By 1983, theLondon-based quintet had shed its Roxy Music-inspired robotic art-disco and picked up on Bryan Ferry’s latter-daycrooner persona, revamping themselves as a slick, stylish white soul act. It was in this incarnation that SpandauBallet experienced its greatest success, as “True” reached number one in Britain and number four in America.However, their time in the spotlight was short-lived. Though they had a few more hits in Britain, none of them wereparticularly big, and in America they disappeared at the end of 1984. By the end of the decade, the group had split,with their core members, brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, launching acting careers in the 1990 film The Krays, andthe group began a consistent series of reunion tours and recordings in 2009.The Kemps, who played guitar and bass, respectively, founded Spandau Ballet in 1979 with Tom Hadley (vocals),Steve Norman (rhythm guitar, saxophone, percussion), and John Keeble (drums). The group hired their schoolfriend Steve Dagger as manager. Spandau Ballet began playing nightclubs in London that had responded to punk byembracing exaggeratedly fashionable clothes and makeup. Soon, the band was one of the most popular attractionson this scene, which was subsequently dubbed by the British press as “New Romantic.” Chris Blackwell, the head ofIsland Records, saw the group at a London party and offered them a contract on the spot. They rejected his offer,choosing to set up their own label, Reformation.
Early in 1980, the group licensed Reformation to Chrysalis, givingtheir label the distribution power of a major label.“To Cut a Long Story Short,” Spandau Ballet’s first single, shot to number five in Britain upon its fall 1980 release. Itwas quickly followed by the number 17 hit “The Freeze” in early 1981, and “Musclebound,” which reached numberten in the spring, followed by the release of their debut album, Journeys to Glory. The singles made their way overto America, where they received play in dance clubs. In the summer, they released a new, non-LP single, “Chant No.1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On),” which boasted a funkier beat and soulful flourishes.
The group continued topursue this direction on their subsequent singles, including the gold-selling Top Ten U.K. hits “Instinction” and“Lifeline,” as well as their 1982 album Diamond, but it didn’t reach fruition until the 1983 album True.True was a full-fledged white soul album, much like the sophisticated pop of late-’70s Roxy Music albums. The titleballad reached number one in Britain during the spring and a few months later, the single and album became hits inAmerica, peaking at number four and 19, respectively. Spandau Ballet managed to hit the Top Ten once more in theU.K. with “Gold,” which peaked at number two; in the U.S., it reached 29. “Communication,” a third American singlefrom True, fizzled in the spring of 1984. Its failure was the beginning of the band’s commercial downfall. “OnlyWhen You Leave,” the first single from 1984’s Parade, was a number three hit in the U.K., yet it only reached 34 inthe U.S.; furthermore, it was their last American hit ever. Parade was a success in Britain, but it wasn’t as big as itspredecessor. In 1985, Spandau Ballet sued Chrysalis, claiming that the label wasn’t providing enough promotionalsupport for the band, especially in the U.S., and thereby harming their career. The suit was settled in 1986, and thegroup jumped ship for CBS/Columbia (Epic in the U.S.), where they released Through the Barricades that sameyear.
The title track was a Top Ten hit, but its follow-up, “How Many Lies?,” became the group’s last Top 40 hit.Following the release of Heart Like a Sky in 1989, they quietly disbanded.Gary and Martin Kemp played the notorious British mobsters the Krays in a 1990 film of the same title. Gary Kemppursued acting as his vocation during the ’90s, appearing in The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston, HBO’s TheLarry Sanders Show, and Embrace of the Vampire with Alyssa Milano. Tom Hadley released a solo album, State ofPlay, in 1993.