February of 1993 was to see the re-release of one of the bands' hit singles to promote the release of a 'Greatest Hits' package.
Valentine Re-Release
This entered the charts on 20/02/1993 and its highest position was 53. Carol was on GMTV promoting the single. It included the following, which were recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon in March of 1988, the same concert which was on the video 'Live At Hammersmith'.
- Heart And Soul
- China In Your Hand
- Sex Talk
It was released, as the original was, to coincide with Valentines Day. It also had a little sticker on it with 'To.... and From....'.
It was featured on the chart show the Saturday before its release but they included it in their 'Video Vault' feature, and never said it was to be re-released.
The Greatest Hits Package was to be released on the following Monday, and Carol was on Radio 1 on the Sunday promoting it.
They played quite a few tracks from the album, and people could ring in to talk to Carol.....I was one of those!! I rang the number and got through to a man at Radio 1 immediately!! Then I thought "What am I going to say?!!" I asked her about another project she was involved with on Michael Winner's new movie, Dirty Weekend, to be released later that year.
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| Carol at Radio 1 studios |
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| Carol with Bruno Brookes at Radio 1 studios |
Heart And Soul - The Very Best Of T'Pau
I loved the cover, incorporating the 'heart' as well.
Here is the track listing :
The only criticism, from a fans point of view, was :
- Sex Talk should have been the 'live' version
- Only The Lonely should have been the 'Guitar Remix'
- China In Your Hand should have been the 'single' version
The above criticism, however, could be seen as a positive;
- "Sex Talk" on the album is such a rocky version, the band might just as well be singing it live. That goes with "Monkey House" too.
- Although "Only The Lonely" isn't the "Guitar Remix" we are used to as the single release, it is the 'full' version. When "Rage" was released, it was this song Carol liked the most on the album, and myself too.
- "China" may be the album version, but it is extended and you can understand the 'meaning' of it more regarding Mary Shelly and Frankenstein.
Album Preview Video I have made
I know Carol and Ronny didn't sanction the release. A greatest hits was to be released again in the future, and this had a 'much better' track listing, as it was to include other 'great' T'Pau classic songs.
Now this is something I bet not many of you have seen. It's a promotional item that I saw in a record shop in Canterbury. They let me have it.
Here is the reverse of the above, detailing the band's success and the promotion which was to be carried out for the album.
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| Promotional item I got from Woolworths. Was huge. The only place it fitted was on my ceiling!! |
The album was released on 15th March 2003, and it's highest position was 35.
Here's a lovely picture of Carol on the inside sleeve to the CD.
Fulham Football Club Charity Football Match
On 29th May 1993, Carol was to appear at a charity football match at Fulham Football Ground.
I only heard about it on the radio the day before.
Me and a few friends travelled up there and it was to be the first time we were to meet Carol.
Ronny was playing in the match along with Carol's brother, Gary.
There were a few celebrities I spotted, including John Leslie and Michaela Strachan, who was chatting to Carol.
Here is a great photo taken of Carol on that day taken by Stella-Bella. I was on the other half, but you don't want to see my ugly moosh!! lol
Beautiful Dreamer
In the autumn of 1993, a film titled 'Dirty Weekend', written by Michael Winner, was released.
The film starred Lia Williams and was the story of Bella, who woke up one morning and realised she'd had enough. All it took was one rather nasty man to transform her from a meek and mild secretary into a murderous femme fatale. This is her story. It was actually banned for 2 years in the 1990's!!
Carol and Ron recorded one of the main songs to be featured in the film and on the soundtrack.
The song was the old 'parlour' song 'Beautiful Dreamer'. It was actually out of copyright and the song was totally changed and re-arranged by Carol and Ronnie.
Here is the song. It's sung beautifully by Carol.
The soundtrack included the following artists :
- Rozalla
- Dead Or Alive
- The Darling Buds
- The Rockingbirds
- The Only Ones
- Real People
- Slow Bongo Floyd
- Jay Aston,
- Carol Decker
- Senselees Things
- Bedazzled
- Forget Me Nots
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| Created by Deano Hollett July 2012 |
1994
The Old Trout Windsor
On 29th April 1994, Carol was to perform her very first 'solo' gig at The Old Trout in Windsor.
During the day she was on the local radio with Dean Howard, who was part of the line-up, and she sang some new material unplugged. She sounded great.
As the day progressed, the excitement was building. I was with a few friends, and treated my sister to the day.
We were sitting outside the venue and then Carol came out and was talking to the fans. Carol has always been good like that.
This was to be no 'ordinary' set, as the majority of it was to be 'new' material. Carol looked great and was looking forward to the evening.
After doing some research into the venue, I have just discovered that Blur, Oasis and The Verve have all performed there!!
It was nearly time for the show to begin, and the venue just 'filled up!!'
Then Carol appeared. She was wearing a white frilly top, and a lovely red long jacket over the top of it. She looked great!!
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| Photo by Deano Hollett |
Although we didn't know most of the songs to sing along to, it was a great experience to hear some new material. And it was GREAT!!
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| Photo by Jo Martin |
Carol was having a great time, and it was a good audience. The only thing Carol didn't like was the fact the microphone wasn't cordless and had a long wire!! I think she jokingly said 'Don't they know who I am!!' Lol!
Carol did seventeen songs!! Fifteen, then an encore of two. Three of the songs we knew and these were :
- Whenever You Need Me
- Heart And Soul
- China In Your Hand
Here was the full set list :
1. The Dream
2. Two hearts, one love
3. When a man does a woman wrong
4. Do the right dance
5. Think about you
6. Temptation
7. Too long
8. Handful of nothing
9. That's what love is for
10. Make love to me
11. Backseat of your heart
12. Demolition man
13, Real thing
14. Whenever you need me
15. Heart and soul
ENCORE
16. China in your hand
17. Let love in
It was a fantastic evening and we got to meet Carol afterwards. We went away remembering some of the new material. I especially loved 'Backseat Of Your Heart' and 'The Dream'.
Carol after the gig. Lovely photo.
Those fans that were there that night were very privileged as most of the songs that were sung were never released or heard again!! The only ones released were to be 'Do The Right Dance' and 'Make Love To Me'. Which made it onto the 'Red' album, to be discussed later. The other songs could easily have fitted 'perfectly' on an album!!
The Borderline Club London
On 18th May 1994, Carol was to appear at the Borderline Club in London as part of a Rock and Pop Memorabilia Auction, in aid of the 'Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre'.
The purpose of the evening was to auction off rock and pop memorabilia to raise as much money for the above therapy centre.
There were 32 lots up for auction and two hundred people expected.
The lots included memorabilia from :
- Bryan Adams
- The Beatles/HMV
- Marc Bolan
- Boy George
- Kate Bush
- Sammy Davis JR
- Peter Gabriel
- Mick Hucknell
- Annie Lennox
- Jeff Lynne/ELO
- Barry Manilow
- Meat Loaf
- The Police
- Simply Red
- Status Quo
- Michael Bolton
- Maria Carey
- Deacon Blue
- Bono and Frank Sinatra
Here is Carol's lot :
It was really interesting watching the auction as I had never been to one before. If only I had the money for Carol's lot. I could have probably afforded a few of the studs lol!!
There was to be a treat in store for us fans there too. Artists were there singing on stage. I can't remember who else was there, but Carol was to take to the stage!!
Carol had her hair in bunches, was wearing a waistcoat and jeans and took to the stage.
She went down very well. A couple of the songs were those sung at The Old Trout, Windsor, a few weeks earlier. Dean Howard was also there too on lead guitar!!
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| Carol and Dean doing what they do best!! Photo by Deano Hollett |
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| Photo by Jo Martin |
The song that I loved at The Old Trout 'Backseat Of Your Heart' was sung again!! It was excellent. A shame it was never recorded for an album.
The last song was Heart And Soul, but it had been re-arranged, and was fantastic!!
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| Photo by Jo Martin |
Just looking at the photos, you can see that Carol was enjoying herself. We got to meet her afterwards which was an added bonus.
Here is the set list.
A great night was had by all, and all in a worthwhile cause.
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| Photo by Deano Hollett |
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| Photo by Deano Hollett |
G.A.Y./ASTORIA
In the Autumn of 1994, Carol was to make an appearance at G.A.Y./Astoria Nightclub in London.
The club was jam-packed, and this was one of a few gay nightclubs Carol was to perform at.
She appeared on stage and looked great. She was wearing a black silky dress and black gloves.
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| Photo by Jo Martin |
A few songs were sung, including China In Your Hand, which, obviously, went down well.
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| I love this photo of Carol. Taken by Deano Hollett |
Carol was not the only person on the bill-Big Fun (Don't Blame It On The Boogie) were there too!!
What a contrast!!
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| Photo by Jo Martin |
We were waiting to see Carol afterwards, and there were quite a few fans there. Big Fun were told there were fans waiting for them, so they came out of their dressing room. We had to tell them we were waiting for Carol!! How embarrassing for them lol!!
G-A-Y Nightclub operated from the London Astoria for fifteen years until July 2008, and the people that have performed there is like an A to Z of celebrities!!
In October 2008, it moved to the famous gay venue Heaven.
Here is a picture I took of Carol after the gig. I love this photo, it's such a natural pose. She looks good even though she had flu at the time.
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| Photo by Deano Hollett |
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| Created by Deano Hollett July 2012 |
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