T'Pau Time

Carol Decker Speaks to Minds

No, Carol Decker is not a Vulcan elder from Star Trek. She is in fact the gorgeous red-head lead singer from T’Pau the band. She’s quite mad, which is why I love her so much. T’Pau had their first big international hit with “Heart and Soul” and followed up with the massive “China in Your Hands”. The album, “Bridge of Spies”, reached number one and in fact went quadruple platinum. See, I can spell. It was a cold March morning when Carol Decker put a spell on me.


If you could be any other musician past or present, which one would it be and why?
I'd be Debbie Harry. She was stunning & sexy but never came across as any man's plaything or a helpless little woman, She fronted her band and was perceived as a strong leader and absolutely essential focal point. I believe that our sexuality is part of our humanity and don't have a problem with a good looking person making that gift part of what sells the band a long with of course credible music and a great voice. Debbie was a big influence on me.

Note: 99.99% of red blooded males have to agree with me when I say Carol Decker is just as hot as Debbie Harry.

Like Debbie, I too was in my late 20’s when i got my break and 30 when 'China in Your Hand' was at number one, but only in my dreams am I that cool!!

If you had to name one song from any genre that really speaks to you, which one would it be and why?
This is hard one as on a different day I might pick another song, but today I pick 'Running Down a Dream' by Tom Petty. The relentless drums, the super cool guitar lick. It’s one of those songs that gets you bopping, you can't not tap your foot! I like the space in the song. There are big chunks with no vocal, but the instrumentation still keeps you hooked. I’ve never been able to write a song like this as I'm not a player, I’m a singer, so I fill a song with words. I always play air drums to this song especially the outro, that just sails on into infinity. I imagine it still playing in the ether after the fade. May I add I was particularly gutted when he died, It was huge loss to music.

Are you a Mulder or Scully? Do you believe aliens have visited planet earth and if so what do you think they think about mankind?
NEVER really watched it! And I know that's like saying I've never seen star wars!!!

Read the rest of the interview and 80 more music stars in the new book, Minds Behind the Music. More HERE

In a Blaze of Glory

Blaze Bayley – Iron Maiden, Wolfsbane, Blaze Bayley Band

Leader of the band, Blaze and the Blaze Bayley Band, he now also performs solo. But Mr. Bayley was also the lead singer of rock band, Wolfsbane, for ten years and lead singer of some small rock band called Iron Maiden that you’ve probably never heard of. So just like a highly bread canine, he has pedigree. Blaze managed to stop screeching over the noise of crashing guitars just long enough to answer my questions.

If you could be any other musician past or present, which one would it be and why?
That is one of the most difficult questions ever in the history of music. I have tried for many years to be happy where I am and with what I have got.

I realised how many great moments I trivialised and did not appreciate. I let things slip by me while me and my ambition looked at the top of the mountain. Now I celebrate every small success and try to squeeze the juice out of the moments. So my choice can only be superficial. I believe that in most cases, great art comes from pain. I do not want the pain and challenges of those musicians I have come to admire but I will take the fluffy nice bits.

Bill Withers for his voice and songs. James brown for his impossible achievements and innovation. Elvis Presley for his influence on popular music and his voice. But the artist whose journey I would be most interested in taking would be Jimmy Page. With Led Zeppelin he created a sound that became the expression of my teenage soul and the sound of my adult passion. The modern equivalent of the Greek god Apollo with all his powers, but with command of demons and electricity as well as the sun and music.

If you had to name one song from any genre that really speaks to you, which one would it be and why?
That question is literally insane. No one who loves music will willingly name one song. It is a wicked question. Songs that bring memories of my first kiss. Songs I clung to as my broken heart tried to heal. Songs that filled me with a dark power that raised me to my aching feet and made me try once more to master my own voice and destroy any predetermined destiny. It cannot be done. But… there is one that takes me to a beginning . A song that changed my life and set me on a path that I still tread. Black Sabbath. Children of the sea. Written in 1979 by Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio. Released in April 1980 as part of the Heaven and Hell album. That song.

Are you a Mulder or Scully? Do you believe aliens have visited planet earth and if so what do you think they think about mankind?
I am Scully. They took me away and experimented on me in a laboratory on a train. Aliens are not responsible for any of the technology available on earth. Aliens are time travelling humans. Humanity right now is the most advanced intelligence in this universe. We will be gently side-lined by the silicone and diamond and quantum life forms that are gestating in our phones. The satellites we choke our space with will give the self destructive nature of humanity every assistance in destroying itself. I will be standing on a desolate world looking at Fox Mulder saying… “I told you it wouldn’t be aliens!”

Taken from the book, Minds Behind the Music with over 80 music stars! More here Minds Behind the Music