{"id":127218,"date":"2025-05-01T11:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T16:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=127218"},"modified":"2025-05-01T11:25:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T16:25:35","slug":"kbs-look-back-at-the-80s-music-scene-spandau-ballet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=127218","title":{"rendered":"KB\u2019s Look Back at the 80\u2019s Music Scene: Spandau Ballet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=127218\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=127218\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-127219 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_0964-300x245.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_0964-300x245.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_0964-768x627.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_0964.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Karen Beishuizen <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Picture this:<br \/>\nLondon, England 1979<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gary Kemp and Steve Norman decided to form a band in October 1976. They were joined by Tony Hadley, John Keeble and Michael Ellison. The band was named Roots.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Ellison left and the band changed their name to The Cut. Richard Miller took over on bass and another name change: The Makers.<\/p>\n<p>In 1978 Gary\u2019s brother Martin was brought in on bass and their final name change was a fact: Spandau Ballet. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Their debut album \u201cJourneys to Gold\u201dwas certified gold in early 1981 with the hit singles \u201cTo Cut a Long Story Short\u201d and \u201cThe Freeze\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Their follow-up album \u201cDiamond\u201d was released in 1982. In March 1983 the road to stardom began with their third album \u201cTrue\u201d. The title song went to number 1 in the UK, US, Canada and Ireland. It was a top 5 hit in Holland, Australia, New Zealand and Spain.<\/p>\n<p>The follow-up single, &#8220;Gold&#8221;, reached No. 2 in the UK and the top 5 in Belgium, Ireland and Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth album \u201cParade\u201d was out in June 1984 and had the hit single: \u201cOnly When You Leave\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In 1985 they performed at Wembley Stadium as part of Live Aid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough the Barricades\u201d was their fifth album released in 1986 and the title song was another success.<\/p>\n<p>After a hiatus of 3 years they released their last album in 1989: \u201cHeart Like a Sky\u201d which was not successful.<\/p>\n<p>The band broke up shortly afterwards to pursue other projects.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The band&#8217;s classic lineup:<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Gary Kemp &#8211; guitar, synthesizer and backing vocals;<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Martin Kemp &#8211; bass; vocalist<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Tony Hadley &#8211; vocals<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Steve Norman &#8211; saxophone<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>John Keeble &#8211; drums<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Fast Forward to 2025:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tony Hadley has released six solo albums so far and is still performing.<\/p>\n<p>Gary Kemp has performed with his brother Martin in the gangster movie \u201cThe Krays\u201d, released three solo albums and since 2018 he plays in the British rock band Nick Mason\u2019s Sauceful of Secrets.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Kemp starred with his brother Gary in the movie \u201cThe Krays\u201d. In 1995 he took a break to recover from two brain tumors that were removed. He continued his career by playing Steve Owen in the soap series \u201cEastenders\u201d (1998-2002). He is married to Shirlie who is one half of the 80s duo Pepsi &amp; Shirlie.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Norman lives on Ibiza, is involved in the music scene there and writes columns for the magazine Ibiza Now.<\/p>\n<p>John Keeble plays drums in his own band I Play Rock.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wpforms-container wpforms-container-full\" id=\"wpforms-126533\"><form id=\"wpforms-form-126533\" class=\"wpforms-validate wpforms-form wpforms-ajax-form\" data-formid=\"126533\" method=\"post\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" action=\"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F127218\" data-token=\"6c9afb880c378b3bfa48e5385d03b33c\" data-token-time=\"1778425877\"><noscript class=\"wpforms-error-noscript\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/noscript><div class=\"wpforms-field-container\"><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-name\" data-field-id=\"1\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\">Name <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><div class=\"wpforms-field-row wpforms-field-medium\"><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-first wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-first wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][first]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">First<\/label><\/div><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-last wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][last]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">Last<\/label><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-email\" data-field-id=\"2\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\">Email <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><input type=\"email\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][2]\" spellcheck=\"false\" required><\/div>\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4-container\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-type=\"text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-id=\"4\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" >Comment or Message<\/label>\n\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][4]\" >\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-textarea\" data-field-id=\"3\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\">Comment or Message<\/label><textarea id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][3]\" ><\/textarea><\/div><script>\n\t\t\t\t( function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tconst style = document.createElement( 'style' );\n\t\t\t\t\tstyle.appendChild( document.createTextNode( '#wpforms-126533-field_4-container { position: absolute !important; 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They were joined by Tony Hadley, John Keeble and Michael Ellison. The band was named Roots. Michael Ellison left and the band changed their name to The Cut. Richard Miller took over on bass [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28132,17984],"tags":[32740],"class_list":["post-127218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns-by-karen-beishuizen","category-entertainment-news","tag-kbs-look-back-at-the-80s-music-scene-spandau-ballet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127218"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/127219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}