Deuce (band)
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Deuce were a British pop quartet who scored a string of hit singles in the mid-1990s, before splitting up in August 1996.
The band was formed in 1994 by Tom Watkins, who had managed the Pet Shop Boys, Bros and East 17, and Kelly O'Keefe who was doing work experience in his office. He loved her distinctive vocals, style and kitsch sensibility and they decided to put together a boy/girl band with O'Keefe as lead vocalist. They aimed to create a group that was fun and colourful mixing pop and art in a kitsch way - their catch phrase was "kitsch made classic".
O'Keefe was a foundation year student of The BRIT School, studying music, and recruited her school friend Lisa Armstrong, a dancer. Watkins then discovered Craig Robert Young and Paul Holmes and the group were formed.
Their debut single, "Call It Love", entered the UK singles chart at number 21 on January 21, 1995 and worked its way up to peak at number 11. The follow-up "I Need You" was entered into the UK's pre-selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest but came third (the selected entry was by Love City Groove). The single went straight to number 10 on release in April 1995. One further single, "On The Bible", reached number 13 in August and the album On The Loose charted at number 18. A fourth single, "Let's Call It A Day", was scheduled for release in November but was cancelled after O'Keefe decided to leave the group.
The band also featured on the single "A Gift Of Christmas" as part of The Childliners, which also featured acts such as Peter Andre, MN8, Ultimate Kaos, East 17, Dannii Minogue, CJ Lewis, Boyzone, and Michelle Gayle. The single reached number 9 and profits went to the British charity Childline. Deuce also sang on the Coronation Street anniversary album.
Following Kelly O'Keefe's departure in November 1995, the band were dropped by London Records. The group wanted to continue and signed to Mike Stock's Love This record label. O'Keefe was replaced by dancer Amanda Perkins and a new single called "No Surrender" was released in April 1996. It was not as successful as previous releases, charting at only number 29. Prompted by Craig Robert Young's decision to leave, the band split in August 1996.
Craig Robert Young went on to pursue his acting career, appearing in Much Ado About Nothing in The Queen's Theatre. He also appeared regularly on MTV UK including stints as a presenter of Select, the UK Top Ten Countdown and Watch Out For GMTV. He then secured a role as Alex Wilkinson in the long-running football soap Dream Team. Other appearances include Lost, MTV's Spyder Games, Charmed, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and The District. His latest project is another soccer drama called Just For Kicks on Nickelodeon.
Lisa Armstrong is now a make-up artist and wife of Ant McPartlin of Ant & Dec, whom she married on July 22, 2006.
Paul Holmes went on to pen songs for many international pop artists including Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.
