Spandau Ballet: Difference between revisions

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'''Spandau Ballet''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|p|æ|n|d|aʊ|_|ˈ|b|æ|l|eɪ}} {{respell|SPAN|dow|_|BAL|ay}}) were an English [[pop music|pop]] band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's [[post-punk]] underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the [[Blitz Kids]], playing "European Dance Music" as "The Applause" for this new club culture's audience.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/11476894/Spandau-Ballet-O2-Arena-review-celebratory.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/11476894/Spandau-Ballet-O2-Arena-review-celebratory.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Spandau Ballet, O2 Arena, review: 'celebratory'|last=McCormick|first=Neil|journal=Daily Telegraph|date=18 March 2015|access-date=25 March 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/04/spandau-ballet-new-romantics|title=Spandau Ballet, The Blitz Kids and the birth of the New Romantics|last=Johnson|first=David|date=3 October 2009|work=The Observer|access-date=25 March 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Pop Stars In My Pantry|last=Simper|first=Paul|publisher=Unbound|year=2017|isbn=978-1-78352-388-7|location= London|pages=15}}</ref> They became one of the most successful groups of the [[New Romantic]] era of [[British pop music|British pop]]<ref>{{cite web|website=ministryofrock.co.uk|title=New Romantics|last=Nickson|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Nickson|url=https://www.ministryofrock.co.uk/NewRomantics.html|date=25 September 2012}}</ref> and were part of the [[Second British Invasion]] of the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Top 40]] in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/193332-spandau-ballet-finds-redemption-after-years-apart-2495532712.html|title=Spandau Ballet Finds Redemption and Reformation After Years Apart|date=5 June 2015|website=PopMatters|language=en|access-date=25 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/5054105/Spandau-Ballet-interview.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/5054105/Spandau-Ballet-interview.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Spandau Ballet interview|last=Singh|first=Anita|journal=Daily Telegraph|date=26 March 2009|access-date=25 March 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://mdtheatreguide.com/2015/05/concert-review-spandau-ballet-at-930-club-in-washington-d-c/|title=Concert Review: Spandau Ballet at 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.|last=Menefee|first=Lynne|date=2 May 2015|website=Maryland Theatre Guide|language=en-US|access-date=26 March 2019}}</ref> The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material.&nbsp;Their musical influences ranged from [[punk rock]] and [[soul music]] to the American crooners [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Tony Bennett]].<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/soul-boys-of-the-western-world-review-harmony-restored-as-spandau-ballet-remember-roots-9763424.html | title= Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys Of The Western World, film review: Band remember roots |work=The Independent|first=Geoffrey|last=Macnab|date=30 September 2014|access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref>

 

 

In 1990, the band played their last live show before a 19-year absence. In 1999, Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful case in the High Court against Gary Kemp and his Reformation Publishing Company for a share of the band's songwriting royalties.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/332115.stm|title=Spandau court bid fails|work=BBC News|date=30 April 1999|access-date=25 March 2019}}</ref> Spandau Ballet reformed in 2009 for The Reformation Tour, a sell-out "greatest hits" world tour. In 2014, their archive-only feature-length documentary biopic, ''Soul Boys of the Western World'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smoothradio.com/news/spandau-ballet-add-second-o2-arena-date/|title=Spandau Ballet Add Second O2 Arena Date|website=Smooth|language=en|access-date=25 March 2019}}</ref> was world-premiered at [[South by Southwest|SXSW]] Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It was officially screened at the Rome, Ghent (Belgium) and NYC Doc film festivals and received its European premiere at the [[Royal Albert Hall]], London.

After a bitter court case with Chrysalis, Spandau Ballet signed to [[CBS Records International|CBS Records]] for £1.5 million in 1986 and released their fifth studio album, ''Through the Barricades''. With producer [[Gary Langan]], the band moved away from their pop and soul influences to create a stadium rock sound. A dispute between [[Our Price Records]] and Sony over trading arrangements resulted in the Our Price chain and its chart return shops refusing to stock any CBS singles, which affected the record sales of their first single release, "[[Fight for Ourselves]]".<ref>{{Cite book|title=New Romantics Who Never Were The Untold Story of Spandau Ballet|last=Barrat|first=David|publisher=Orsam Books|year=2018|isbn=978-0-9570917-2-6|pages=217}}</ref> Though it peaked at 15 in the UK, it was a top 10 hit in Italy and the Netherlands. The title track, a personal favourite of Kemp and Hadley and inspired by the killing of a friend, Thomas "Kidso" Reilly in [[Belfast]] by [[Private (rank)|Private]] Ian Thain,<ref>{{Cite book|title=I Know This Much From Soho To Spandau|last=Kemp|first=Gary|publisher=Fourth Estate|year=2009|isbn=978-0-00-732330-2|pages=235–237}}</ref> reached the top 10 in the UK and in Europe, as did the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/through-the-barricades-mw0000191791|title=Spandau Ballet: Through the Barricades|author=Leroy, Dan|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=6 November 2015}}</ref>

 

 

===''Heart Like a Sky''===

In 2014, all five played live again with an anthology world tour to promote a critically acclaimed feature-length archive-only documentary of the band's story and the pop cultural history of the Eighties, ''Soul Boys of the Western World.''<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3636326| title=Soul Boys of the Western World| publisher=iMDB | date=2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smoothradio.com/news/spandau-ballet-add-second-o2-arena-date/|title=Spandau Ballet Add Second O2 Arena Date|website=Smooth|language=en|access-date=26 March 2019}}</ref> It world premiered at South By Southwest with Spandau also playing as part of the music festival,<ref name="auto3"/> their first public appearance in North America since 1985. The band played five numbers for the film's European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall. There were gala screenings in Sydney, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Auckland and Hamburg. The film had a UK cinema release. It was directed by George Hencken, produced by Steve Dagger and Scott Milaney with archive producer Kate Griffiths and included never-before-seen footage of the band playing and being interviewed at NYC's Underground club in March 1981.

 

 

The band embarked on another world tour in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1717915/watch-spandau-ballet-make-their-first-u-s-tv-appearance-in-almost-30-years-on-kimmel/video/|title=Watch Spandau Ballet Make Their First U.S. TV Appearance in Almost 30 Years on Kimmel|work=Stereogum|date=11 November 2014}}</ref> In January 2015, they appeared on ''[[Today (U.S. TV program)|The Today Show]]'', performing "True".<ref>{{cite news |title=Spandau Ballet performs hit song 'True' |url=http://www.today.com/popculture/spandau-ballet-performs-hit-song-true-1D80436333 |access-date=28 April 2015 |work=Today |date=20 January 2015}}</ref> They also appeared on ''The Talk'' on 27 July 2015 to perform "True".

Within five months cracks were appearing in Spandau's new line-up. In March 2019, Wild joined a new band called Mercutio, saying: "I can't wait around for Spandau! Unfortunately Gary [Kemp] has commitments, so we're waiting him to finish until we crack on."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://shapersofthe80s.com/2019/03/13/2019-%e2%9e%a4-spandau-vocalist-ross-rocks-fans-by-announcing-his-own-new-band-mercutio| title=Spandau vocalist Ross rocks fans by announcing his own new band Mercutio| work=Shapersofthe80s| date=13 March 2019| access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> One month later Gary Kemp, touring the US with Nick Mason's band Saucerful of Secrets, said in an interview: "There are no plans for Spandau going into 2020." He said he struggled to imagine Spandau Ballet without Tony Hadley, adding: "I still think that's the ultimate goal".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://parklifedc.com/2019/04/15/interview-gary-kemp-of-nick-masons-saucerful-of-secrets-dar-constitution-hall-4-22-19| work=ParkLifeDC| date=15 April 2019| first=Mickey| last=McCarter| title=Gary Kemp talks about Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets and Spandau Ballet|access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> Then on 23 May 2019, Wild tweeted at 6:15am: "I have formally quit the band @SpandauBallet to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio."<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1131549159922782209|user=RossWilliamWild|title=I have formally quit the band @SpandauBallet... |date=23 May 2019|access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> By 10:30am Martin Kemp was on ITV's ''This Morning'' confirming that Spandau would not be touring "until Tony [Hadley] comes back".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://shapersofthe80s.com/2019/05/25/2019-%e2%9e%a4-another-spandau-bombshell-kemp-brothers-drive-out-ross-their-perfect-new-singer| title=Another Spandau bombshell – Kemp Brothers drive out Ross their 'perfect' new singer| publisher=Shapersofthe80s| date=25 May 2019| access-date=5 December 2020}}</ref>

 

 

==In popular culture==

==Members==

* [[John Keeble]] – drums, percussion, backing vocals <small>(1979–1990, 2009–2019)</small>

* [[Martin Kemp]] – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals <small>(1979–1990, 2009–2019)</small>

* [[Steve Norman]] – saxophones, wind synthesizer, guitar, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals <small>(1979–1990, 2009–2019)</small>

* [[Tony Hadley]] – lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, percussion <small>(1979–1990, 2009–2017)</small>

 

==Discography==