T'Pau

T'Pau is a British rock group led by singer Carol Decker. It forms in 1986 in Shropshire, in central England, with members from Shrewsbury and Wellington. The group takes its name from T'Pau, a Vulcan high priestess in the Star Trek episode Amok Time.

Career and line-up

The group’s line-up includes Carol Decker, Dean Howard, Tim Burgess, Michael Chetwood, Paul Jackson and Ron Rogers. T'Pau is active from 1986 to 1992, and Decker later reforms the band with a new line-up in 1998.

Hits and albums

T'Pau has a run of Top 40 singles in the UK, along with hits in the United States and Europe. Its debut single, Heart and Soul, first reaches the U.S. Billboard charts, where it peaks at number four, before later reaching the UK Top 10. The band’s biggest hit is China in Your Hand, which spends five weeks at number one in the UK and also reaches number one in several European countries.

Other UK Top 40 singles include Valentine, Sex Talk, which is a new recording of the early flop Intimate Strangers, I Will Be With You and Secret Garden.

Bridge of Spies

The group’s 1987 album Bridge of Spies, released as T'Pau in the United States, becomes a best-selling album and wins several British record industry awards.

Later activity

After the band splits in 1991, Carol Decker performs China in Your Hand in the final round of the ITV programme Hit Me Baby One More Time in 2005.