Sex Talk

"Sex Talk" is a song by British band T'Pau, written by Carol Decker and Ron Rogers, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. It was originally released as a single in 1987 under the title "Intimate Strangers", but failed to chart. It was re-titled "Sex Talk" and included on the band's debut studio album Bridge of Spies (1987). In 1988, a live version of the song, recorded at the SEC Centre on 29 October 1987, was released as a single and reached No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart. This live version of "Sex Talk" was only released in the UK and Ireland. Elsewhere, a 7" remix of the track, "Bridge of Spies", was released instead.

Speaking to eonmusic in 2018, Decker recalled of the song: "I wrote that on my first trip to New York. There were all [these] ads; "Dial Me!" on television, and I just thought; "Wow, that's weird, phone people up and talk dirty"... so I did it, of course!"

Reception
Upon release of the 1988 single, Music & Media wrote: "Another dramatic, pumping, rock track, that has all the chances to hit the charts again." Ben Thompson from NME stated: "I just want to have a laugh, you know how it is says Carol Decker, the Sarah Ferguson of raunch, and you know she means it." The magazine's Neil Taylor felt Decker "really has got a quite an alluring voice" and that the song "whips up a frenzy of guitars which Carol wades through blasting her six-shooter vocal bullet-fast and bullet-precise." Betty Page of Record Mirror wrote: "T'Pau show their true colours and get down to a full-blooded slice of raunch 'n' roll recorded live, with plenty of guitar drama and Carol Decker giving it her all. It's brave of them to release a live 45, but it does capture the T'Pau live vibe well." In a review of T'Pau (Bridge of Spies), Pete Bishop of The Pittsburgh Press commented: "There's "Sex Talk", which has fake horns and real guitar and would do credit to the Eurythmics, although Miss Decker, a less adenoidal Cyndi Lauper with little body to her strident voice, is no Annie Lennox."

Intimate Strangers

 * 7" single
 * 1) "Intimate Strangers" - 4:12
 * 2) "No Sense of Pride" - 3:52


 * 12" single
 * 1) "Intimate Strangers" - 4:12
 * 2) "No Sense of Pride" - 3:52
 * 3) "You Give Up" (Live) - 3:58

Sex Talk (Live)

 * 7" single (1988 release)
 * 1) "Sex Talk" (Live) - 3:54
 * 2) "Monkey House" (Live) - 4:13


 * 12" single (1988 release)
 * 1) "Sex Talk" (Live) - 4:34
 * 2) "Monkey House" (Live) - 4:13
 * 3) "You Give Up" (Live) - 3:59


 * CD single (1988 release)
 * 1) "Sex Talk" (Live) - 4:43
 * 2) "Heart & Soul" - 5:19
 * 3) "Monkey House" (Live) - 4:28
 * 4) "You Give Up" (Live) - 4:10

Personnel
T'Pau
 * Carol Decker – lead vocals
 * Dean Howard – lead guitar
 * Ronnie Rogers – rhythm guitar
 * Michael Chetwood – keyboards
 * Paul Jackson – bass
 * Tim Burgess – drums

Production
 * Roy Thomas Baker - producer of "I Will Be with You"
 * T'Pau - producers of "No Sense of Pride"
 * Norman Goodman - engineer on "No Sense of Pride", mixing on live tracks

Other
 * Mark Millington - sleeve design (1987 and 1988 releases)
 * Zoe Wilson - front cover photography
 * Mauro Carraro - back cover photography