Attack of the Giant Perm! It's T'PAU!

T'Pau - China in Your Hand (Live on The Roxy '87)



Another post from ITV's favourite short-lived flunky series "The Roxy" (1987-88). This time we get to see the presenters cockpit (grimy looking cocktail bar). Here we see former Top of thr Pops presenter David Jensen and Irish-born Kevin Sharkey. The setting for "The Roxy", what can I say, looks like an Victorian theatre raped by 80s idealism. Ouch.

The clip starts off with a cut-off chart rundown, all fairly good acts there, Shakin' Stevens and The Proclaimers, and then we T'Pau who were No.1 with their big hit "China In Your Hand". Lead singer Carole Decker, with the appropiately large 80s perm, ticking off all the major ingreadients for an 80s power ballad, big earrings, check, shoulder pads, check, big voice, check. It's a great song though.

Also, there's a reference on-screen, to the old "Oracle" which was taken over by "Teletext" a good 4/5 years later.

T'Pau were a British Pop/Rock band with Carole Decker as the face of the band, and only singer. "China In Your Hand" was taken from their debut album "Bridge of Spies", and it lasted 5 weeks as the No.1 Single in the UK. Jensen guarantees, at the end of this episode, that there will be a new No.1 next week. Was he right? Yes, the new No.1 hit the charts 2 days earlier, and it was another famous hit from the 80s. The Pet Shop Boys with a cover version of "Always on My Mind".

T'Pau quickly fizzled out after their first album with success on both sides of the Atlantic, with alternate singles doing well on one side, and unfancied on the other. For the Brits, "China In Your Hand" and for the Americans, it was "Heart and Soul". The band had a string of other hit singles in the UK, but became known as a one hit wonder in the US. After the album flops of 1988's "Rage" and 1991's "The Promise", the band split up in 1991. However the band was re-formed with a new line-up including Decker, for an 1998 album, which didn't release any singles. The band continues, mostly turning up on 80s nostalgia musical compilation concerts, and Decker has appeared in a couple of reality shows.

Cheestasm at 1980's music TV Show "The Roxy"

Dollar - Oh L'Amour



Ok, we see dancing here, so bad it's good, but the song is pretty good, which was the music male-female duo's last ever hit, in 1988. David Van Day and Thereza Bazaar infact. They have the music group Erasure, to thank for the song, as it's a cover of their 1986 version. In the background, we see what looks like a dummy getting electrocuted by lightning strikes, well, there are some people who would gladly volunteer to be, in the face of "Dollar". However, seriously, one of my guilty pleasures.

"The Roxy" was a very short-lived ITV music show with live acts, running from 1987-1988. I'm taking a good guess this is from 1988, as although the song was published in 1987, it didn't reach the Singles Chart high of No.7 until early '88. The show, presented by former "Top of the Pops" host David Jenson and Irish actor/artist(?) Kevin Sharkey (no relation to Feargal Sharkey). It was an ill-fated attempt to rival the BBC's TOTP. The lack of regular schedule broadcasting times, and the location being in the far-flung north in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, many mainstream acts snubbed the show.

The show was axed after an industrial dispute which gave them no license to broadcast live performances. A hopeful successor to Channel 4's "The Tube", it wasn't.

Also, slightly off-topic, but back in the late-80's from what I can gather, there were a whole host of nightclubs, named "The Roxy". Seemed to be loads of these. The name was not taken from the show itself, but the well-known, popular "The Roxy" nightclub based in New York City.