Still giving it her Heart and Soul

T’pau singer Carol Decker talks success second-time round

As the front woman for multi million-selling 80s sensations T’pau, Carol Decker experienced huge success with chart-toppers such as China In Your Hand, Heart and Soul, and Sex Talk.

Success was sweet but when sales levelled off and the hits stopped it left Decker, 60, with a bitter taste. “When you are hot you are smoking and when you are not, you are SO not,” she says.

“At T’pau’s height if I had a birthday or it was Xmas I did not have enough shelf space for all the cards. When we were ‘over’, it all stopped abruptly and the loss of status was hard to handle. I relished my hard-won success and took it badly when it was gone.”

Carol, now happily married to restaurateur husband Richard Coates, with two children Scarlett, 20, and Dylan, 16, found success through a songwriting partnership with her then boyfriend, T’pau guitarist Ronnie Rogers. But when the band hit the rocks, so did they.

Decker blames herself for their parting. “i can be very hard to live with. I am not good at relaxing or relinquishing control,” she admits.

Ron and Carol reunited for T’pau’s 25th anniversary in 2013 and have enjoyed a second run of success. “i can’t get rid of him,” she laughs. Describing herself as “a knock-kneed skinny kid”, Carol never considered herself a sex symbol and is aware the ageing process can present challenges.

“I got adept at making the most of myself, but hopefully never in a

cheap way. I have to work hard to accept myself as ‘older’. I’ve been a rock chick most of my life so crow’s feet and a few extra pounds don’t fit with me.”

But Carol’s staying power has seen her earn renewed respect for the quality of her performances and songs, including those on 2015 comeback album Pleasure & Pain.

“I have a lot to be grateful to the revival circuit for. Music is the soundtrack of our youth and I’m proud to be part of the memories.” ■■T’pau feature on compilation Soft Rock Forever, out now. See them live at Warner Cricket St Thomas Hotel, Somerset, April 21

’I have a lot to be grateful to the revival circuit for – I’m proud to be part of the memories’