T’Pau’s back for 25th Anniversary Trek.

 Listening to the excitement in Carol Decker’s voice as she describes how she will play the Isle of Wight Festival this year, it is easy to understand how that same voice took T’Pau’s third single to number one in 1987, where it stayed for five weeks.

 

Still possessing the powerful voice that took her to the top, Decker is taking T’Pau (famously named after a Vulcan high priestess from Star Trek) on its first headline tour in 15 year to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the band’s debut album- the quadruple-platinum ‘Bridge of Spies’. 

 

“I thought I would mark our anniversary in some way and come out and sing a few tunes… hopefully some people will come and see me”, she laughs. “Of course I will play hits, but also classic album tracks. I’m thinking of having a little acoustic set in the middle.”

 

In the late 80’s, T’Pau seemed to permanently reside on Top of the Pops. ‘Bridge of Spies’ sold over five million copies, and ‘China in Your Hand’ was the biggest-selling single of 1987. Carol, 55, holds the rare honour of having a number one album and single at the same time.

 

 

Their next two albums, ‘Rage’ and ‘The Promise’, also made the top 10 in the UK.

Other hit singles include ‘Heart and Soul’ and ‘Valentine’.

 

However, Decker, once the flame-haired temptress pin-up for so many teenagers, has a very modest recollection of these memories.

 

She describes the scene of a male crew member wearing a red wig to distract the crowd outside the stage door at her shows as “…my 15 minutes, as Andy Warhol would say. I couldn’t get out of the stage door at the Hammersmith Odeon for the fans and press. Our roadie just put on this red wig, leather jacket and shades and jumped into the back of the limo and everybody sped after him. He had better legs than me as I recall!”

 

After 1991, the original line-up of T’Pau disintegrated. As Carol describes it, “It’s ancient history now, but we were just arguing over creative differences. Also, the music-scene had changed. By the time we came out with ‘The Promise’, it was all club music and groove-orientated. We lost our footing.” 

 

Decker kept performing and recording as ‘T’Pau’. In recent years, she has been participating in 80’s package shows, playing arenas and festivals with the likes of The Human League and The Bangles.

 

She has occasionally collaborated with former boyfriend, guitarist and co-writer, Ron Rogers, and he will appear at some shows. “He can’t do the whole tour with me, which is a shame, but he’s going to do as many as he can.”

 

Decker is determined to make a new album. “It won’t be in time for this tour, but I’m going to get on with it. I want to see if I can push this forward and maybe start touring every couple of years. It’s a bit of an experiment, to be honest.” 

 

News on T’Pau’s tour can be found on its official website.

 

All photographs copyright Carol Decker. Used with full permission.

Suzi Quatro- Unzipped

The original rock chick, Suzi Quatro, completed a six-night run at the London Hippodrome Casino on Saturday night with her one-woman-show, Unzipped.

Named after her 2007 autobiography, Unzipped weaved the story of Quatro’s life, from the very beginning up to the modern day.

The show consisted of rare photographs, video clips, speech and of course, live performances of some of the fan’s favourite hits to round off the night.

Taking the stage at the piano, Quatro, 62, began to play a small piece of Beethoven. Turning to the audience with a cheeky smile, she announced “Didn’t expect that, did you?” That sentence set the tone for the whole night… for the next 75 minutes the show twisted and turned.

Performing Mack the Knife, she told the story of how herself and her little sister tried to cheer up a recently bereaved widow… which resulted in them getting a front door slammed in their face. As Suzi put it, it was her first professional rejection.

Walking over to the set of bongos in the centre, Suzi announced her talent as a bongo player. Performing a medley of three-chord songs ranging from Twist and Shout by The Beatles, she ended with Summer Nights.

True to her tale in the autobiography, Suzi explained that being a Gemini she is two different people: Little Susie from Detroit and Suzi Quatro- they are the same, they are different, and one cannot survive without the other.

Gasps could be heard throughout the room as Quatro told the now famous story of how she declined an invitation to Graceland to meet her hero, Elvis Presley, before launching into a cover of All Shook Up, the song which featured on her 1973 debut album and won her the invitation in the first place. Her band, consisting of drums, guitar, piano and saxophone all took turns to solo during this number before Suzi Q announced “My turn!” and played an electrifying bass solo… who else could make a bass solo so entertaining?

A somewhat reserved crowd was largely reluctant to stand up at the end of the night as Quatro briefly left the stage and returned wearing her trademark leather jumpsuit to perform full-band versions of Can the Can and Devil Gate Drive, before ending with the only encore song, If You Can’t Give Me Love.

Suzi commented: “(This is) a dream come true. At the age of 62, how lucky am I? Little Susie and Suzi Quatro are both very very happy.”

Quatro is still performing worldwide, and released a new studio album, In the Spotlight, last year.

It can be purchased here. 

Suzi and I before the show, photo by Harri Asikainen.

Welcome to Grand Dames Rock

Welcome to Grand Dames Rock.

This blog is dedicated to the great women in the music business, both past and present.

It will be updated with both interviews I have done in the past, mixed in with recent and upcoming ones.

Grand Dames Rock will also include reviews and features on female artists- past and present, big and small.