With million-selling rock duo T'Pau releasing Be Wonderful next month, their first album of original new material for 11 years, singer Carol Decker is set to front 80s Classical, the ultimate feelgood 80s celebration, at Lighthouse on Saturday 5 June 2026.
The first of three special concerts this summer, the Poole show brings together some of the most iconic voices and songs of the 1980s in full orchestral glory performed live with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Carol Decker joins Nik Kershaw and Johnny Hates Jazz to perform their own timeless hits and more of the songs that defined a generation in a superlative 80s party jukebox.
T'Pau enjoyed huge global success in the late 80s with hits including UK chart topper China in Your Hand and UK/US top five hit Heart and Soul – both lifted from the band's quadruple platinum debut album Bridge of Spies, which sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone. T'Pau enjoyed more success with the two subsequent Top 10 albums, Rage and The Promise.
Having split in 1991, T'Pau founder members Carol Decker and Ronnie Rogers reunited in 2013, and have been a regular feature on the live circuit ever since. Their new album, Be Wonderful is the band's first album of original material since 2015's Pleasure and Pain and will be accompanied by an extensive headline UK tour throughout April.
Explaining the long gap between studio albums, Carol says: "I hadn't felt very motivated to write for the longest time. I started a different life with my husband and had a family to raise, so my head wasn't in the same space.
"Then, in the early 2000s the 80s live circuit really picked up, and I really haven't stopped working live since then. Now the kids are in their twenties I finally had the time and head space so I could set my mind to it – and we finished an album!"
Carol admits she's wary of how a new album might be received after so many years away.
"I'm looking forward to Be Wonderful coming out," she says, "but also quite nervous as I haven't really stuck my head above the parapet for a while in terms of presenting a new album.
"T'Pau are privileged to still play our classic hits regularly, but it is nerve-racking to put out some new music, especially as the music business today is tougher than ever. So, I'm feeling this mixture of nerves, hope and excitement!"