The 10 Best Spandau Ballet Songs, Ranked

29 December 2021, 12:16

Spandau Ballet was one of the leading pop groups of the 1980s, with several massive successes across the world.

The band started out with synthpop and new wave beginnings, and by the mid-80s they had grown into giants filling the stadiums of the MTV generation.

40 years later, they are still one of the most beloved bands of their time, and their songs sound as fresh as they first heard.

Here are their top 10 songs to make a perfect Spandau Ballet playlist:

1. instinct

   Released in 1982 from their diamond album, it gave the band a number 10 hit.

   The song drew in elements of jazz, funk, and pop to create something truly unique.

2. Nervous

   Sunshine. Yachts. Spandau faced rivals Duran Duran in the ambitious’ 80s music video department in this bop.

3. Song # 1 (I don’t need this pressure)

   It was the first single from the band’s second album diamond, in 1981.

   Gary Kemp later said he wanted to pay homage to London’s latest hotspot, The Beat Route, by mimicking the funk music that was popular there. The group even used the club as the location for the clip.

4. Safety rope

   Released in 1982, it was Spandau’s fifth top 10 at the time in the UK.

   It was a funky pop gem that deserves more love – especially when you see Tony Hadley’s incredible cardigan in the video.

5. Only when you leave

   It was the first single from their 1984 album. Parade, and reached third place in the UK charts.

6. I will fly for you

   This underrated soothing ballad from Spandau’s 1984 album Parade gave the group yet another top 10 hit in the UK.

7. Shorten a long story

   Spandau Ballet burst onto the music scene with this fantastic new wave / electro track in 1980.

   Gary Kemp wrote the song after shaping their image around the exciting London Blitz club scene. It wasn’t long before they were signed to a record company and had their first hit.

   Gary later said, “The lyrics to these kinds of songs, I mean, I guess they owed something to Bowie’s famous cut-ups, you know, slightly esoteric, this great landscape that we all live on. It was the kind of lyrics, lyrics from the very beginning of the 80s about some sort of heroic place that we all wanted to put on ourselves. “

8. Gold

   There aren’t many more iconic ’80s musical moments than Tony Hadley shouting “GOLD!” at the top of his lungs.

   This uplifting and inspiring pop anthem was one of Spandau’s biggest hits, reaching number two in the UK in 1983.

9. Through the barricades

   It was Spandau’s last UK Top 10 hit, but what a song! Released in 1986 and beautifully sung by Tony Hadley, it was written by Gary Kemp about the love that prevailed throughout the violence of the Troubles.

   It was inspired by the murder of Thomas Reilly, who had worked for the group, by a British soldier in Belfast during the unrest in 1983.

10. True

    It was the song that transformed the Spandau Ballet from potential album wonders to true pop legends.

    Gary Kemp wrote this love song at his parents’ house as a tribute to Motown and Marvin Gaye. He said: “‘True’ became a song about writing a love song. Why ‘Why am I having trouble writing the next line? I want the truth to be told? ‘ Because I didn’t want to write it down, because there is nothing more embarrassing. “

    It quickly became something of a standard and one of the best love songs of all time.