Bridge of Spies (album)

Bridge of Spies is the debut album by British pop group T'Pau, released in September 1987. For its US release, Virgin Records renamed Bridge of Spies to simply T'Pau.[2]

Bridge of Spies
Studio album by
T'Pau
Released14 September 1987
RecordedSpring-Summer 1987
Genre
Length44:19
LabelSiren
ProducerRoy Thomas Baker
T'Pau chronology
Bridge of Spies
(1987)		 Rage
(1988)
Singles from Bridge of Spies
  1. "Heart and Soul"
    Released: May 1987 (US) / August 1987 (UK)
  2. "Intimate Strangers"
    Released: 1987
  3. "China in Your Hand"
    Released: October 1987
  4. "Bridge of Spies"
    Released: 1987
  5. "Valentine"
    Released: 1988
  6. "Sex Talk (Live)"
    Released: 1988
  7. "I Will Be with You"
    Released: 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Overview

The album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker. It spawned five hit singles – "Heart and Soul" (also a Top 5 in the US), the best-selling number one hit "China in Your Hand" (re-recorded especially for single release), "Valentine," a live version of "Sex Talk" (previously released in its original form as "Intimate Strangers") was issued in the UK, and "I Will Be with You". A further release, a remix of the title track "Bridge of Spies", was also released in the US, Canada, Australia and Germany.

The artwork for the release includes the name "T'Pau" rearranged to form a face (similar to the Moai stone heads found on Easter Island). This practice was replicated with the titles of the band's follow-up albums Rage and The Promise.

The album spent one week at number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold on 14 October 1987 and Platinum on 18 November 1987. It was eventually certified 4x Platinum in September 1988.[3]

An extended and digitally remastered version of Bridge of Spies was released in the UK and Europe in 2017. It includes remixes, B-sides and live versions of the album tracks. A companion album called The Virgin Anthology was released shortly afterwards, and this triple CD and DVD contains the radio edits and remixes of all the singles released from Bridge of Spies and digitally remastered versions of the follow up albums Rage and The Promise.

Track listing

All songs written by Carol Decker and Ron Rogers. (Copyright Virgin Music)

Side one

  1. "Heart and Soul" – 4:16
  2. "I Will Be with You" – 4:05
  3. "China in Your Hand" – 5:06
  4. "Friends Like These" – 3:45
  5. "Sex Talk" – 4:14

Side two

  1. "Bridge of Spies" – 5:23
  2. "Monkey House" – 4:24
  3. "Valentine" – 3:58
  4. "Thank You for Goodbye" – 3:54
  5. "You Give Up" – 4.39
  6. "China in Your Hand" (reprise) – 0:45

Chart performance
Chart (1987–88) Peak
position		 Total
weeks
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 95 1
Austrian Albums Chart[5] 12 16
Canadian Albums Chart[6] 17 30
Dutch Albums Chart[7] 6 22
German Albums Chart[8] 7 23
New Zealand Albums Chart[9] 6 12
Norwegian Albums Chart[10] 1 15
Swedish Albums Chart[11] 11 9
Swiss Albums Chart[12] 3 22
UK Albums Chart[13] 1 59
US Billboard 200[14] 31 24

Production
  • Produced by Roy Thomas Baker
  • Engineered and mixed by Jerry Napier

Personnel
  • Carol Decker – all vocals
  • Ronnie Rogers – guitars
  • Taj Wyzgowski – guitars
  • Michael Chetwood – keyboards
  • Paul Jackson – bass
  • Gary Barnacle – tenor sax
  • Tim Burgess – drums, percussion

View from a Bridge

A video of the following selected tracks was released as View from a Bridge in 1988 on VHS and LaserDisc.

  1. "Intro"
  2. "Heart and Soul"
  3. "Bridge of Spies"
  4. "China in Your Hand"
  5. "Valentine"
  6. "Sex Talk"

References
  1. AllMusic review
  2. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5588/biography
  3. "certified-awards". Archived from the original on 6 February 2013.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 312. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  5. Steffen Hung (23 December 2011). "Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  6. "Bienvenue au site Web Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / Welcome to the Library and Archives Canada website".
  7. Steffen Hung (31 December 2011). "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  8. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. Steffen Hung (26 December 2011). "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  10. Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  11. Steffen Hung (30 December 2011). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  12. Steffen Hung. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". swisscharts.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  13. "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  14. "Music News, Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music". Billboard.com. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
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