Music Mondays; Through the Barricades

The news hot of the music press here in the UK is that 80s supergroup Spandau Ballet have finally buried the hatchet and are reuniting for a tour which will kick off aboard HMS Belfast where the band first performed back in 1979.

Spandau Ballet split up in 1989 after relationships between the band members began to deteriorate. All the Spandau Ballet songs, of which True is the most famous, were written by guitarist Gary Kemp. However, the other band members, excluding Gary's brother Martin, claimed that Gary had promised them a share of the royalties, a claim he subsequently disputed. The argument went to court and eventually it ruled in favour of Gary. This left the other band members facing huge legal bills and on the edge of financial ruin.

So it's not surprising that this reunion has come as a big shock to many despite the recent success of other 80s and 90s band reunions like The Police and Take That. Even their former boss at Chryslis records is quoted as saying 'Every band on the way down is a band on the way up. But I never thought I'd see this one. Once, they couldn't stand to be in the same room together, let alone play."

Whatever their reasons, pecuniary or otherwise there will be many, like me, pleased at this reunion. I followed Spandau Ballet's career from their very first album Journeys to Glory to their peak at Live Aid and through their acrimonious demise. Regrettably, I never got to see them live and I don't think I'll get to see them on their stadium tour this time around either. But as my preference is for more intimate locations I'm not complaining, I'm just pleased to see these five really talented performers doing to what they do best again - make music.

Today, I'm playing one of my favourite Spandau songs, the 1986 hit Through The Barricades. This was perhaps a period which saw Spandau maturing as performers and producing some really memorable songs. I've seen Tony Hadley perform this song several times during his solo career at The Stables and let me tell you he really does have a fabulous voice; he can sing just about anything!

I just hope that Spandau really can put the past behind them and with their combined talents bring us many more years of musical pleasure with both new songs and old.

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