The band, made up of Tony Hadley, brothers Martin and Gary Kemp, Steve Norman and John Keeble, will perform together on board HMS Belfast, the venue on the River Thames where they first played in 1979.

The reunion has been orchestrated by manager Steve Dagger.

"It's true," he told the Sunday Express. "We're not making announcements yet, but yes, basically the boys are back in town.

"Not just a nostalgic re-run of the old, but a fresh slant on what Spandau Ballet are all about."

Relations between the band members had been strained since 1999 when Hadley, Norman and Keeble sued Gary Kemp, claiming he owed them royalties.

http://www.telegraph.co.u...eform.html

i didn't know they broke up

Shit, has hell frozen over? That's one band I NEVER thought would reform because of the shit between Gary and the rest of the group.

One-hit wonder bands all over the world are ecstatic about this news.

RodeoSchro said:

Err, in the UK they were almost as big as Duran Duran. They were equal rivals for a long time and have had loads of hits. It's a bit like VH-1 in the US claiming A-ha were one hit wonders when they're STILL going.

RodeoSchro said:

15 UK Top 40 singles with 10 of them being in the top ten

I don't think that counts as a One hit wonder

I was on the train with my eyes closed getting lost in the moment to 'Through The Barricades' just last week


[Edited 2/16/09 13:14pm]

This was always my favourite though

When I saw PM Dawn in April 2007, towards the end of the show, Prince Be did a cover of "True," which they of course sampled in 1991 for "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss."

Then when he finished singing the song, he basically called Spandau Ballet racists and told us how they'd named themselves after something really hardcore, like a lot of rappers do. Be was confused about this.

However, it was soon brought to his attention that Spandau Ballet were apparently a punk band when they first started out and according to a Jewish man who used to work at PM Dawn's record label, this is what Spandau Ballet's name actually means:

Spandau Prison in Europe housed many prisoners including World War II Nazi prisoners. When these prisoners were hanged the swinging of the dead body was called the Spandau Ballet.
That SS officer did a nice Spandau Ballet at his hanging.


[Edited 2/16/09 17:42pm]

anc282 said:

How in the hell are you gonna do a cover of their song and THEN call them racists?

Don't ask me.

That's like calling Franz Ferdinand and Joy Division racists too. They're just names.

Well ain't that kinda stupid that you'll get mad at them and call them racists and yet cover their song... lol.

bboy87 said:

Like really confused as they were part of the "new-romantics" phase in music which takes alot of it's images from the german / berlin fashion & music in late 60's -70's ...like bowie, duran, etc.. they all did it..
There music was a heavy mix of "jazz-funk" at the start ..white boy soul ...taking their music sources from Reggae Boys vs Soul Boys pre mods and rocks of the 50 - 60's which was big in London and Birmingham (south) and in the (North) i.e. Northern Soul etc..in the Late 70's clubs.. as well of course US soul and funk music...of the time..

80's pop / with "soul boy" in the Wham Young Guns...
http://www.youtube.com/wa...3Q-8jtLIvc

Spandau Ballet - Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)
http://www.youtube.com/wa...kcqw5YOXfc

LondonStyle said:

Mate, you'd get yourself shot round these parts for saying Birmingham is in the south!

Ellie said:

LOL, I knew I should have checked overseas stuff about them. Sorry.

anc282 said:

Wowzer! I had no idea that was the origin of the name!

I always, naively, assumed that it was just some harmless cultural reference that went over my head (this WAS a long time ago, remember!) or that it was just supposed to sound European and artsy.

very interesting to learn there was something edgier behind it, though I expect that the band just read the name somewhere and thought it sounded good, rather than having any Marilyn Manson-esque intentions behind it. Maybe.

rocknrolldave said:

Sorry that was a mistake...midlands or middle england..blah..blah.. your only 121 miles from london anyway...

Can I just say I STILL quite fancy Martin Kemp. I read his autobiography a few years ago - one of the few that's actually written by the person instead of a ghostwriter.