03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Chart-topping 80s icon left stunned after Scots fan's foul-mouthed outburst
'This bloke steps out and says 'T'Pau? - You're s***e!'
T'PAU singer Carol Decker has recalled the moment she was brought back down to earth when a Scots fan queued up for hours - just to tell her she was: 'S***e.'
The pop icon exploded into the charts in 1987 when her debut single Heart and Soul reached the Top 5 in both the US and the UK, followed by the No1 hit China in Your Hand.
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Carol Decker in her 80s heyday was brought back to earth by a foul-mouthed Scot.
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Carol is still touring with her chart topping 80s band.
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The 80s singer was also a mystery guest on ITV's The Masked Singer earlier this year.
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Carol Decker recently toured Germany with Amy Macdonald.
But during the height of her fame a forthright music lover decided to give her a face to face critique with his brutal jibe.
Carol, now 67, says: 'I remember one of our first gigs in Scotland was at Glasgow Barrowland when Heart and Soul had just broken.
'There was a huge queue around the building, which was really lovely to see for our first visit, and back in the day, I had to have security with me.
'Anyway this bloke, who's at the front of the queue and must've been there for hours, steps out and says 'T'Pau? And I said 'Yes,' and got my pen ready to sign an autograph, and he goes, 'You're s***e!'
'He had actually waited in the queue just to tell me that.'
She adds: 'I was speechless but my security guy, who had this lovely, very elegant Scottish accent, replied on my behalf saying, 'You're entitled to your opinion, sir - but I don't recall anybody asking to hear it'.'
Born in Liverpool, Carol formed T'Pau in 1986 with her then boyfriend Ronnie Rogers, together penning all of the group's hit songs.
Just a year later they had their big showbiz break with Heart and Soul when Pepe Jeans used the track to front their cinema ad campaign across America.
It launched them to instant stardom on both sides of the Atlantic and all across Europe and Australia, with their debut album Bride of Spies also reaching No1 in the UK and the Top 40 in the US.
But although their flame burned brightly their career was short-lived when they were dropped by their record label soon after their sixth and final hit single Only the Lonely in 1989.
Huge 80s band announces shock comeback after hit song
However, the couple invested wisely in property, sinking their royalty cheques into a three storey town house near London's Hampstead Heath for £200,000 - which later sold for over a million - plus a 10 acre farm in Wales.
By 1992 Carol and Ronnie decided to go their own way - splitting their property assets equally - with the singer going on to marry Richard Coats, her now manager, in the mid-90s. The couple have two children Scarlet, 26 and Dylan, 22.
Carol has since appeared in the stage production Now, That's What I Call A Musical and has also made regular TV appearances including as Tattoo in ITV's The Masked Singer earlier this year.
But amazingly not one of the TV show's celebrity panel, including Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan or Maya Jama, was able to identify Carol's powerful vocals.
The redhead, who plays Party at the Palace in Linlithgow in August, says: 'It was weird they didn't twig. But I was gutted to go off because I was enjoying myself so much.'
And the singer gave an incredible insight into the lengths TV chiefs go to keep the identity of their mystery performers a secret.
She explains: 'You can't tell anyone as you are given a massive NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) to sign.
'I only told my husband and my daughter, because they have to help me with my life and I think they would have got suspicious by the blacked out car that was sent for me.
'You are then given your own team at The MaskedSinger who give you the outfit, and you can only talk those people - and they don't talk to the other teams so they are the only ones on the show who know who you are.
'They also send you black leggings, gloves, a hoodie with 'Do Not Speak To Me' written on it along with a balaclava - the secrecy's off the scale.
'But I loved it. I loved my costume and I loved the whole process, although it was very, very hot inside the mask.'
She adds: 'The whole bit that was scary was I had to be on a 15 foot high plinth, singing Human by The Killers. When the hot lights came on, I suddenly felt incredibly giddy and was swaying from side to side.
'I was really worried I was going to fall off as my whole perspective changed. But I managed to keep my feet and really did enjoy the whole experience.'
Carol has become a regular feature on the retro music festival circuit, but she also recently toured Germany with Amy Macdonald.
She says: 'I really admire Amy's songwriting and her new single, Is This What You've Been Waiting For? I think it's fantastic. I just love her voice, it's just so unusual.
'I also toured with SophieEllis-Bextor recently and it's nice to be on the road with some relevant people. It makes you up your game.'
SISTER ACT WAS TRUE TO LIFE
CAROL reveals she gave permission for Heart and Soul to be used in an hilarious Hollywood movie - because she sees the scene played out for real every time she performs.
The singer gave the nod for the track to be included in the 2015 film Sisters starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as Kate and Maura Ellis.
At one stage the siblings attempt to sing the chorus for Heart and Soul, only to mumble the lines they don't know.
But Carol says: 'The other night I was doing a gig and swung the mic around for the audience to sing the chorus.
'Just like in the movie they get the easy bits right like 'Give a little bit of heart and soul, give a little bit of love to grow'.
'But then they mumbled, 'Don't you make me beg for more, give a sign, I need to know.'
'So when they asked me for permission to use the song in Sisters, they send you a synopsis of the scene.
'When I read it, it made me laugh because this happens to me all the time.'
The track was also used in the Michelle Williams Disney series Dying for Sex earlier this year and a Black Mirror episode in 2016.
While China in Your Hands popped up in an ep of Gillian Anderson's Sex Education in 2023.
Carol says: 'I take great pride in the fact that our songs continue to be used in all these America productions.
'But it was a real feather in my cap, especially with my kids, when Charlie Brooker put Heart and Soul in Black Mirror.'
Carol will return north of the border in August when she performs at the two-day Party at the Palace event, sharing the bill on the Saturday with Squeeze, former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan, Gun and Sleeper.
While Boney M, Boyzlife and The Hoosiers take to the stage on Sunday.
She says: 'I've been looking at everybody's YouTube stuff and boning up on who's on the bill.
'I haven't thought about these bands in years so it will be great to see them live.'
But while Carol revels in the fact that she's still in demand, she can afford herself a chuckle at that incident in Glasgow's East End all those years ago.
She says: 'The funniest thing about the guy at the Barrowland was by that point I'd gotten used to people adoring me.
'So it actually made me laugh when someone had queued for so long just to tell me our band were s***e - you certainly can never get too big for your boots in Scotland.'
*Party at the Palace is on at Linlithgow's Bonnytoun Farm on August 3&4. For tickets visit:
