Kim Hopkins' documentary 'Still Pushing Pineapples' offers a bittersweet look at Dene Michael, former member of 1980s novelty pop act Black Lace. Michael, now a middle-aged man from Leeds, once sang backing vocals dressed as a pineapple for the band known for their earworm hit 'Agadoo'. After frontman Colin Gibb was forced out due to an underage sex scandal and Alan Barton left for Smokie, Michael was promoted to lead singer and took sole charge of the band.
Since the 1980s, Michael has toured the sad disco circuit from Blackpool to Benidorm, performing Black Lace hits to dwindling, drunk crowds. The film follows Michael, his girlfriend Hayley, and his elderly mother Anne on the road. However, Michael is later fired by his manager, who holds the legal rights to the band name and songs, leaving Michael's future in showbusiness uncertain.
The documentary presents Michael as a nice guy who loves his mum, but it omits a more troubled chapter: a 2016 jail sentence for benefit fraud. The film's jokey scenes of Michael on a mobility scooter may allude to this, but a franker discussion would have been more interesting. Despite this, the film carries a melancholy that Martin Parr might have captured.
