Deuce

Britain's brightest pop band in the mid 90's Some of the numerous TOP OF THE POPS (RIP) Performances.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 were formed by Tom Watkins, who had managed Bros and East 17. His PA Kelly O'Keefe became the lead-vocalist, and was joined by her friend Lisa Armstrong and two guys Craig Young and Paul Holmes who were selected from an audition.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 behind 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 Kelly 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.Following a dispute, Deuce parted company with London Records in late 1995 and signed to Mike Stock's Love This record label. Kelly was replaced by Amanda Perkins and a new single called No Surrender was released in April 1996. It was not as successful as previous releases, charting at number 29. Prompted by Craig's decision to leave, the band split in August 1996.Craig 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, What about Brian, 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 is the wife of Ant McPartlin of Ant & Dec.Deuce were robbed of a SONG FOR EUROPE this year - If they had have gone on -- they wouldv'e won.