Spandau Ballet were an English new wave 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.
True is the third studio album by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet. It was released on 4 March 1983 on Chrysalis Records. While Spandau Ballet's first two albums earned them European popularity, True made them worldwide stars and was heavily influenced by jazz, soul and R&B. It reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, the Top 20 on the US Billboard 200, and charted in numerous other countries around the world. The title track spent four weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and went to number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was also Spandau Ballet's first album to be recorded outside of London.
Steven Antony Norman is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English band Spandau Ballet.
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 singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet.
Gary Michael Langan is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician.
"True" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet. It was released on 15 April 1983 as the third single from their third studio album of the same name. The song was written by band member Gary Kemp.
"To Cut a Long Story Short" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 31 October 1980. It was their first single, and they began recording it before they were signed to a record label because of the interest they had generated with a debut concert for patrons of the exclusive weekly London nightclub the Blitz as well as a Christmas party at that establishment. After having tried other popular genres, the band had been preparing to make their debut as performers of dance music and wanted the public to associate them with the young crowd who met at the Blitz every Tuesday. They needed their guitarist/songwriter, Gary Kemp, to come up with something that they could feel confident about presenting to the top tier of the club's regulars at their first performance.
Journeys to Glory is the debut studio album by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 6 March 1981 by Chrysalis Records. All of the songs on the album were produced by Richard James Burgess and written by band guitarist Gary Kemp to appeal to the patrons of a weekly Tuesday night club the band started attending called the Blitz, where they were accustomed to hearing "white European dance music". Their performances at the Blitz and other exclusive venues attracted the attention of record labels eager to sign them, and one of the songs they had been performing, "To Cut a Long Story Short", gained popularity through a recording session made at BBC Radio 1.
Diamond is the second studio album by Spandau Ballet. It was released on 5 March 1982 by Chrysalis Records. The album was promoted with the single "Chant No. 1 ", which was released in 1981, nine months before the album, and it reached no. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The last single released, "Instinction", reached no. 10. The album was re-released in a remastered and expanded 2 CD Special Edition on 8 March 2010.
Parade is the fourth studio album by Spandau Ballet, released on 22 June 1984 by Chrysalis Records. The album contained two UK Top 10 hits, "Only When You Leave", and "I'll Fly for You" (#9).
Heart Like a Sky is the sixth studio album by the band Spandau Ballet. It was released on 18 September 1989 by CBS Records. The album was mainly distributed in continental Europe. It was the group's last release before disbanding, and only achieved commercial success in Italy and the Netherlands.
This is a discography of Spandau Ballet, an English band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synth-pop.
Once More is the seventh and final studio album by British band Spandau Ballet. It was released by Mercury Records on 19 October 2009 in the UK and Ireland. The album includes eleven re-recordings from their 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 music video for "Once More" was filmed. The album entered at number 7 on the UK Album Chart on 25 October 2009.
"Through the Barricades" is the title track of Spandau Ballet's 1986 album Through the Barricades. Released as a single, "Through the Barricades" entered the UK Singles Chart on 8 November 1986 and became the band's tenth and final top ten single, peaking at number six and spending a total of ten weeks on the chart.
"Chant No. 1 " is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 10 July 1981 as the first single from their upcoming second album, Diamond. The band's guitarist/songwriter, Gary Kemp, wanted to pay homage to the latest London hotspot, Le Beat Route, by emulating the funk music that was popular there and even using the club as the location for the music video, all in order to show that the band was still part of the trendy Soho scene. Except for the remix of the song from the album's box set, "Chant No. 1" received good reviews, and the 7-inch single became their third top ten hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Instinction" is a song by Spandau Ballet whose original version was included on their second album Diamond as produced by Richard James Burgess. A remix of the song by Trevor Horn was released on 29 March 1982 as the last single from the album and reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. This new version received good reviews but constituted a shift into pop music that did not interest the patrons of trendy London nightclubs that Spandau Ballet originally intended to represent. The band tried continuing their work with Horn on the songs for their next album but came to an impasse with him and moved on to a successful relationship with producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain.
"The Freeze" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 12 January 1981 as the follow-up to their debut single, the number 5 UK hit "To Cut a Long Story Short". As was the case with that release, the 7-inch single of "The Freeze" featured a dub mix on its B-side, and the 12-inch single had two additional mixes of the song geared toward dance clubs. The cover art used for both formats of the single also repeated its predecessor in having a simple black-and-white classical motif. This design, however, was also seen on the sets of the music video for the song. Reviews of "The Freeze" were mixed. It reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.
The Story – The Very Best of Spandau Ballet is a compilation album by English band Spandau Ballet, released in 2014. The album includes three new songs that were produced by Trevor Horn.
"Paint Me Down" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 2 November 1981 as the second single from what would be their second album, Diamond. Their guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp copied some of the elements of their previous hit, "Chant No. 1 ", and the conflict between producer Richard James Burgess and lead singer Tony Hadley that began with that song continued as they recorded the vocals for "Paint Me Down". A controversial music video for the song was rejected by the British music chart television programme Top of the Pops, and its number 30 peak position on the UK Singles Chart was not enough to justify airing the studio performance they had filmed for the show either.
