Hugely successful New Romantic group Spandau Ballet are set to reform.
Formed by a group of fashion and music obsessed London club kids, Spandau Ballet took the playlist of the legendary Blitz club and hit paydirt. Mixing soul, jazz funk and electronic influences the band defined the New Romantic look and sound.
Launched with a blizzard of hype with a special gig aboard the HMS Belfast, Spandau Ballet were an immediate chart hit. A later move towards smooth soul benefited singer Tony Hadley but eventually led to the group drifting away from the charts, before splitting in 1989.
Since their split the most successful member has probably been bass player Martin Kempy. After playing a dodgy cockney geezer in ‘The Krays’ Kemp went on to play a dodgy cockney geezer in Eastenders. Eager to brand out, the actor then joined the cast of Heartbeat as… a dodgy cockney geezer.
After years spent apart if seems the band are willing to put aside their differences on a new tour.
The band’s manager told the Sunday Express that “we’re not making announcements yet but yes, the boys are back in town. Not just a nostalgic re-run of the old, but a fresh slant on what Spandau Ballet are about.”
Roy Eldridge, former head of the band’s old record label Chrysalis commented “once they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together, let alone play. But now they are older, fatter, poorer, there’s every reason to see if the magic still works.”
