With little fuss, Tony Hadley, who was born in 1960 in London, UK, is marking his 65th birthday today.
The ex-singer of Spandau Ballet continues to be an iconic figure.
New Romantics
a movement that arose in London nightclubs like
Blitz
(opened by
Rusty Egan
and
Steve Strange
of
Visage
) at the very end of the 1970s. With groups like
Duran Duran
and
Spandau Ballet
, this movement signified, to some extent, the resurgence of
glamour
And sparkle to mainstream English tunes. Despite initially not having two cents between them for refining their look! We’ve come a long way since then.
No Future
The mantra upheld by the punks, “Punk Isn’tDead,” continues to be proclaimed by the few remaining veterans of this rebellious faction. However, the essence that once defined them has largely diminished over time.
Driven by the emergence of new publications such as “The Face” and “i-D,” which hit newsstands simultaneously, this music genre embraced a zest for life and a particular form of indulgence. As leaders in this movement, Spandau Ballet crafted an image through frilly shirts and meticulously styled flamboyance. Despite drawing from punk’s ethos, they maintained a strong sense of autonomy, launching their own record label to assert independence.
Re-formation
, for example.
In 1980, their first single was released.
In Brief
(Including various remixes and extended editions tailored for nightclubs), this song became an immediate success. Their debut album, titled “Journeys To Glory,” showcased their aspiration to dominate the charts. Two years later, they reached that pinnacle with the release of “True.” This album included its somewhat overly sweet titular single, which climbed to the top spot across all European countries.
Whenever people encountered us, they usually anticipated meeting truly impressive individuals. Many might have felt let down upon discovering how completely unremarkable we actually were.
Hadley remembers. Following their initial success, Spandau Ballet released an additional trio of albums: “Parade” (1984), “Through The Barricades” (1986), and “Heart Like A Sky” (1989). These later works received comparatively less notice. As a result, their popularity started waning, and even occasional reunion shows failed to revive interest significantly. In essence, the book was definitively closed on this era for them.
Over time, through each successive album, Tony Hadley reinvented himself into
crooner
, to the extent that he dedicated much of one of his latest performances to cover versions of
Frank Sinatra
,
Tony Bennett
and
Ella Fitzgerald
. Never fully straying from the hit songs that brought him fame in the 1980s, such as
“Only When You Leave”
and
“The Freeze”
,
“Chant No. 1”
and
“Gold”
Indeed, the performer always keeps in mind that it is primarily nostalgia that attracts viewers to watch his shows.
A few upcoming gigs:
14 June: Dreamland,
Margate
(England) with Midge Ure and Nik Kershaw
12 July: The Quarry
Shrewsbury
(England) with Holly Johnson
24 August: Arena –
Darlington
(England) alongside Bananarama and The Christians
26 October: Podium Victoria –
Alkmaar
(Netherlands)
27 October: Casino Kursaal
Ostend
(Belgium)
29 October: Het Depot –
Leuven
(Belgium)
30 October: Metropool –
Hengelo
(Netherlands)
9 November: De Vorstin –
Hilversum
(Netherlands)
All other dates here: tonyhadley.com/ontour/
(MH with Stéphane Soupart – Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Image: Tony Hadley performing with Spandau Ballet at the Cirque Royal in Brussels (Belgium) on October 19, 1983