Star Carol shining once more

By Andy Richardson

The word Carol Decker uses to describe her glory years with T'Pau doesn't appear in any dictionary. "It was, well, it was like 'WAAAOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO'!"

The world went like that exactly 21 years ago for the Shropshire-based band.

It started getting exciting on November 14, 1987 when their second single China In Your Hand topped the official UK singles chart.

The song remained at Number One for five weeks and had the added distinction of becoming the 600th number one since the chart began.

The following week, on November 21, their debut album Bridge Of Spies hit the number one slot of the official UK album chart, securing T'Pau's place in chart history.

"After that, we were on the road constantly for 17 months. I remember one incident. I was on the prow of a yacht, after we'd got to number one. I was just sitting there thinking 'Well, eight weeks ago, I was on the dole. Now look at me'."

WAAAOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO indeed.

Decker arrived in Shropshire after moving with her family from her native Liverpool. She was seven when she moved to Wellington, so that her dad could manage a local supermarket.

She went to St Patrick's Primary School, on North Road, passed her 11-plus exam and went to Wellington High School for Girls, which is now New College.

Her parents moved to Warwickshire when Carol was in the Lower Sixth, and Carol's wanderlust took her to Holland for a while, where she lived with an uncle and worked in bars and as an au pair.

When she returned, she didn't feel any connection with Warwickshire so returned to Shropshire, moving in with a friend in Ironbridge. She met a fella, Tony, whose mother ran a fantastic restaurant at the foot of Cartway, in Bridgnorth.

"I started getting into performing then," she says. "I did a few bits and bobs for Bridgnorth Theatre on the Steps."

She also worked for Ironbridge Gorge Museum then started an art course at Wakeman College, in Shrewsbury. She was 22.

Carol says: "I lived in student digs. I used to go to Tiffanys and all the pubs, then go back to people's houses and drink litres of cheap beer."

She met a guy called Julian Ward, the guitarist with a local band, The Lazers. Soon, she was performing with him in Ludlow, Leominster, Hereford and Shrewsbury. Then came the pivotal moment in her career as she met Shrewsbury lad Ronnie Rogers, who played guitar in a band called The Katz.

Carol adds: "We got booked to do a young farmers' ball where the Radio One DJ Gary Davies was playing. I remember being very excited thinking this Radio One DJ would spot how tremendously talented I was and take me off to the city with him. That didn't happen, of course, but Ronnie and I clicked."

They dated, lived together and then formed their own band.

Ronnie's father worked for British Telecom and funded the band through his overtime. His mother, Olive, kept them supplied with pies while Carol's father paid for keyboards and other equipment. Six years later the duo signed a management deal with part of Harvey Goldsmith's empire. The rest is history.

Heart And Soul went to number four on both sides of the Atlantic. In America, it stayed on the Billboard chart for a staggering six months. China In Your Hand surpassed that.

The group's first two albums were big hits; the debut, Bridge Of Spies, sold 1.2 million in the UK and went quadruple platinum. The follow-up, Rage, reached number four and went platinum.

Carol says: "It was a riot. I didn't have a plan or a strategy. We were on a whirlwind promotional tour and having hits either side of the Atlantic meant we were constantly on the plane.

"It was first class travel and fantastic hotels. The boys all had girls flitting about them. It was like stuff you read about.

"At one point, we used to have a decoy car. It was so weird. We'd have them take someone in a red wig and race off so that I could leave quietly.

"The paparazzi followed me and staked me out. I actually loved that, however wrongly, it made me feel like I was important. Ronnie hated it. But I'm a lead singer. I'm an ego on a stick. I found it all very validating. That's how I felt about it. Take a look at me now."

Inevitably, it unravelled. By the time of the band's third record, rave had taken a hold. People wanted Stone Roses and The Farm not T'Pau. Their record company dumped them.

"I never got over that," says Carol.

T'Pau split, Carol and Ronnie split.

"Every cliche you can think off, rows, money problems, the lot. It all happened. On a personal and professional level, I was 36 years old and on my own. It was a very, very very tricky time."

Carol went to LA, where she met her second - and present - husband. Then, about six years ago, the 1980s renaissance began and she hasn't stopped working since.

Now, at the age of 51, she says: "I earn really, really good money and have a blast. And I love meeting the fans."

She played at The Quarry, in Shrewsbury, this summer on an 80s tour.

"It was absolutely fantastic. It was funny standing on that stage. Behind me, in the flat over Pengwern Boating Club, was the room where Ronnie and I lived for seven years. Opposite me was the swimming pool where I used to work.

"I spent a few years licking my wounds, thinking I'd got all of that and it slipped through my fingers.

"But it's a bit like winning an Olympic medal, you might not win it four years later, but you are still a champion.

"So many people don't get the chance to do it. I did and I take immense pride at the things that we achieved. I'm really proud of those years."