Black Lace History
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.
The band became a duo, consisting of Colin Gibb and Alan Barton. It was this line-up that would give the band its biggest chart success
Black Lace’s 1983 “Superman” single was their first one under their own name on the Flair label, and a promotional video was shot at Casanova’s nightclub in Wakefield. “Superman” reached No. 9 in the UK chart, but an attempt at a follow-up single,
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.
“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 duo recorded their first album, Black Lace, at Stuck Ranch studios in Denmark.
The band’s follow-up single, “Do The Conga”, reached No. 10 in the UK chart, 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
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.
September 1987 saw a switch round: Gibb returned ‘full-time’ with the band, whilst Barton left to join Smokie. Michael became a full-time member of Black Lace.
In 1991, due to personal and professional issues, Michael was forced to leave the band, to be replaced by Rob Hopcraft.
In 1995, Original member Alan Barton died as a result of a coach crash in Germany while touring with Smokie.
Black Lace played one-off shows in 1996 at DJ conventions in Canada and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Gibb was presented with a special Agadoo guitar to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary
2001 brought a totally different line up style, as Hopcraft was replaced by female vocalist/dancer Camille Wagstaff, and the single “Follow the Leader” was released before they disbanded.
In 2002 Yorkshire TV filmed and aired “Agadoo The Search for a New Black Lace” a talent show searching for a new line-up for Black Lace.
The judges include, long time Black lace’s manager, John Wagstaff and original member Colin Gibb.
The 5 Piece group called “The New Black Lace” formed, released “Celebration,” a remix of Cool and the Gang’s original, before disbanding a short time later.
In 2018, Dene Michael teamed up with a contestant from Britain’s Got Talent Craig Harper. Black Lace played at many of the UK’s 80s ‘revival’ festivals, performing at holiday centres around the country
In 2023 former member of “The New Black Lace” Phil Temple joins Craig Harper in Black Lace
