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 1997.
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[edit] Career
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 music and art in a kitsch way - their catch phrase was "kitsch goes 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 21 January 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 in the UK Albums Chart. 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, although a live performance of the song was screened as part of CITV's 50 years of TV celebration in December 95, with the band dressed in black evening wear.
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, C.J. 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, performing a track called 'Life On the Street' featuring actress Sherrie Hewson (Maureen Holdsworth).
Following Kelly O'Keefe's departure in November 1995, the band were dropped by London Records. A single called "Rock The Disco" had been planned for release in 1996, and it was finally leaked on the Internet in January 2007. The group wanted to continue and signed to Mike Stock's Love This label. O'Keefe was replaced by dancer Amanda Perkins and a new single called "No Surrender" was released in July 1996. It was not as successful as previous releases, charting at only number 29. The group was then launched in Australia, where "On The Bible" was a moderate hit in late 1996, and was followed by a dance remix of "No Surrender" in June 1997, which missed the chart. Shortly after this, Deuce disbanded, although not before an Australian 2CD version of their British album 'On The Loose' was released, including 'No Surrender' and a remix disc made up primarily of a megamix.
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 22 July 2006.
Paul Holmes went on to pen songs for many international pop artists, including Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.
It was announced via Craig Robert Young's myspace page in August 2007 that Deuce had been approached to perform a one-off reunion show at G-A-Y, at the London Astoria in December of the same year. Lisa, Craig and Kelly were on board apparently but as of yet, this event has not taken place.
[edit] UK Discography
[edit] Singles
- "Call It Love" #11 (January 1995)
- "I Need You" #10 (April 1995)
- "On The Bible" #13 (August 1995)
- "No Surrender" #29 (June 1996)
[edit] Album
- On The Loose #18 (September 1995)
