T'Pau (band)

T'Pau
T'Pau, 2010
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Pop
Years active	1986–1991 1998–present
Labels	Siren, Virgin, Charisma, Gnatfish
Members
Carol Decker
Past members
Dean Howard Ronnie Rogers Tim Burgess Michael Chetwood Paul Jackson Taj Wyzgowski

T'Pau was a 1980s British Pop group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom, and several hits in the United States and Europe. Decker still occasionally performs under the name T'Pau at solo shows and 1980s nostalgia concerts.

Career

The band formed in 1986 in Shropshire, taking their name from a Vulcan priestess of the same name in the 1960s sci-fi series Star Trek. Prior to deciding on this name, they were called Talking America on early demos sent to record and publishing companies.

Their first hit was the 1987 release "Heart and Soul". Initially a flop in the UK, it first became a hit in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching #4 after being featured on a Pepe Jeans advertisement; it repeated the feat in the UK Singles Chart some months later. Their next single, "China in Your Hand", was their biggest UK hit, spending five weeks at Number 1. It also reached the top spot in several European countries, but made little impact in the United States.

Their debut album, Bridge of Spies (the album was simply called T'Pau in the U.S.)[1], was also a UK no.1 and went quadruple platinum there. The album produced a total of five hit singles including "Valentine" (UK #9), "Sex Talk" (a new recording of early flop single, "Intimate Strangers") (UK #23), and "I Will Be With You" (UK #14).

1988 saw the release of their second album Rage, which peaked at #4 in the UK and reached Platinum status in the UK, while failing to come close to the level of success of the band's debut album the year before. It produced the UK Top 20 single "Secret Garden", though chart returns were diminishing by this point. A third album The Promise followed in 1991, which peaked at #10 in the UK and earned a Silver disc. It included one Top 20 hit, "Whenever You Need Me", but the band's commercial peak had now passed and they split up following its release.

Decker re-formed the band with a new line-up in 1998, and T'Pau have continued to perform live on a semi-regular basis in recent years.

Decker still makes appearances on TV shows, including Hit Me, Baby, One More Time; Just the Two of Us; Never Mind the Buzzcocks and The Weakest Link. Former guitarist Ronnie Rogers is currently in the band The Ronaldos. Guitarist Dean Howard has toured and recorded with Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. Paul Jackson is currently in the band Dawson.

In 2007, marking the 20th anniversary of T'Pau's initial success, Ron Rogers and Carol Decker released the new single, "Just Dream", exclusively as an internet download. In 2008, as part of the "Here and Now" 80s tour, Decker performed at her home town of Shrewsbury for the first time since the 1980s in front of a crowd of over 9,000.^{[citation needed]}

Band members

• Carol Decker (born 10 September 1957, Liverpool) – Vocalist/Songwriter
• Dean Howard (b. 7 May 1961, Greenwich, London) – Lead Guitarist
• Ronnie Rogers (b. 13 March 1959, Shrewsbury) – Rhythm Guitarist/Songwriter
• Tim Burgess (b. 6 October 1961, Macclesfield) – Percussionist/Drummer
• Michael Chetwood (b. 26 August 1954, Telford) – Keyboardist
• Paul Jackson (b. 8 August 1961, Telford) – Bassist
• Taj Wyzgowski (b. 24 November 1959, Bolton) – Lead Guitarist on Bridge of Spies

Discography

Albums

• Bridge of Spies (1987, UK #1, US #31)
• Rage (1988, UK #4)
• The Promise (1991, UK #10)
• Heart and Soul - The Very Best of T'Pau (1993, UK #35)
• The Greatest Hits (1997)
• Red (1998)
• Greatest Hits Live (2003)

Singles

• "Heart and Soul" (1987, UK #4, US #4)
• "Intimate Strangers" (1987)
• "China in Your Hand" (1987, UK #1)
• "Bridge of Spies" (1988, U.S./German release only)
• "Valentine" (1988, UK #9)
• "Sex Talk (Live)" (1988, UK #23)
• "I Will Be With You" (1988, UK #14)
• "Secret Garden" (1988, UK #18)
• "Road to Our Dream" (1988, UK #42)
• "Only the Lonely" (1989, UK #28)
• "Whenever You Need Me" (1991, UK #16)
• "Walk on Air" (1991, UK #62)
• "Soul Destruction" (1991)
• "Only A Heartbeat" (1991, U.S./Japan release only)
• "Valentine" (re-issue) (1993, UK #53)
• "Heart and Soul '97" (1997)
• "With a Little Luck" (1998, Promo release only)
• "Giving Up the Ghost" (1999)

Other songs

T'Pau also recorded rock versions of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer", Petula Clark's "Downtown" and The Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée", all with lead vocals by rhythm guitarist Ron Rogers. These cover versions originally formed part of the band's live set to enable Decker to leave the stage to change her costume, and were subsequently released as CD single bonus tracks.

External links

• Official website
• Allmusic