Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet (/ˈspændaʊ ˈbæleɪ/ SPAN-dow BAL-ay) were an English 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.[7][8][9] They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop[10] and were part of the Second British Invasion of the Billboard Top 40 in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide.[11][12][13] The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material. Their musical influences ranged from punk rock and soul music to the American crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.[14]
Spandau Ballet
- 1979–1990
- 2009–2019
- Chrysalis
- Reformation Records
- Mercury
- Epic
- Columbia
- Parlophone
Tony Hadley
Gary Kemp
Martin Kemp
John Keeble
Steve Norman
Ross William Wild
The band's classic lineup featured Gary Kemp on guitar, synthesiser and backing vocals, his brother Martin Kemp on bass, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble. Gary Kemp was also the band's songwriter. Their debut single "To Cut a Long Story Short" reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980 and was the first of ten UK top-10 singles. The band peaked in popularity in 1983 with the album True, as its title track reached No. 1 in the UK and the top 5 in the US. In 2011, it received a BMI award as one of the most-played songs in US history with four million airplays.[15] In 1984, they received a Brit Award for technical excellence and were the first act to be approached by Bob Geldof to join the original Band Aid lineup.[16] In 1985, they performed at the Live Aid benefit concert at Wembley Stadium.
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.[17] 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,[18] was world-premiered at 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.
In 2017, Hadley left Spandau Ballet.[19] A year later, singer and actor Ross William Wild became their new frontman for a series of European live dates and a one-off show at Eventim's Hammersmith Apollo.[20][21] In May 2019, Wild tweeted that he had quit the band "to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio",[22] while Spandau bass player Martin Kemp confirmed there were no further plans for Spandau to tour without original singer Hadley.[23]
History[edit]
1976–1982: Formation and early success[edit]
Gary Kemp and Steve Norman first decided to form a band, both playing guitar, in October 1976 after witnessing the Sex Pistols perform that summer at Islington's Screen on the Green.[24] Close friends and school mates at Dame Alice Owen's in Islington, they were joined by John Keeble on drums, Michael Ellison on bass and Tony Hadley on vocals when the school relocated to Potters Bar. They rehearsed at lunchtimes in the school's music room, playing sped-up versions of the Rolling Stones' "Silver Train",[25] the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" and the Animals' "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place". They also played an original Gary Kemp composition, "I've Got Roots", which inspired their band name, Roots.[26] Their first gig was a fourth-form Christmas party December 1976 in the school dining room.[27]
The band changed their name to The Cut when Michael Ellison left, with Steve Norman filling in on bass.[28] In 1977 another Alice Owen pupil, Richard Miller, took over on bass guitar and the band changed their name to The Makers, playing power-pop compositions by Gary Kemp or Steve Norman, with titles like "Fantasy Girl" and "Pin-Ups", inspired by mid-sixties bands like the Small Faces.[29] They received a number of positive gig reviews from the British music press in Sounds and the New Musical Express.[30] The band changed personnel and name once more when their manager, friend and fellow Dame Alice Owen's schoolmate Steve Dagger suggested Martin Kemp be brought in as their bass player after seeing how much attention he got from The Makers' female fans when he was their roadie.[31] The band was now called Gentry and Martin played his first gig on 1 July 1978 at the Middlesex Polytechnic in Cockfosters.[32]
Inspired by London's new underground nightclub scene, which began in Autumn 1978 with a weekly Tuesday night hosted by Steve Strange and DJ Rusty Egan at Billy's in Soho,[33] the band switched musical direction to embrace the new electronic music. Friend and writer Robert Elms suggested they change their name to Spandau Ballet, a phrase which he told them he had seen written on a wall on a weekend trip to Berlin: “Rudolf Hess, all alone, dancing the Spandau Ballet”.[34] Their first performance was an invitation-only showcase on the morning of Saturday 17 November 1979, at Halligan's Band Centre rehearsal studio, 103 Holloway Road,[35] to test the reaction of the key influencers of the new scene. Having passed that 'audition', the band's first gig as Spandau Ballet was at the Blitz's Christmas party on 5 December 1979.[36]
Journeys to Glory[edit]
A series of exclusive 'secret' gigs in 1980 at unique non-rock venues like the Scala cinema[37] and the cruiser HMS Belfast, advertised only by word-of-mouth, created the hype for a major record companies bidding war.[38] After the band signed with Chrysalis Records, they released "To Cut a Long Story Short", produced by Landscape’s Richard James Burgess. It became a top five hit on the UK charts in late 1980, as well as reaching the top 20 in Australia, Ireland and Spain. Their second single, "The Freeze", was another top 20 hit in the UK, Ireland and Spain, followed by the double A-side "Musclebound/Glow" and the gold-certified debut album Journeys to Glory in early 1981.
The band played their first US showcase in May 1981 at New York's Underground Club, on 17th and Broadway, with a fashion show by Axiom, a co-operative of the London club scene's new clothes designers including Sade Adu.[39] Spandau were the first UK pop band to perform live at the world-famous Ku Club in Ibiza.[40]
Reflecting the rapidly evolving club scene and Soho's hippest new nightspot, Le Beat Route on Greek Street, the band changed musical directions again,[41] releasing the funk single "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)", which was a No. 3 hit in the UK while reaching No. 17 in the US on Billboard magazine's Disco Top 100 in 1981.[42] The song was championed by DJ Frankie Crocker on WBLS.[43]
Diamond[edit]
The follow-up album, Diamond, also produced by Burgess, was released in 1982. This album was certified gold by the BPI. The band had Burgess remix every single from both albums for inclusion on each single's B-side and for 12-inch club releases. These mixes were later released as a boxed set. However, the second single from Diamond was "Paint Me Down", which broke their run of top 20 hits by stalling at No. 30. The third single, "She Loved Like Diamond", failed to make the UK top 40 at all.
Trevor Horn remixed the track "Instinction", which was released as the fourth single from the album. Backed with a special dance remix of "Chant No. 1" on the 12-inch single version, the release was very well received. It returned the band to the UK top 10 after the poor chart performance of their previous two singles.
In popular culture[edit]
The song "True" has been sampled in many songs including PM Dawn's "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (1991), Queen Pen's "It's True" (1998), Nelly's "N Dey Say" (2004) and Lloyd's "You" (2006). [101] It has also been covered by will.i.am and Fergie, Rui da Silva and Paul Anka, among others. [102]
"To Cut a Long Story Short" was sampled by Shakka on his 2015 single, "Say Nada".
Actor Edward Norton appeared on the ABC sitcom Modern Family as Izzy LaFontaine, a fictional bass player/backup vocalist for Spandau Ballet ("between Richard Miller and Martin Kemp"), in the episode "Great Expectations".[103]
DJ Paul Oakenfold, a close friend of the band, created a special 12-inch remix of "Gold" for the 2012 Olympics.[104]
