T'Pau was a late 1980s pop group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe. Decker still performs under the name T'Pau at solo shows and 1980s nostalgia concerts. "China in Your Hand" is a song by British band T'Pau, released from their album Bridge of Spies. A re-recorded version was released as a single in October 1987, spending five weeks at number 1 in the UK and is arguably the song for which the group is best known in their native Britain, though their debut single "Heart and Soul" was a much bigger hit in the United States. "China in Your Hand" was the 600th song to top the UK charts, famously stopping Beatle George Harrison from hitting the top spot.
The song's lyrics refer to the novel Frankenstein and its author Mary Shelley. This is more readily heard on the longer album version of the song, as the re-recorded single edit omits most of the more obvious references to the book. The song's title was more unclear however and when quizzed, co-writer Ron Rogers was unsure of to what it referred. Lyric writer Carol Decker explained that it is the effect that if you.