Spandau Ballet

Emerging prominently within the New Romantic movement, Spandau Ballet notched multiple British chart entries along with a single American Top Ten placement for "True" throughout the early 1980s, establishing themselves among the most commercially viable acts to arise from new wave circles. Duran Duran alone surpassed them in overall sales within that stylistic vein, yet Spandau Ballet preceded most rivals by landing three Top Ten singles in 1981 through their initial wave of synthesized dance-pop. The London quintet soon abandoned the mechanical, Roxy Music-derived art-disco aesthetic and adopted the suave crooner stance associated with Bryan Ferry's later work, repositioning as a polished white soul ensemble. This revised approach yielded their peak achievements, with "True" ascending to number one in Britain and number four stateside. Their moment at the forefront proved fleeting, however. Additional British successes followed, though none matched earlier scale, while stateside visibility evaporated after 1984. By decade's end the lineup had dissolved, leaving core members Gary and Martin Kemp to pursue acting roles in the 1990 film The Krays; the collective nevertheless resumed regular reunion performances and releases beginning in 2009.

Guitarist Gary Kemp and bassist Martin Kemp assembled Spandau Ballet in 1979 alongside vocalist Tony Hadley, multi-instrumentalist Steve Norman on rhythm guitar, saxophone and percussion, and drummer John Keeble. School friend Steve Dagger was installed as manager. The ensemble first performed in London nightclubs that had shifted from punk toward flamboyant attire and cosmetics. The band rapidly became a leading draw on this circuit, later labeled "New Romantic" by British journalists. Island Records chief Chris Blackwell encountered them at a London gathering and extended an immediate contract offer, which they declined in favor of launching their own Reformation imprint. In early 1980 they arranged distribution through Chrysalis, securing major-label reach for Reformation.

Spandau Ballet's debut single "To Cut a Long Story Short" climbed to number five in Britain after its autumn 1980 appearance. It was succeeded by the number 17 entry "The Freeze" early the next year and the number ten hit "Musclebound" that spring, after which their first album Journeys to Glory appeared. Those tracks gained traction in American dance clubs. During the summer they issued the non-album single "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)," introducing funkier rhythms and soul accents. This trajectory continued through further releases such as the gold-certified Top Ten British singles "Instinction" and "Lifeline," plus the 1982 album Diamond, though full realization arrived only with the 1983 album True.

True constituted a complete white soul statement in the vein of Roxy Music's refined late-1970s recordings. The title ballad topped the British chart in spring, and months later both single and album registered American success at number four and number 19. Spandau Ballet returned to the British Top Ten with "Gold," which reached number two domestically and number 29 in the United States. "Communication," drawn as a third American single from True, stalled during spring 1984, signaling the onset of commercial decline. "Only When You Leave," the lead track from 1984's Parade, peaked at number three in Britain yet managed only number 34 stateside, marking their final American hit. Parade performed respectably in the United Kingdom without matching its predecessor's impact. In 1985 the band initiated litigation against Chrysalis, alleging inadequate promotional efforts especially in America that damaged their prospects; the dispute concluded in 1986, prompting a move to CBS/Columbia (Epic in the United States), where Through the Barricades appeared that year. The title song became a British Top Ten entry, while follow-up "How Many Lies?" registered as their last Top 40 single. After issuing Heart Like a Sky in 1989, the group disbanded without announcement.

Gary and Martin Kemp portrayed the infamous Krays in the 1990 film of that name. Gary subsequently focused on acting through the 1990s, appearing in The Bodyguard alongside Whitney Houston, on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, and in Embrace of the Vampire with Alyssa Milano. Tony Hadley issued the solo album State of Play in 1993.