Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet ( 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 Applause, playing "European dance music" as the house band for the "Blitz Kids" club night. They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop, were members of the new pop movement, 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.

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. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. In May 2019, Wild tweeted that he had quit the band "to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio", while Spandau bass player Martin Kemp confirmed there were no further plans for the band to tour without original singer Hadley.

History

1976–1982: Formation and early success

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. 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", 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. Their first gig was a fourth-form Christmas party in December 1976 in the school dining room.

The band changed their name to the Cut when Michael Ellison left, with Steve Norman filling in on bass. 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. They received a number of positive gig reviews from the British music press in Sounds and the New Musical Express. 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. The band was now called Gentry and Martin played his first gig on 1 July 1978 at the Middlesex Polytechnic in Cockfosters.