Vintage Video: The Power Station’s “Some Like It Hot” and a girl named Tula
In 1985, Duran Duran’s Andy and John Taylor formed a splinter group called The Power Station to pursue some darker, edgier and funkier paths to glory. Enlisting blues esquire Robert Palmer and Chic drummer Tony Thompson, the foursome recorded their self-titled debut album and subsequently logged hits on the charts with the singles “Some Like It Hot” and a remake of the T. Rex classic “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”.
The Power Station: Robert Palmer, Andy Taylor, John Taylor, Tony Thompson
Appearing in the “Some Like It Hot” video was seven-foot tall English model Caroline “Tula” Cossey, a transsexual who was born Barry Kenneth Cossey in Brooke, Norfolk, and raised as male. By 17, Cossey was receiving hormone therapy, living full-time in a female gender role and had begun a career as a showgirl at a London nightclub. After years of hormonal and psychological treatment, and legally changing her name, Cossey had her final surgery in 1974. After launching a successful career as a model, Tula was outed by the British press after appearing in a James Bond movie. Tula starred as the female lead in the Power Station video in 1985, and backstage footage from the video in the Power Station’s electronic press kit showing both Taylors marveling at her beauty and stature. Is Andy Taylor giving her a barbershop shave an inside joke?
Tula (above) appears in “Some Like It Hot”
Take a look at the Taylors and the tall Tula here as well as the behind-the-scenes footage.