384 Hello Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short

Chart  entered ; 18  November  1980

Chart  peak : 5

Number  of  hits : 20

Many  absolutely  loathed  this  lot  from  the  start  while  I  thought  they  were  the bees'  knees  and  then  came  to  loathe  them  for  not  living  up  to  their  claims.

This  was  the  point  where  the  New  Romantics  went  overground, the  final  chapter  in  my  personal  Golden  Age  of  pop  and  the  last  real  movement  in  youth  culture  until  Madchester  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  decade. The  New  Romantic  story  begins  with  the  demise  of the  Rich  Kids  and  drummer  Rusty  Egan  becoming  a  DJ  at  a  night  club  called  Billy's  to  pay  the  rent. His  USP   there   was  a  "Bowie  night". He  was  assisted  by  a  flamboyant  young  man  Steve  Strange  ( nee  Harrington )  from  a  Welsh  backwater  ( perhaps  the  model  for  Little Britain's  "The  Only  Gay  in  the  Village" )  who'd  tried  various  moves  in  the  punk  scene  and  ended  up  running  the  Rich  Kids' fan  club. The  Bowie  nights  were  such  a  success  they  moved  the  operation  to  a  bigger  premises  called  "Blitz"  and  rechristened  it  "Club  for  Heroes " in 1979.

 Besides  Bowie  the  soundtrack  was  electronic  dance  music. The  New Romantics  became  synonymous  with  "futurists"  for  finally  bringing   the  synthesiser  to  the  forefront  of  British  pop  music  although   the  playlist  excluded  anything  from  the  prog-rock  era  like  ELP  or  Manfred  Mann,  the  grey  dystopian  music  of  Numan  and  Foxx  ( the  latter  exclusion  perhaps  influenced  by  Egan's  involvement  with  Midge  Ure  and  Billy )  or  the  modern  pop  pioneers  ( M, Buggles, New  Musik ) . Attendees  dressed  up  for  the  evening  in  flamboyant  costume  in  a  conscious  rejection  of  post-punk  asceticism  and  Strange  took  on  the  role  of  doorman  judging  whether  the  clientele  fit  the  bill, notoriously  turning  away  Mick  Jagger.

It was  a  firmly  London-based  cult  to  start  with   ( although  Birmingham   gradually  caught  on  )  but  events  elsewhere  helped  it  break  out  nationally. The  death  of  Ian  Curtis  in  May  1980  poleaxed  Manchester's  bid  to  lead  a  new  youth  cult  and  Factory's  Tony  Wilson   became  the  New  Romantics'  most  implacable  critic. The  failure  of  The  Swinging  Cats'  single  Mantovani   in  August  indicated  that  2 Tone  had  shot  its  bolt. Vivienne  Westwood  unveiled  her  pirate  collection  and  Malcolm  McLaren  tried  to  draft  the  club's  exotic  cloakroom  attendant   Boy  George  into  Bow  Wow  Wow  under  the  name  Lieutenant  Lush.

One  of  the  movement's  biggest  champions  in  the  press  was  Robert  Elms  who  wrote  for  both  the  NME    and   the  new  style   magazine  The  Face  launched  in  May  1980.  Elms  was  also  championing  a  young  band  who'd  got  together  in  1976  but  hadn't  excited  much  interest  hitherto.

Gary  Kemp ( born  1959 )  and  Steve  Norman  ( born  1960 )   started  a  group  at  their  school  in  1976  calling  it  The  Cut. They  were  soon  joined  by  another  school  friend  John  Keeble   ( born  1959  )  who  played  drums. Needing  a  singer  they  picked  another  school  mate  Tony  Hadley  ( born  1960 )  for  his  height  and  arrogance  rather  than  obvious  ability   and   a  bass  player  called  Michael  Ellison  , soon  replaced  by  Richard  Miller, completed  the  line  up. Another  school  friend  Steve  Dagger  became  their  manager.

At  first  punks, they  switched  to  power  pop  and  changed  their  name  to  The  Makers. They  attracted  some  attention  with  a  small  feature  in  the  NME  but  no  record  company  interest  and  changed  their  name  to  Gentry. Miller  was  bumped  in  favour  of  Gary's  younger  brother  Martin  ( born  1961 )  a  former  child  actor  who  had  to  learn  the  bass  from  scratch.  There  have  been  various  explanations  of  where  the  name  Spandau  Ballet  came  from  but  all  agree  that  it  was  Elms' s  idea.

After  attending  the  Club  for  Heroes  nights  with  Elms  the  group  introduced  an  electronic  element  to  their  music  and  adopted  New  Romantic  fashion  with  Visage  unable  to  perform  live  due  to  its  members'  other  commitments  they  set  out  to  become  the  house  band  for  the  movement. After  doing  a  session  for  Radio  One's  Peter  Powell  they  were  signed  up  by  Chrysalis  who  gave  them  a  vanity  sub-label  Reformation.  Gary  became  the  group's  spokesman  and  along  with  Elms  started  making  grand  claims  for  the  band. They  would  not  play  on  the  traditional  tour  circuit  and  were  creating  a  new electronic  dance  music  that  would  incorporate  intelligent  lyrics  rather  than  disco's  banal  cliches.

Lifting  what  I've  already  written  about  this  first  single  from  my  post  on  the  album  :

I first caught Spandau Ballet on Top of the Pops in November 1980 when Dave Lee Travis introduced them as "something a bit different". By then I realised that anything that the Hairy Cornflake didn't "get" was likely to be good and I wasn't disappointed. I was hooked by that synth riff and intrigued by the way they looked. Shortly afterwards the whole New Romantic thing broke cover and great records started racing up the charts and I was in heaven. Musically it was exactly my thing although the glad rags were never an option for me.

It kicks off with that hypnotic first single "To Cut A Long Story Short" which sets the template for much of what follows - a rock solid dance beat from drummer John Keeble, rhythm guitar helping out the rudimentary bass of the teenage Martin Kemp, a synth to play the melody and Tony Hadley's imperious vocals. In a year's time he would be much criticised in the wake of the flop single "She Loved Like Diamond" but here he's impressive; a bit of Bowie, a bit of Morrison, a bit of Lanza but really like no one else before or since. The song itself isn't typical NR fare; a young soldier suffering perhaps from shell shock turns to prostitution after being discharged and is subsequently arrested and questioned. Hadley's agonised 10-second hold on "mind" is the last word of the song before low synth notes suggest an unhappy ending.