Black Lace (band) - Later Career (1987-present)

Later Career (1987-present)

1987 saw a switcharound; Gibb returned whilst Barton left to join Smokie. 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 Record of the Week, but failed to hit the chart.

Summer seasons at the Blackpool Tower followed in 1989 and 1990, along with the release of the single "I Am The Music Man", which peaked at #52 in the UK.

In 1991, Michael left the band, to be replaced by Rob Hopcraft. Black Lace released the single "Penny Arcade" penned by Sammy King, which had originally been a hit for Roy Orbison. The band appeared on the BBC's Children in Need programme. Meanwhile, former band member Michael formed a new group using the name Barracuda, but disbanded it shortly afterwards. In 1992, Black Lace toured Australia, but Hopcraft was unhappy with a hits album released by an Australian record company, as it featured a photograph of his predecessor,Dene Michael.

1994 saw the release of the single "Bullshit (Cotton Eyed Joe)", but the race for the charts was won by the Swedish band Rednex, with another version of the same song. An album, Saturday Night, followed.

In 1995, Barton died as a result of a coach crash in Germany while touring with Smokie. Also in that year Black Lace shot a promotional video for the single "Electric Slide" in Benidorm, the first video not to be filmed in the UK, and played on British breakfast station GMTV live from Torremolinos in Spain.

Black Lace played one-off shows in 1996 at DJ conventions in Canada and Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. Plus they released the Action Party and Best Of albums. Gibb was presented with special 'Agadoo' guitar to celebrate band's 20th anniversary, but in 1996 Gibb was also made bankrupt by the Inland Revenue.

The 15 August 1997 was deemed 'Agadoo Day'. Black Lace played twenty concerts in twenty four 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 which spent one week in the UK chart.

A 1999 Black Lace charity reunion concert was organised by their former drummer, Terry Dobson, to celebrate twenty years since the band represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. Live television interviews took place with ITV's Calendar, and the BBC's regional news programmes, on the day of the event. The late Alan Barton's son, Dean, took Alan's place in the band, but original member Steve Scholey declined to attend.

In 2000, Hopcraft left the band and Gibb was joined by the female singers and dancers 'Kat & Cameil'. Gibb also joined Eagles tribute band, The B-Eagles, playing bass guitar

In 2002, Gibb emigrated to Tenerife. Semi-retired, he played Black Lace party shows in hotels and restaurants on the island, occasionally visiting the UK for TV appearances. In 2003, an adult-themed album called Blue, originally recorded in the UK years previously by Gibb and Michael, was released in Tenerife. In 2004, Gibb took his Black Lace show to mainland Spain, with a residency at The King Lives On cabaret bar on the Costa Blanca, but after a few months moved back to Tenerife for shows in 2005. He returned to the Costa Blanca with another Black Lace show in 2006. Gibb was married in the UK in 2007 to his long-time girlfriend, Sue Kelly. In 2008, Gibb played bass in a Tenerife five-piece rock band called 'The Phoenix', and with the duo 'To The Limit', in addition to performing the Black Lace Show.

In 2009, Michael started performing again as Black Lace alongside a new addition, the Liverpudlian singer Ian Robinson. They released a new mambo version of "Agadoo". In the accompanying video Bruce Jones, played a cameo role and directed the event. Roy "Chubby" Brown and Kevin Kennedy also made cameo appearances in the video, as did several members of the cast of the ITV situation comedy, Benidorm.

On 4 November 2009, the new incarnation of Black Lace was filmed by the British airline easyJet, performing a re-written version of "Agadoo", launching a new air service between Gatwick Airport and Agadir in Morocco, for release on the video-sharing website, YouTube.

Founder member Terry Dobson is still playing the drums in the Wakefield band, Mr Twister. His book And Then Came Agadoo was published by Authorhouse in November 2009. In it Dobson described starting up the band with Howarth in 1969, Dobson's life and times and his continued friendship with band members past and present. Gibb remains in Tenerife, continues to play the Black Lace shows, and is still represented by Now Music and his manager John Wagstaff.

Michael and Robinson recorded a new version of "I Am The Music Man" for the BBC Children in Need appeal in 2009. In 2010, they recorded yet another version of "I Am The Music Man", this time entitled "We Are The England Fans", as an unofficial England supporters' song to coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In 2011, Michael and Robinson recorded a television advertisement for The Trainline.com. This led to a new reocrding of "Do The Conga". In December that year, Michael teamed up with Crissy Rock and recorded a Christmas single called "Christmas Time" and an accompanying video. In 2012, Michael recorded two solo records, "Life Force", and "The First Christmas Light".

Gibb still performs a solo Black Lace show in Spain.