Founded: 1979
Location: United Kingdom
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 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.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.
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"The Brits open the show with the new 'Soul Boy' – a throwback to 'Gold', complete with signature Steve Norman sax solo"
"Although Spandau Ballet’s new material has not lost their signature sound, the fans were there to relive memories of their youth, the ‘good ol’ days’"
"Is this for a tabloid, I take it?”
The story of Spandau Ballet took Melbourne back to the era of New Romanticism, even if it was a bit fashionably Royal Blood.
There’s a lot to discover; proof they were a lot more than the hits that have become their legacy.
Special appearances in Melbourne and Sydney