to a tax demand in excess of £100,000.
In 1986, Dene Michael replaced Gibb, who took time out of live work with Black Lace (remaining an official member of the band) to concentrate on other projects, including promoting pop act Party Party and participating in two tours of Germany, concentrating on a part-time photography business, setting up a food retail outlet, and a music equipment retail and installation business.
Another single, "Wig Wam Bam", (featuring Barton, Gibb and Michael) reached No. 63 in the UK chart,[2] but "Viva La Mexico", which was released to capitalise on the 1986 FIFA World Cup football competition, flopped when England were knocked out. Black Lace (Barton and Michael) appeared as themselves in the 1987 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too performing "Gang Bang", which had been recorded by Barton and Gibb the previous year. The pair were also immortalised as caricatures in the TV show Spitting Image and the hit single "The Chicken Song". The band had a UK hit with their album Party Crazy.[2]
Later career (1987–2024)
September 1987 saw a switch round: Gibb returned 'full-time' with the band, whilst Barton left to join Smokie.[1] Michael became a full-time member of Black Lace, and he and Gibb released the single "Jammin' the Sixties" under the name Barracuda. The record was BBC Radio One's Record of the Week, but it failed to chart.
In 1995, Barton died as a result of a coach crash in Germany while touring with Smokie.[8]
Black Lace played one-off shows in 1996 at DJ conventions in Canada and Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. They also released the Action Party and Best Of albums that year. Gibb was presented with a special Agadoo guitar to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary, but he was also made bankrupt by the Inland Revenue.[9]
15 August 1997 was dubbed Agadoo Day. Black Lace played 20 shows in 24 hours in Manchester, London, Watford, Northampton, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield and Leeds, finishing at the Frontier Club, Batley. The event raised over £25,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Peugeot used "Agadoo" in a TV advertisement for the new 106 car, and Black Lace re-recorded the track, renaming it "Agadoo 106 mix", donating all their royalties to Marie Curie Cancer Care. The record spent a week in the UK chart.[2]
In 2002, Colin Gibb took the original Black Lace show to Tenerife, playing the now internationally famous 'party shows' in hotels and restaurants on the island, occasionally visiting the UK for TV appearances.[1]
A television advertisement for Walkers crisps was shown on British TV, featuring Michael and Robinson (under the name 'Old Lace') performing alongside Gary Lineker singing along to "Agadoo".[10]
In 2019, Black Lace (Gibb and King) became associated with UK dressage team The Agadoo Girls, consisting of seven members, with Gibb's cousin Debbie Cox as team captain. They came top at their debut Team Quest competition at Richmond Equestrian Centre in June that year.[11]
Colin Gibb - retirement and death
On 13 May 2024, Colin Gibb announced his retirement on Facebook. His last performance was at the San Eugenio Villa Adeje Beach Hotel in Spain, on 16 May.[12] On 3 June 2024, the band, alongside Gibb's wife, revealed Gibb had died aged 70 the previous day.[13]
Personnel
Current members
Craig Harper (Black Lace Conga Party)
Phil Temple (Black Lace Conga Party)
Former members
Alan Barton – guitar, lead and backing vocals (1973–1987; died 1995)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released
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