Friday Flashback

Now they’ve come back again

March 27, 2009 0 Comments

On Wednesday, UK ’80s pop group Spandau Ballet announced they were re-forming for a world tour. The re-start comes 20 years after the quintet broke up, which began a decade-long dispute over royalties with SB guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp, who ultimately prevailed.

Seems any residual acrimony is water under the bridge, an apropos metaphor since the members delivered their reunion news aboard the HMS Belfast near London’s Tower Bridge. (The band had played an early gig there in their career.)

While comparatively huge in the UK, Spandau Ballet had just one big hit here in the U.S., “True.” The Motown-inspired song (“Listening to Marvin all night long“) entered the Billboard charts in the summer of 1983 and reached #4 that October.

Follow-up single, “Gold,” wasn’t as precious, cashing out at #29.

“True,” as you’ll recall, had a second shining moment in the pop-culture spotlight when P.M. Dawn sampled the track for their debut single, “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss,” a #1 hit in 1991. Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley even made a cameo in the video.

Purchase Spandau Ballet – “True” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.