Collection, The - Spandau Ballet

Back in the 80's when Spandau Ballet were at the height of their fame I was a Wham! Fan - George Michael rocked and so did his music - well come on!! I was only 14.

They shared the limelight with such bands as Duran Duran, Culture Club, UB40, Yazoo and China Crisis amongst others.

Spandau Ballet were not my cup of tea - their music was Ok and I must admit to owning a copy of their first LP (LP for you younger readers ...
...vinyl and about 12" in diameter!) but as for the band members they were awful - their music was listed as New Wave or New Romantic and they wore kilts and funny hair styles and sashes and make-up! - well they all wore make-up but theirs was so obvious! -and they pranced around the Top of The Pops stage like lunatics - they were not at all as good-looking or suave as George Michael in my opinion.

Funny how tastes change - I now ... more

Back in the 80's when Spandau Ballet were at the height of their fame I was a Wham! Fan - George Michael rocked and so did his music - well come on!! I was only 14.

They shared the limelight with such bands as Duran Duran, Culture Club, UB40, Yazoo and China Crisis amongst others.

Spandau Ballet were not my cup of tea - their music was Ok and I must admit to owning a copy of their first LP (LP for you younger readers is a Long Playing Disc which was made of black vinyl and about 12" in diameter!) but as for the band members they were awful - their music was listed as New Wave or New Romantic and they wore kilts and funny hair styles and sashes and make-up! - well they all wore make-up but theirs was so obvious! -and they pranced around the Top of The Pops stage like lunatics - they were not at all as good-looking or suave as George Michael in my opinion.

Funny how tastes change - I now look on George as a bit weird looking and definitely not sauve but as for Tony Hadley and Martin Kemp (alias Steve Owen in Eastenders) well they could float my boat any day.

I think it would have been around the time that Mr Kemp appeared in Eastenders that I started listening to Spandau's music again - how sad am I - 32 years old and in love with a boy band member!! LOL

Their music was just so catchy and poppy and it reminds me of the 80's and my teens - I love memories and 80's bands and the music hold many of them for me.

When you listen to the lyrics of any of Spandau’s earlier hits they make no sense what so ever – I think it was purely a means to make money – just grab a catchy tune and throw any old lyrics in – have to say though that the tunes were good even if the lyrics weren’t.

Over the years they have released many albums - quite a few of which were greatest hits - just how many times can one band release a different hits album I ask myself ?

1991 saw the release of The Best Of Spandau Ballet.

1997 Collection Vol I

In 2000 they released Gold - The Best of Spandau Ballet

2003 Collection Vol II

The tracks from the Collection albums are as follows:

COLLECTION Vol I - Released 1997

1. To Cut A Long Story Short - The first track on the album and the first single they ever released in 1980.

2. Paint Me Down

3. The Freeze

4. She Loved Like Diamond

5. Lifeline

6. Gold (Live) - Possibly one of their best known singles along with True which is on the other Collection album - Tony Hadley has an exceptional voice but the Live version on this album is not my cup of tea.

7. Coffee Club (Remix)

8. Foundation (Live)

9. Highly Restrung

10. Reformation

11. Pleasure

12. Nature Of The Beast

13. Innocence And Science

14. Raw

Unless you are a true Spandau follower a lot of the tracks on this album will not mean a lot to you.

The most famous of them being Gold, Highly Strung or Restrung because it’s a remix and not particularly a good one at that, Lifeline and Too Cut a Long Story Short.

COLLECTION Vol II - Released 2003

1. Only When You Leave

2. Heaven Is A Secret

3. I'll Fly For You

4. True [Live] - My favourite - meaningless lyrics but a damn good tune.....

So true funny how it seems
always in time, but never in line for dreams
Head over heels when toe-to-toe
This is the sound of my soul,
this is the sound
I bought a ticket to the world,
But now I've come back again
Why do I find it hard to write the next line?
Oh I want the truth to be said

Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true
Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true

With a thrill in my head and a pill on my tongue
dissolve the nerves that have just begun
Listening to Marvin (all night long)
This is the sound of my soul,
This is the sound

Always slipping from my hands,
Sand’s a time of its own
Take your seaside arms and write the next line
Oh I want the truth to be known

Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true
Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true

I bought a ticket to the world,
but now I've come back again
Why do I find it hard to write the next line?
Oh I want the truth to be said

Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true
Huh huh huh hu-uh huh
I know this much is true
This much is true
I know, I know, I know this much is true

Anyone make any sense of those lyrics then?????

5. Musclebound

6. Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) [12'' Version]

7. Glow

8. Instinction [12'' Version]

9. Confused

10. Gently

11. Round & Round

12. Lifeline [Live]

13. Revenge For Love

14. Toys

This album has my favourite track on and some of Spandau Ballets more well known hits.

True is my all time fave but I have to say that I wasn’t too impressed that this version was Live - not a huge fan of live music unfortunately.

Only When You Leave, I'll Fly For You, Chant No1, Instinction, Round and Round and Lifeline are the other hits from this album.

A few 12" versions on this album as well as the live versions - this spoilt it for me, as I'm not keen on live versions and again not to keen on the extended versions - too much instrumental for my liking.

Seems strange how 2 collection albums would included so many songs that I've never heard - but as I said previously I wasn't a Spandau follower.

Tony Hadley was one of the few artists of the 80's that could actually sing, he has a wonderfully unique singing voice and along with the ever-changing fashion sense of the band and their ability to adapt musically and of course the great songs, they will be in the Hall Of Fame for many decades to come.

On the whole not overly impressed with these albums, too many 12" versions and to many Live versions for my liking - give me a plain old 7" any day - Spandau Ballet GOLD is a much better album and definitely worth buying.

 

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