Valentine (T'Pau song)


"Valentine" is a song by British band T'Pau, released in 1988 as the fifth single from their debut studio album Bridge of Spies. It was written by Ronnie Rogers and Carol Decker, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. It reached No. 9 in the UK and remained on the charts for eight weeks.
A promotional video was filmed to promote the single, directed by Brian Grant. The single's B-side, "Giving My Love Away", was exclusive to the single. For the 12" vinyl and CD versions of the single, a bonus cover version of "I'm a Believer" was included, which featured Rogers on lead vocal.
Speaking to Songfacts in 2015, Decker revealed of the song: "I wrote it about an ex of mine. We would bump into each other after we split and he'd moved on and had a nice girlfriend. We'd smile and say "Hi," but I was still crazy about him so I always had to hide how I felt, and be cool and casual."
In 1993, the song re-entered the charts and reached No. 53 when it was re-issued to promote the compilation Heart and Soul – The Very Best of T'Pau.

Critical reception

Upon release, Karen Swayne of Number One wrote: "This is classic T'Pau - epic, dramatic and incredibly important sounding – and shouldn't harm their career one little bit." Tom Hibbert of Smash Hits commented: "There were some irritating number ones in 1987, but T'Pau's "China in Your Hand" took the biscuit, didn't it? This is not much better. In fact, it's almost entirely the same, though, thankfully, a little less hysterical. Quite bad."

Formats

Original release

;7" Single
  1. "Valentine" – 3:53
  2. "Giving My Love Away" – 3:10
;12" Single
  1. "Valentine" – 3:55
  2. "Giving My Love Away" – 3:19
  3. "I'm A Believer" – 3:24
;CD single
  1. "Valentine" – 3:53
  2. "Giving My Love Away" – 3:10
  3. "I'm A Believer" – 3:24
  4. "China in Your Hand " – 5:49

    1993 re-issue

;7" single
  1. "Valentine"
  2. "China in Your Hand "
;Cassette single
  1. "Valentine"
  2. "China in Your Hand "
;CD Single
  1. "Valentine"
  2. "Heart and Soul "
  3. "China in Your Hand "
  4. "Sex Talk "

    Chart performance

;Original release
Chart Peak
position
Belgian Singles Chart16
Dutch Singles Chart17
German Singles Chart37
Irish Singles Chart10
Swiss Singles Chart21
UK Singles Chart9
North East Top 205

;1993 re-issue
Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart53

Personnel

;T'Pau
;Production
;Other