Carol Decker set for Shrewsbury gig to celebrate China in Your Hand anniversary
Shrewsbury rock star Carol Decker is returning to her home town to celebrate the 30th anniversary of T’Pau’s biggest hit, China In Your Hand.
The song, which featured on the album Bridge of Spies, remains a fans’ favourite and two years ago was named as one of the nation’s favourites in an ITV poll.
It was written at Pengwern Boat Club, where Decker was living with her then-partner Ron Rogers. The duo had formed the band after playing in other Shropshire groups during the 1980s and the song went to number one in the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Holland and Belgium, as well as achieving a top 10 placing around the world.
China In Your Hand knocked the Bee Gees’ You Win Again off the top spot. It spent a total of five weeks at the top of the UK chart and was replaced at number one by George Harrison’s Got My Mind Set On You.
Today Ms Decker said she was looking forward to returning to Shrewsbury. She said: “I always feel at home when I come to Shrewsbury. I played in The Quarry Park this summer on the Let’s Rock Shrewsbury festival and I can’t wait to return.
“We wanted to do something special to celebrate the 30th anniversary of China In Your Hand and commemorating it in the town where it was written will be wonderful.”
Ms Decker and Mr Rogers, a former BT engineer, lived in Shrewsbury for many years and wrote all of their biggest hits in their flat on the banks of the River Severn.
Tickets for the show at the Buttermarket on November 17 are now on sale. In her autobiography, Heart and Soul, Ms Decker revealed that the couple were so up against it that they were sometimes unable to heat their flat and had to rely on food parcels from relatives.
However, that all changed when China In Your Hand became a megahit – catapulting Decker and her band into a different league.
She rubbed shoulders with Prince Charles and Princess Diana and the Rolling Stones and became friends with Sir Paul McCartney and his late wife, Linda.
“It was an incredible time,” she says. “The songs remain very popular, they took on a life of their own. It’ll be special to come back to Shrewsbury to celebrate it with the local fans.”
