Spandau Ballet

One of the most chameleonic British bands in pop music, Spandau Ballet proved remarkably adaptable to change, and their versatility paid off: they eventually moved around 25 million albums and chalked up a staggering 23 global hits during their 80s heyday.

The North London quintet will forever be associated with the flamboyant New Romantic movement which flourished in the early part of that decade – a period during which their stark, post-punk breakthrough hit, To Cut A Long Story Short, and its parent album, Journeys To Glory, both made sizeable impacts on the UK charts. Crucially, though, Spandau Ballet soon moved on and, with help from guitarist Gary Kemp’s rapidly improving songwriting smarts and frontman Tony Hadley’s charismatic croon, they hit upon an especially rich vein of soul-infused mainstream pop all their own. The band’s massive-selling signature hits, True and Gold, elevated them among the best 80s musicians, and while they split after 1989’s Heart Like A Sky album, their ardent fanbase were thrilled to welcome them back for 2009’s acclaimed, gold-selling reunion set, Once More.