Spandau Ballet was a popular British band in the 1980s. Initially inspired by a mixture of funk and synthpop, the New Romantic group, eventually mellowed into a mainstream AOR pop act. As with their rivals Duran Duran they 'broke America', albeit briefly.
Guitarist and songwriter Gary Kemp and his brother, bassist Martin Kemp formed the band in 1979, with drummer John Keeble, lead vocalist Tony Hadley and Steve Norman, who initially played guitar but later switched to saxophone when the band changed musical direction.
The band were initially called 'The Makers', but changed their name after a visit to Berlin, the inspiration from graffiti one of their roadies, BBC London 94.9 D.J. Robert Elms, saw in Berlin. The band began performing and generating positive buzz around London as the house band at the Blitz nightclub, which became regarded as the birthplace of a new 1980s music and fashion phenomenon called New Romanticism.
The band eventually signed to Chrysalis Records and released "To Cut a Long Story Short", a British hit in 1980. This was followed by "The Freeze" and "Musclebound" and the well-received album Journeys to Glory.
The follow up album Diamond performed poorly, despite a big hit with "Chant No.1", and the band met with veteran producer Trevor Horn, who advised them on how to revamp their image and sound. Horn also took the Diamond album track "Instinction" and gave it a bombastic dance remix that sounded not unlike the work he would later do for Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was a massive hit.
