Spandau Ballet
The New Romantic group Spandau Ballet was founded in 1979 and comes from the London Borough of Islington. Her achievements they celebrated between autumn 1980 and spring 1987, including hits such as To Cut a Long Story Short, Chant No.1 ( I Do not Need This Pressure On), True, Gold and Through The Barricades.
Mid- 1990, the group split up after a rather unsuccessful LP.
Nearly 20 years later the original cast returned in the fall of 2009 back with a new album and live performances.
History
The band formed in 1976 and initially called "The Cut", with Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on guitar. Norman took over later saxophone and percussion.
The school friends and Norman Kemp both went to the Lady Alice Owen 's School in the London borough of Islington. They shared the same interest in music and wanted to start a band. Later, the classmates John Keeble came to the Norman had met when he encamped his drums in the music room of the school. The three met regularly during the lunch breaks for samples. After Keeble bassist Michael Ellison joined the band. Tony Hadley, an acquaintance of Norman, took over the vocals and completed the quintet.
After a few months Michael Ellison was replaced on bass by Richard Miller, until recently Gary Kemp's brother, Martin, came a few years later the band and took over the role of bassist. At this time, Spandau Ballet had already gained some live experience. Steve Dagger, a mutual friend of the band members, was approached by Gary Kemp and Norman to take over the management. Dagger quickly became an integral part of the early and continued success. The band was called in the early years " The Makers " and made at that time music in the style of The Rolling Stones and the Kinks.
They changed the name in 1979 after a trip to Berlin in " Spandau Ballet ". The journalist Robert Elms, who was friends with the band and wrote for the British fashion magazine "The Face", saw that name on the wall of a toilet in a Berlin nightclub in conjunction with the Allied Military Prison in Berlin- Spandau. Behind the renaming but hid not a political approach, on the contrary, the group was at the beginning of her career emphasizes apolitical. The musical style changed into electronic, as the band members frequently the London club scene to the " Sally's " and the " flash " visited, where they came into contact with the music of Kraftwerk and Telex. In the " flash " fashion movement of the New Romantics was born, which initially called themselves Blitz -Kids.
Spandau Ballet was one of the first bands of music and fashion movement. The band, which could occur through contacts with the hottest clubs at the beginning of their careers there, quickly earned a large local fan base. The first appearances of the band were called " tease dates" targeted launched by word of mouth in clubs without inviting the music press or interested record companies and the " Rockisten " to annoy, as the appearance in the Scala cinema in March 1980. Dagger shipped no demo tapes of the band and influenced the reviews of the music press through targeted information. So he sent Robert Elms with a critique to NME and Barry Cain for Record Mirror. Following the broadcast of the half -hour documentary "20th Century Box" for the private channel " London Weekend " several major record labels sought after only eight performances of the band to a contract. For Spandau Ballet Only CBS and Chrysalis were shortlisted. Chrysalis offered a stake of 14% instead of the usual 8%, and was awarded the contract.
By signing the record contract in April 1980 came the success very quickly. The first single " To Cut A Long Story Short " made it in November 1980, only two weeks after its release in the UK charts and reached number 5, as their first LP " Journeys To Glory " (1981), the ten days after the studio recordings was released. The albums " Journeys To Glory " and " Diamond" (1982 ) were produced by the electronics tinkerer Richard James Burgess, who was also involved in the sound of the band Visage, which also belong to the New Romantics. Burgess also coined the term " New Romantics ".
By produced in spring 1983 by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley album " True" and the eponymous single, which both reached the top chart in the UK, then the long-awaited success across the Atlantic and in Asia turned on. Swain and Jolley changed the band's sound from the mandatory for New Romantic bands synthesizers towards the soulful pop that was dominated by Hadleys voice. It was followed by the top 10 albums "Parade" (1984) and "Through The Barricades " (1986). In the UK alone they could bring 10 singles in the top ten of the charts, in addition to the above also " Muscle Bound / Glow ", " Chant No.. 1 (Do not Need This Pressure On) ", " Instinction "," Lifeline "," gold "," Only When You Leave, "" I'll Fly For You " and " Through The Barricades ".
The end of 1984, the band in the recording of Band-Aid single was " Do They Know It 's Christmas? " Involved and took part in the 1985 Live Aid project of Bob Geldof. They performed on at London's Wembley Stadium.
With the release of the album " Heart Like A Sky" in the late summer of 1989 the success started to crumble. You flopped for their circumstances. According to internal disagreements, which were partly fought out in court, you went from 1990 separate ways.
Tony Hadley published in 1992 his first solo album, and the Kemp brothers devoted themselves to her acting career. For her contribution to the film The Krays they harvested in 1991 very good reviews. Gary Kemp played in 1992 in the film Bodyguard, a supporting role, Martin Kemp has appeared in the British soap opera EastEnders.
Towards the end of the 1980s, when the New Romantic wave had ebbed, recalled Gary Kemp on his childhood in London's East End and to the working class, which he came. He participated in the project "Red Wedge", which had been founded by Paul Weller and wanted to bring young people to take an interest in ( social democratic ) politics and get involved.
In March 2009, the original members of Spandau Ballet announced their comeback and was after almost 20 years on October 13, 2009 in Dublin / Ireland for the first time together on stage. For the book published in autumn 2009 album "Once More" many old hits were recorded with a new arrangement. The world tour took the group in March 2010 to Munich, Berlin and Dusseldorf.
Reviews
Critics accused the band before they had " nothing to say musically " ( Melody Maker), or described them as " gentle, docile and without commitment " (asterisk).