Paper Lace
 Paper Lace made history in 1974 when their single The Night
Chicago Died went to the very top of the American Hit Parade
- and later sold over a million copies - to become one of an elite
band of British groups to achieve this distinction. On the
home-front, however, the single fared less well, reaching Number 3
in the UK charts.
The group was formed in 1969 around Nottingham and secured a
residency at Tiffany's Club in the Lancashire town of Rochdale.
They later undertook club and concert engagements up and down the
length of Britain and in 1974 made their television debut on the
talent show Opportunity Knocks, winning one of the shows
in the process.
Earlier in the year the group had been signed by songwriter
Mitch Murray to his own record company - Bus Stop - and with Peter
Callander, he wrote their debut single Billy Don't Be A Hero.
They featured the song on their very first television appearance
and it proved an instant success. Within weeks it was at the top
of the British, Irish and Australian charts.
Their follow-up
release The Night Chicago Died consolidated their
potential - and they scored for a third time with The Black
Eyed Boys.
At the height of their success, Paper Lace toured
Britain and America, and appeared at major venues, including the
London Palladium in June 1974.
A year later, they were chosen to appear in the Royal
Variety Performance.
In 1978 Carlo Santanna left the group to go
solo - though have you ever heard of him? Paper Lace, on the other
hand, continued to entertain as a quartet - appearing in clubs and
venues in Holland, Germany, France and Scandinavia, where they
retained a large fan following.
In 1978, after being out of the commercial eye for two years,
they teamed up with Nottingham Forest Football Club to record the
single We've Got The Whole World In Our Hands, which
reached Number 24 in the British charts.
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