T´Pau

T'Pau formed in 1986, led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe. They took their name from a Vulcan priestess by the same name in Star Trek. Their debut single and 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. The following year, the band had their biggest hit with the ballad, "China in Your Hand", which spent five weeks at Number 1 in the UK chart, and also claimed the top slot in several European countries, although oddly the song made little impact on the Billboard Hot 100. Their 1987 album, Bridge of Spies (the album was called T'Pau in the U.S.) was a best seller and won several British music industry awards. Bridge of Spies produced a number of smaller hits which made it to at least the UK Top 40, including the singles "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 produced the hit single "Secret Garden". A third album The Promise followed in 1991, but the band split soon afterwards. Decker re-formed the band with a new line-up in 1998, and T'Pau have in recent years continued to work live regularly. 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. 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, Carol performed at her home town of Shrewsbury for the first time since the 1980s in front of a crowd of over 9,000. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.