Spandau Ballet 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. They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop 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. 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.
ABC are an English pop band that originated in Sheffield in 1980, evolving from the earlier ensemble Vice Versa. The band's classic formation featured Martin Fry as the lead vocalist, Mark White on guitar and keyboards, Stephen Singleton playing the saxophone, and David Palmer behind the drums.
True is the third studio album by English pop band Spandau Ballet, released on 4 March 1983 by Chrysalis Records. The band's songwriter/guitarist Gary Kemp realised after the release of their second album that the nightclub audience they initially wanted to attract had lost interest in them in part because of the band's transition from dance music to pop. He no longer felt obligated to keep writing music for them and shifted his focus to soul and R&B influences such as Marvin Gaye and Al Green for this album. Kemp thought that bandmate Steve Norman's newfound interest in the saxophone would be well-suited to the sound he was going for, as would the decision to record most of the album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas.
Anthony Patrick Hadley is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley returned to the band in 2009 but left again in 2017. Hadley has been noted for his expressive voice and vocal range.
Steven Antony Norman is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English new wave band Spandau Ballet.
The Lexicon of Love is the debut studio album by the English pop band ABC. Released by Neutron Records on 21 June 1982, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, also topping the New Zealand and Finnish charts. Certified gold in the US, it went platinum in the UK where four singles reached the top 20; "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" and "All of My Heart", which Pitchfork ranked number one on their "Now That's What I Call New Pop!" list.
John Leslie Keeble is an English pop and rock drummer. He is best known for his membership of the 1980s new wave band Spandau Ballet.
Gary James Kemp is an English songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the new wave band Spandau Ballet.
"True" is a song by English pop band Spandau Ballet, released in April 1983 as the title track and third single from their third studio album. It was written by the band's lead guitarist and principal songwriter Gary Kemp to express his feelings for Altered Images lead singer Clare Grogan. Kemp was influenced musically by songs of Marvin Gaye and Al Green he was listening to at the time, and lyrically by Green and the Beatles. "True" reached number one on the UK singles chart in April 1983 and made the top 10 in several other countries, including the US, where it became their first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
How to Be a ... Zillionaire! is the third studio album by English pop band ABC. It was originally released in October 1985, on the labels Neutron, Mercury and Vertigo. The album peaked at No. 28 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 30 on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released from the album, "(How to Be A) Millionaire", "Be Near Me", "Vanity Kills", and the fourth was "Ocean Blue",. It is the group's only album to feature founder members Martin Fry and Mark White flanked by new members Eden and David Yarritu, the latter two credited merely as "performers" with effectively no or limited musical contribution to the album. The four-piece was also presented in a cartoon form for the album's artwork and promotional videos, and wore outrageous costumes and played false instruments for "live" promotional performances.
Beauty Stab is the second studio album by English pop band ABC, released on 14 November 1983 by Neutron Records, Mercury Records and Vertigo Records. The album was recorded over a period of three months between August and September 1983, in sessions that took place at Sarm Studios East and West, Townhouse Studios and Abbey Road Studios. It was a departure from the stylised production of the band's debut studio album, The Lexicon of Love (1982), and featured a more guitar-oriented sound.
Fiona Russell Powell is a British journalist. She is best known for her series of interviews throughout the 1980s in The Face magazine. For a brief period in the mid-1980s, she performed as a member of pop group ABC in videos and onstage to support their cartoon-synth album How to Be a ... Zillionaire! (1985). She was credited originally as "Fiona" in early recordings of material for this album, but eventually performed under the stage name "Eden".
Parade is the fourth studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 25 June 1984 by Chrysalis Records. The band wanted the album to sound more like how they played together live, and their guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp came up with material that he felt would be more appropriate for the arenas in which they performed now since they were attracting larger audiences. Because they would be parading themselves around the world as part of the album's corresponding tour, he hit upon the idea of a parade as the theme of the album and included an international cast of characters taking part in a parade on the album cover.
Heart Like a Sky is the sixth studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 18 September 1989 by CBS Records. Several of the songs were written as a result of lead guitarist and songwriter Gary Kemp's new relationship. The band, however, was not happy with the material, and lead singer Tony Hadley had so little confidence in the songs and the direction of the band in general that it affected his mental health. That and the involvement of Kemp and his brother, bassist Martin Kemp, in the making of a feature film created tension during the recording sessions. Preparation for filming interrupted the recording of the album and postponement of principal photography delayed the album's release. Gary Kemp alienated some of the band members even further by deciding to receive a separate production credit for the album and discontinuing regular payments of a share of publishing royalties to them, which caused them to file a lawsuit against him.
Mark Andrew White is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician and record producer.
Traffic is the eighth studio album by English band ABC and their first album of original material released in eleven years. The album's songs were written while the band toured the United States in 2006. One critic has described the album as the most "satisfying ABC album since the mid-'80s by far".
Rob Fusari, also known as 8Bit, is an American record producer and songwriter. He has worked with Destiny's Child, Kelly Rowland, Will Smith, Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga.
Once More is the seventh and final studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 19 October 2009 by Mercury Records. The album includes 11 re-recordings from the band's back catalogue and two newly written songs. The first single, the title track "Once More", one of the two brand-new songs, was released as a promotional single on 5 October 2009 and as a digital download on the same day as the album was released. The album entered at number seven on the UK Album Chart on 25 October 2009, becoming their seventh UK Top 10 album.
"Through the Barricades" is a song by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released as the second single from their 1986 studio album of the same name. The song was inspired by the murder of a member of the band's road crew in Belfast during The Troubles and emerged as the Spandau Ballet song that the band members rated the best. It reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their final top ten hit, and made the top ten elsewhere.
The Lexicon of Love II is the ninth studio album by English band ABC. It was released on 27 May 2016 on Virgin EMI, eight years after their previous album Traffic. After a performance of ABC's studio album The Lexicon of Love in concert with Anne Dudley, lead singer of the band Martin Fry felt that it was time to develop a proper follow-up to the album. He wrote over 40 songs for the album with various guest writers and recorded the album with himself and Gary Stevenson producing. On the album's release, it received generally favourable reviews.
