Colin Gibb, who has died aged 70, was a long-standing member of Black Lace, the band who forged a career out of novelty songs, notably the global hit Agadoo; although it sold more than a million copies around the world, the BBC initially refused to play it on the grounds that it “lacked credibility”.
More recently, a panel of music experts convened by Q magazine in 2003 accorded it the accolade of The Worst Song of All Time. Gibb responded that Black Lace had performed it so many times that “You go numb.” But, he added, “at least we get paid for it.”
He was born Colin Routh on December 8 1953 in Leeds, and went on to work as a lift engineer; in 1976 he joined Black Lace just as they were turning professional. The band had started life as the Impact in 1969, going through various line-ups and name changes – Penny Arcade, Love or Confusion – before settling on Black Lace and embarking on a summer season at the Skegness Bier Garten.
They recorded an EP produced by the comedian Freddie “Parrot Face” Davies at his studio, which they gave out at gigs, and were voted Yorkshire Band of the Year by listeners of BBC Radio Leeds.
In 1979 their debut single, the peppy Mary Ann, was chosen as the UK’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, but they could finish only seventh in Israel and reach No 42 in the UK charts. But they made frequent television appearances and supported Suzi Quatro on a tour of Denmark.
The band fell apart in 1981, leaving Routh and Alan Barton to soldier on as a duo, using backing tapes for their gigs. They reached the Top Ten hit in 1983 with the novelty disco number Superman, a version of an Italian song, but they really took off the following year with Agadoo.
Composed by a team of French songwriters as Agadou in 1970, it was based on a tune from Morocco, and the holiday firm Club Med used it at their resorts. The first English version was recorded by a German outfit, the Saragossa Band.
A band named the Snowmen covered it, tweaking the lyric from the Saragossa version. Their rendition became popular in Gossips, a Derby nightclub, whose staff made up a dance to go with it, and when Black Lace appeared there in 1981, they took both song and dance into their act.
Though it took them three years to get round to recording it, when they did so in 1984 it took off, reaching No 2 in the UK (kept off the top by George Michael’s Careless Whisper). Unfortunately for the duo, £70,000 in royalties were lost when the distributor went bust.
The follow-up, Do the Conga, scraped into the Top 10, but although were subsequent diminishing returns in the singles charts, the duo had more success with a string of albums boasting such titles as Party Party, Party Crazy, 16 Greatest Party Hits, 20 All Time Party Favourites, Action Party, What a Party and Black Lace’s Greatest Ever Party Album.
But in 1986 Routh was dropped from the band when he was charged with having sex with a 15-year-old fan; he claimed that he had thought her to be in her late teens or early twenties but was fined £200 and given a suspended prison sentence at Leeds Crown Court. The judge told him: “Keep your hands off youngsters in future.”
His place was taken by Dene Michael, but when Barton left to join Smokie, Routh, now calling himself Colin Gibb, was taken back on, though Black Lace’s glory days were behind them. They carried on over the years in various combinations, and on “Agadoo Day” in August 1997 they played 20 gigs in 24 hours around the country. In 2003 Gibb and Michael released an adult-themed album, Blue.
Black Lace became a fixture in Tenerife, where Gibb also played in local bands. His death came a few weeks after he had announced his retirement. Alan Barton died in 1995 when the Smokie tour bus crashed during a hailstorm in Germany.
In 2007 Colin Gibb, who was married and divorced twice previously, married his long-time girlfriend Sue Kelly; she survives him.
Colin Gibb, born December 8 1953, died June 2 2024, died June 2 2024
