{{short description|British pop group}} {{EngvarB|date=December 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Distinguish|Deuce (musician)}} {{improveref|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Deuce | image = | caption = | image_size = | alias = | origin = United Kingdom | genre = Pop, [[dance-pop]], [[Eurodance]] | years_active = 1994–1997 | label = [[London Records|London]], Love This Records | associated_acts = | website = | current_members = | past_members = Kelly O'Keefe<br/>[[Lisa Armstrong (make-up artist)|Lisa Armstrong]]<br/>[[Craig Robert Young]]<br/>Paul Holmes<br/>Amanda Perkins }}
'''Deuce''' were a British pop group that found moderate success in the mid-1990s. A two-male, two-female [[quartet]], they released four top-30 [[single (music)|singles]] in the [[UK Singles Chart|UK charts]] during 1995 and 1996,<ref name=uk/> before splitting up in 1997.
==Career== The band was formed in 1994 by [[Tom Watkins (music manager)|Tom Watkins]], who had managed the [[Pet Shop Boys]], [[2wo Third3]], [[Bros (British band)|Bros]] and [[East 17]]; and Kelly O'Keefe who was doing work experience in his office. He admired her distinctive vocals, style and kitsch sensibility, and they decided to put together a boy/girl band with O'Keefe as lead vocalist. O'Keefe was a student of The [[BRIT School]], studying music, and recruited her school friend [[Lisa Armstrong (make-up artist)|Lisa Armstrong]], a dancer. Watkins then discovered [[Craig Robert Young]]. The original line-up featured a male member named Ashley who was quickly replaced by Paul Holmes and at this point the group were fully formed.
Their debut single, "[[Call It Love (Deuce song)|Call It Love]]", entered the UK Singles Chart at number 21 on 21 January 1995 and climbed to a peak of number 11.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 152}}</ref> The follow-up "I Need You" was entered into the [[United Kingdom|UK's]] [[Eurovision: Your Country Needs You|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.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> 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]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> 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 40 years of TV celebration in December 1995, with the band dressed in black evening wear.
The band appeared on the charity single "[[The Gift of Christmas (song)|The Gift of Christmas]]" as part of Child Liners, which also featured [[Peter Andre]], [[MN8]], [[Ultimate Kaos]], [[East 17]], [[Dannii Minogue]], [[C.J. Lewis]], [[Boyzone]], and [[Michelle Gayle]]. The single reached number 9 in the UK<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/621/childliners/|title=Official Charts > Childliners|publisher=The Official UK Charts Company|accessdate=5 June 2017}}</ref> and number 10 in Ireland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i.imgur.com/htIf9yw.jpg|title=The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for Childliners|publisher=Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media)|accessdate=5 June 2017}}</ref> 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]].
Following O'Keefe's departure in November 1995, the band was 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 (musician)|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.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> The group was then launched, minus Young, in Australia, where "On the Bible" was a moderate hit in late 1996,<ref name=aus/> and was followed by a dance [[remix]] of "No Surrender" in April 1997, which peaked outside the top 100.<ref name=aus/> TV performances of this track saw Craig Young replaced by a new member named Clinton, after Young opted not to travel to Australia.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20231120024859/https://twitter.com/deuce_pop/status/855093023637618689] </ref> Shortly after this, Deuce disbanded, although not before an Australian double CD version of their British album ''On the Loose!'' was released, including "No Surrender" and a remix disc featuring a half-hour megamix.
Young went on to pursue his acting career, appearing in ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' at the [[Sondheim Theatre|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 (TV series)|Dream Team]]''. Other appearances include ''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]'', MTV's ''[[Spyder Games]]'', ''[[Charmed]]'', ''[[Sabrina The Teenage Witch]]'' and ''[[The District]]''. He created ''[[Just for Kicks (TV series)|Just for Kicks]]'' on [[Nickelodeon]]. Armstrong is now a make-up artist and ex-wife of [[Ant McPartlin]], whom she married on 22 July 2006 and divorced on 16 October 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45876684|title=Ant McPartlin and wife granted divorce|date=17 October 2018|website=BBC|accessdate=2020-06-27}}</ref> Holmes went on to write songs for many international pop artists, including [[Robin Gibb]].
In 2017, 22 years after the original release, ''On the Loose!'' was digitally re-issued.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Loose-deuce/dp/B072LQD3MJ|title=On the Loose – Deuce|website=Amazon UK|accessdate=6 June 2017}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Albums=== *''[[On the Loose!]]'' (1995) – [[UK Albums Chart|UK]] No. 18<ref name=uk/>
===Singles=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Single ! colspan="4" | Peak positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! style="width:35px;"|<small>[[UK Singles Chart|UK]]</small><br><ref name=uk>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/31087/deuce/|title=Official Charts > Deuce|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=13 July 2019}}</ref> ! style="width:35px;"|<small>[[ARIA Charts|AUS]]</small><br><ref name=aus>Australian (ARIA) chart peaks: *Top 50 peaks: {{cite web|url=https://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Deuce|title=Deuce in Australian Charts|publisher=Hung Medien|accessdate=13 July 2019|website=australian-charts.com}} *Top 100 peaks to December 2010: {{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin |title=Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia|edition=pdf|page=80}} *"No Surrender": {{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/IcYrd8J.gif|title=Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 19 July 2017|publisher=Imgur.com|accessdate=19 July 2017}}</ref> ! style="width:35px;"|<small>[[Irish Singles Chart|IRE]]</small><br><ref>{{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/TczvyYY.jpg|title= All there is to know > Search results for Deuce (from irishcharts.ie)|publisher=Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media)|accessdate=5 June 2017}}</ref> !<small>ISR</small> |- |rowspan="3"|1995 ! scope="row"|"[[Call It Love (Deuce song)|Call It Love]]" |11 |— |14 |1 | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"|''[[On the Loose!]]'' |- ! scope="row"|"I Need You" |10 |— |14 |2 |- ! scope="row"|"[[On the Bible]]" |13 |27 |— |2 |- |1996 ! scope="row"|"No Surrender" |29 |115 |— |— | style="text-align:left;"|non-album single |- | colspan="9" style="text-align:center; font-size:8pt;" | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Deuce}} [[Category:British pop music groups]] [[Category:British Eurodance groups]] [[Category:British mixed-gender vocal pop groups]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 1994]] [[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1996]] [[Category:1994 establishments in the United Kingdom]]