We'll be china in Carol's hand
When Carol Decker, the instantly recognisable face of huge 1980s band T'Pau, comes to perform at Whitehaven Festival, in June, she readily admits she won't quite know where she is... but it won't be anything to do with illegal substances... it's just that her knowledge of geography is not brilliant.
"But I AM really looking forward to it," she told The Guide Magazine's editor, Chris Breen, who talks to her about her present day career, after years in the wilderness following the split up of the band in 1991
CB: So what will you doing at the Whitehaven gig?
CD: The whole Eighties thing; which is what people expect?
CB: So you still enjoy it after so long?
CD: Oh yes... I love the immediacy of live performance.
CB: So how hard was the drop after experiencing such phenomenal success so early in your career?
CD: Very. My first marriage also broke up and my dad died, all in that period.
CB: How did you cope?
CD: Sauvignon Blanc. I had great difficulty in accepting and coming to terms with the situation and I even underwent therapy which was a good move. Fortunately I was left with enough money, thanks to a certain song, so finances were never a real problem.
CB: So how is life now?
CD: Good, very good, really; I married again and I have two children, Scarlett and Dylan, with my husband Richard Coates, so I'm rehearsing and performing...one minute and then I'm brought back to earth by making fish finger sandwiches and going to Scouts, but I feel quite privileged really. I like doing bits of this and that and I get bored easily.
CB: Do you have any formal musical training?
CD: Not much. My father was a very good pianist with all sorts of diplomas and distinctions and used to get exasperated with me, I could never concentrate for long periods but I could memorise pieces and play them; then I got found out!
CB: So how did T'Pau start?
CD: I was art college in Shrewsbury as a mature student, but never thought of it as a career until I someone overheard me singing along to a song on the radio and suggested I met friend of theirs who had a band and needed a vocalist. I was 22 when I joined my first band. I had no idea I could write a song until I started to contribute to the lyrics of that band's songs. Then I chipped in on melody and that was it. I was writer! I can play very basic piano and I have good relative pitch so I can bang out chords just about well enough to get my ideas across to real musicians!
CB: You came to the fore in 1987 with Heart and Soul, which did phenomenally well, and China In Your Hand did even better. What was it that made those songs so successful?
CD: I wish I knew so I could do it again! I think China in particular touches people because we can all relate to the adage of having to be careful what we wish for in our lives. Heart and Soul was unique at the time in its use of the dual vocal. It was different.
CB: Where did the band name come from and who came up with it?
CD: Star Trek and me; it's the name of a princess. No-one in the band liked it particularly but it was the least worst suggestion.
CB: What are you doing that's new?
CD: Ron Rodgers and I have just finished our DVD "Story behind the Tracks Album" and due to the amount of interest, in addition to the album track demos, we are including eight additional songs (all recorded during 1984 and 1985). It comes out in May.
CB: You have done some tv and theatre acting... any more of that to come?
CD: I get offers. I have just turned down a part in Flashdance, in the West End... and although I still look quite good in a leotard I just can't dance!
CB: So what would you have done if your singing/song-writing career hadn't worked out?
CD: I was going to study journalism at college in Wolverhampton.
CB: I knew I should have paid more attention at music lessons!
