One hit wonders: T’Pau “Heart and Soul”

Hailing from Shroshire, T’Pau became a one hit wonder with the song, “Heart and Soul”, which peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts in 1987 after being featured in a commercial for Pepe Jeans. The group was going to call itself Talking America but then changed to T’Pau, a name lifted from a Star Trek episode called “Amok Time”. In this episode, T’Pau was a Vulcan priestess played by Celia Lovsky (Soylent Green). Trekkers will no doubt recall that T’Pau was the first person Spock would salute with his famous “V” hand gesture. I doubt Celia was aware that a British pop band would adopt her character’s name, or that the elaborate costume that she was wearing would sell for $45,000 at auction forty years later.

The song owes its origins to the JX3P keyboard, which was top of the line at the time. One of the band’s guitarists, Ron Rogers programmed the unforgettable bass riff and everything else flowed from that. When I first saw the video, I thought the band was fronted by a pair of red-headed twins: one who liked to wear her hair down and rap, and the other who liked to wear her hair up and sing. But that is not the case – there was only one female lead singer, the amazing Carol Decker.

T’Pau actually went on to have several more big hits in the UK, but never again in the US. I don’t quite understand why. Carol Decker has an incredible voice and lead guitarist Dean Howard, who played with Deep Purple, brought solid rock credentials to punch up their pop sound. Maybe things would have been different if Decker accepted a role to play Don Johnson’s wife on this hit show Miami Vice, which would have inevitably led to a duet. Check out their 1993 compilation, “Heart and Soul – The Very Best of T’Pau” for an excellent retrospective of this underrated band.

Here is a 2011 acoustic performance by Decker, singing their biggest UK hit, "China In Your Hand":

One hit wonder: Nena "99 Red Balloons"

"99 Luftballons", or "99 Red Balloons" as we know it here in America, rapidly floated up the charts to the #2 position in 1983. Hitting #1 in many other countries, this anti-war song gained worldwide popularity and made the German band Nena a household name, at least for a little while. The band never had another hit in the US. The guitarist for Nena, Carlo Karges, was inspired when he saw balloons released during a Rolling Stones concert in West Berlin. What would happen if they were mistaken for missiles or some other unidentified flying weapon if they floated over the Berlin wall? Is it possible these harmless balloons could prompt nuclear war?

The song has a reference to Star Trek's Captain Kirk. Do you know another song that references a famed starship Captain? The answer is below.

One hit wonders: When In Rome "The Promise"

In 1988, a new wave group from England called When in Rome burned up the airwaves with their one and only hit single, "The Promise", from their one and only album. "The Promise" just missed the Top Ten charts, peaking at #11. But in 2004, moviegoers watching "Napoleon Dynamite" were reminded of this song.

One hit wonders: Electronic "Getting Away With It"

Electronic - "Getting Away With It"

Electronic was a new wave "super group" of sorts that emerged in the late eighties with their only big hit barely cracking the US top 40, peaking at #38 in March of 1990. Many people mistook these guys for the Psychedelic Furs, but Electronic was fronted by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys. Rounding out the line-up was guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Bernard Sumner (New Order). Marr claims the song pokes fun at misery magnet Morrissey, his ex-partner from The Smiths.

One hit wonders: Robert Ellis Orrall "I Couldn't Say No"

Robert Ellis Orrall & Carlene Carter - "I Couldn't Say No"

This duet with Carlene Carter went to 32 on the Billboard charts on March 26, 1983. The song was lifted from Orrall's sophomore album, "Special Pain". He resurfaced on the country charts in the 90s, and has written hits for other artists in that genre and beyond. Carlene Carter (wife of Nick Lowe and sister of Rosanne Cash - Johnny Cash was her stepfather) also become a country star in subsequent years. But 80s fans will always remember them for this song, which doesn't strike me as "country" at all.