Artist: T' Pau
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1987
Length: 44:34
Rating: 4.5/5
In September 1967, America started airing the second season of the hugely popular sci-fi TV series Star Trek, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. The story of that season’s first episode revolves around Spock’s illness, which forces the Vulcan to travel to his home planet and find his betrothed, T’Pring, the only person who can cure him. But the wedding is off, because T’Pring has long had a chosen one of her own, who by Vulcan custom has to fight Spock. In the end, Spock and Captain Kirk, picked as a stand-in for that chosen one, face off in a cult-classic duel, which Nimoy wins, overseen by a distinguished Vulcan dignitary named T’Pau.
So much for the thoroughly clever name of the English band, and now a few words about vocalist Carol Decker. If you’ve ever wondered who the best singer in rock today is, there’s no reason left for doubt. With T’Pau’s debut, Bridge of spies, the redhead from the suburbs of Liverpool proved that in this kind of modern music she has no real competition, with a few exceptions, among which Ann Wilson of Heart and Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane/Starship) undoubtedly belong. It’s a real shame that the dazzling career and reputation Decker enjoyed on both sides of the Atlantic faded along with the band, which fell apart after its third album, The promise (1991). Bridge of spies, which came out in America in ’87 under the plain title T’Pau, certainly promised a lot. And not just because of the million-selling numbers and worldwide recognition it brought the band in a relatively short time. On the island it shot to number one on the albums chart and spawned no fewer than five singles – Heart and soul, China in your hand, Valentine, Sex talk and I will be with you – and it let the band play a packed Wembley and tour with Bryan Adams and Nick Kershaw.
Heart and soul, which features plenty of experimenting with different vocal registers, was put to good use by the creators of a Pepe jeans ad, the touching Valentine draws us in with a pleasant intro, and Sex talk (originally titled Intimate strangers), with its lively AOR chorus and saucy lyrics, is the most energetic track on the album. Just a notch behind it come the excellent Monkey house and You give up. I will be with you was built as a power ballad in line with what the music industry demanded at the time, but the title track Bridge of spies outdoes it in that department, though for one reason or another it never managed to break through as a single. The song’s name refers to the famous “Bridge of Spies” connecting Potsdam and Berlin, where the Soviet Union and the United States carried out three exchanges of captured secret agents, and the theme is, true to the T’Pau mindset, transplanted into the realm of love.
But of course the gem of the album is China in your hand, the song Carol Decker is still best known for today. Behind the touching harmonies and masterful arrangements, credited to guitarist Ron Rogers, the singer’s longtime partner (the rest of the band were mostly session musicians), this time lurks not a love theme but a much gloomier one. China is about Mary Shelley and her Frankenstein (oh hands move and heart beats on, now life will return on this electric storm), and its message is that we can make all our dreams come true, but they often lead to unwanted results later (don’t push too far, your dreams are china in your hand). The whole thing could also be read as a plea against human cloning, a plea that shows up in a somewhat more explicit form in the thematically very similar Dr. Stein, which the Germans Helloween released just a year later on their album Keeper of the seven keys part II. Cooper’s shallowly vulgar Feed my Frankenstein, despite leaning on the same motifs, of course doesn’t belong in this category.
Still, T’pau’s music is not what English-speaking music critics would call “music with a message”. At the center of Decker and Rogers’ poetics aren’t the lyrics but quality, anything-but-clichéd rock, which on the other hand is also quite typical of the era it was made in. The whole thing could be described as a thoroughly convincing mix of English new romantic, ear-friendly eighties synth pop and a pinch of glam, spiced with an inimitable voice. A pretty effective and broad combination, then, but, as said, sadly too tied to the era and mindset that conceived it.
Lineup
Carol Decker – vocals
Ron Rogers – rhythm guitar
Tim Burgess – drums
Michael Chatwood – keyboards
Paul Jackson – bass
Taj Wyzgowski – lead guitar
Production
Roy Thomas Baker
Track list
1. Heart and soul
2. I will be with you
3. China in your hand
4. Friends like these
5. Sex talk
6. Bridge of spies
7. Monkey house
8. Valentine
9. Thank you for goodbye
10. You give up
11. China in your hand (reprise)
