This duo, comprising Colin Routh (b. 8 December 1953, England) and Alan Barton (b. 16 September 1953, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, d. 23 March 1995, Germany), was responsible for a string of hits in the mid-80s that enjoyed enormous popularity in discos and parties across the UK. However, those in pursuit of music with a marginally more cerebral nature made Black Lace a target for their relentless scorn. After failing to represent Great Britain in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Mary Ann’, Black Lace carried on regardless, unleashing upon the nation (via Spanish holiday discos) a series of party songs initiated by ‘Superman (Gioca Jouer)’, which reached the UK Top 10 and was succeeded in 1984 by ‘Agadoo’, which reached the UK number 2 slot and remained in the charts for 30 weeks. This was followed by ‘Do The Conga’ (UK number 10), ‘El Vino Collapso’, ‘I Speaka Da Lingo’ and ‘Hokey Cokey’. The duo’s last UK chart entry came in the summer of 1989 with ‘I Am The Music Man’, which reached number 52. Barton joined a re-formed Smokie who proved popular on the German touring circuit. Tragedy struck on 19 March 1995 when the band’s car crashed at Gummersbach on the way to Dusseldorf airport. Barton died after spending five days in a coma.