Spandau Ballet Will Split

Maybe I'm incorrect. Maybe not. Probably not! With all due respect, I think your evaluation of the whole situation is somewhat simplistic; I think it's all a little more complicated than your point of view. So, you knew Tony back in Spandau Ballet's heyday (1983-1985), when they were on top of the world? That's when Tony was making tons of money. No reason to be dissatisfied! So of course he was one happy camper. Fast forward to 1989 and the album Heart Like A Sky: The band were drifting apart, and the album flopped. That's when the animosity set in. They split up, and as the '90's progressed, it only got worse -- to the point where Tony sued Gary, because he, ridiculously, thought he deserved as much money as Gary from the amount of albums sold. Even though he didn't write any of the songs.

Guess what, Tony? If you want a 50/50 partnership, why don't you write at least 5 songs (per album) that are as strong as the songs written by Gary Kemp? That's how "easy" it is. Good luck, buddy!

You: "When Tony and Gary eventually made up and the band reformed, Tony was very clear in every interview they gave that after the tour the band would go there own separate ways once again and do their own thing."

Tony didn't say that in any of the early interviews. I know. For sure. It wasn't until about a year or a year and a half ago that Tony made the statement that it would be another 5 years before Spandau Ballet would be touring or recording again, simply because he wanted to focus on his solo career. I remember reading this and being absolutely stunned. Initially, I was like, why would the rest of the band be fine with this? And then I realised: They're not! They finally got back together -- after 19 years of bickering -- and now Tony's ****ing it all up again. Personally, I'm glad they've decided to move on without him. The remaining four original members need a new lead singer, someone who is passionate, soulful and committed -- as well as appreciative of the musical legacy of Spandau Ballet.

You: "It is very easy to just blame Tony, but would you want to go back and work with the people you did 40 years ago?"

Would I? That's a very strange question. Yes, I most definitely would. Why wouldn't I? Prior to Spandau Ballet's reunion, Gary Kemp said something along the lines of: "Those were the greatest days of our lives. We were on top of the world. We'll never experience anything like it ever again. I hope that one day we'll get back together."

I sincerely hope that they'll prove all of the naysayers wrong!

 

La La La, La La La La, I know this much is true....

 

It's interesting how quickly they went from superstars t0 has beens. Perhaps they didn't work hard enough or perhaps Gary simply ran out of ideas. Tough being the only song writer in the band. Went from cutting edge New Romantics on Diamond to bland pop on Parade and never recovered.

 

I knew Tony and the rest of the band throughout most of their 80's career, I just knew Tony better.
You are obviously a superfan so I am will not waste my time getting into an argument with you as that is what superfans usually want.
At the press conference on HMS Belfast to announce their comeback the band chatted to journalists and Tony stated several times that after the tour they will all go back to their separate careers.
I was also present when Gary stated in 91 that the band will never work together again.

 

Tony Hadley has always struck me as a really down to earth and decent guy.

 

Tony Hadley is the SB sound, but perhaps not the soul. Hard to get a vocalist to equal him.

 

I know little about the band or the specific situation, but it seems like the way the music business is set up almost guarantees tension in a band featuring a strong or sole songwriter and a very distinct lead vocalist who does not write songs. My understanding of the economics is that since all the band's expenses are deducted from album royalties, song publishing royalties tend to be far more lucrative, and the band's songwriter(s) will see the lion's share of the real income. While this can even cause resentment from other band members when the songwriter is also the vocalist (as was the case with Crowded House), it seems a recipe for disaster with a non-writing vocalist. While it is true that a vocalist depends on a good song to have a hit, some songs would never have been hits in the first place without just the right vocalist. I can see how someone like Tony Hadley might think that by touring with the band, he is essentally performing PR labor for Kemp's publishing catalog, for which Kemp will make most of the money, while Hadley likely suffers wear and tear on his voice. I can imagine situations like that where singers (and possibly other band members. depending on their level of involvement) might reasonably insist on sharing all the profits equally with the band's composers, especially if the songs have rarely been covered by other artists and seem inextricably connected to the singer's voice and interpretation.

 

Thank you for your input, which is intelligent and insightful and provides food for thought.

 

Great analysis. Except that Spandau Ballet's "True" is one of the most-played songs, EVER, on US radio. Especially given that it was a song from the 80s.

 

I do think it was a huge deal in the sense that Lou Gramm was an exceptionally wonderful singer. His personality may have been more anonymous than Tony Hadley, but his voice was so much more likeable, so much more soulful. Not easily replaceable. That said, Tony Hadley has nothing on Michael Hutchence. I can understand why INXS couldn't replace him. That would be like trying to replace Jim Morrison. The Doors were never going to pull it off, and they knew it. As for Tony Hadley...well, I believe that he's replaceable, if...Spandau Ballet make a smart choice.

 

I would describe Tony Hadley as an exceptionally wonderful singer (he's actually one of my favourite singers, just behind Mike Patton and Freddie Mercury). I don't think they'll find another voice like that.

 

Gawd no. Tony's voice knocks Lou Gramm's for six...

 

I think of Diamond as one of their weaker albums (apart from Instinction - that's excellent). It doesn't hold up as well as Journeys To Glory for me.
Parade's their best album imo (it also went to no.2). I prefer that album to True overall, but that might be because I heard True a little too much back in the 80s. Through the Barricades in '86 wasn't too shabby either, that also did alight chart-wise. The lead single was up there with Gold and True. Probably my favourite song by them. The album where they lost it was Heart Like a Sky in '89 (their only dud album imo). But even in recent years, they still sounded as good as ever live.

Parade's been voted up as their second best album on Best Ever Albums: Spandau Ballet

 

I kind of assumed once Tony left and then Marti Pellow quit from Wet Wet Wet shortly after that they might be getting together, who knows.

 

Yep--and my understanding is that the publisher gets royalties from every radio play, whereas the recording artist does not. Therefore, if a tour helps get the song even more radio play, Kemp would get a lot more money from it. The rest of the band--including Hadley? Not much, unless they can parlay it into album sales or publicity for their solo stuff. Not saying that the songwriter doesn't deserve financial reward, but I can see why someone like Hadley may feel entitled to more than he may be getting for his role in making the song a hit. This is all speculation, as I don't know what their actual business arrangement is, but it reflects my understanding of how things usually work, and why it creates so much tension in many bands.

 

Thank you!

 

I recall a video I watched recently where John Keeble (Spandau Ballet's drummer) said he was making 40 grand a year in the mid 80s. It surprised me somewhat.
Tony Hadley would've been making around the same amount. Not a small amount, but by far not as much as the millions I thought they'd each be making. Gary Kemp, on the other hand, would've been earning quite a bit more.

Edit: Here, I've just found it (looking through my YouTube history)...

At 4:13 on the video: "We never earned that much money. I probably earned about 40k a year on average, which is good money, but not earth shattering. You're not gonna buy your mum a house on that, are you?"

 

That is indeed very surprising. I would've thought that they each earned way more than that. I did read an article recently in which Tony said that these days he was making more money as a solo artist than he ever did back in Spandau Ballet's heyday. I felt very sceptical about that statement, but now it makes more sense.

 

I read earlier that Tony has a net worth of 8 to 10 million these days.

According to The Sun, 8 million.
Tony Hadley's shocked fans by announcing he is OUT of Spandau Ballet - a look at his life and time in the band

According to this website, 10 million.
Tony Hadley Net Worth

 

Tony Hadley is an amazing singer despite his 80's nick name Tony "Foghorn" Hadley!

Journeys To Glory is a great album but for me Diamond is peak New Romantic and the production is much better. True was the commercial peak but also a great pop album. Parade to me is not a bad album just a bit bland compared to the earlier albums.

 

I believe it was "The Velvet Foghorn". I recall reading a book about Queen where it was mentioned that he was also nicknamed "the voice" (he was friends with Mercury during the late 80s, hence he was mentioned in the book).

I guess the issue with Diamond for me was that I had The Singles Collection first (bloody good compilation that), and that had Chant No.1, Instinction, Paint Me Down, and She Loved Like Diamond on it. And the rest of the tracks on Diamond didn't compare to the ones I'd already heard.

 

I wonder who they will get for new singer..
Parade is kinda boring too..

 

I think this was the main idea of Steve Norman's participation in the '90's lawsuit against Gary that his sax solo on "True" was a distinctive part of the song that wasn't "written" by Kemp.

I did read in Martin's autobiography that on "Through the Barricades", he preferred his brother's vocal on the demo to Tony's all-out approach.

I didn't really know a ton about them before catching their 2015 tour for cheap, which lead me to pick up a hits comp and the "Once More" album of rerecordings. The more organic approach of the latter on material from "Parade" made me appreciate those songs more.