Spandau Ballet, formed in London in 1979, 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 1980's music and fashion phenomenon called New Romanticism.
The band, for which Tony was the frontman, eventually signed to Chrysalis Records and released "To Cut a Long Story Short," a British top 5 hit in 1980. "To Cut a Long Story Short" was followed in 1982 by "Chant No.1."
Spandau Ballet finally broke into the mainstream with the 1983 album True. True topped the charts all over the world on the strength of the songs "Gold," "Lifeline," "True," and "Communication." Their final hit in America was 1984's "Only When You Leave."
Hadley has pursued a solo career since Spandau Ballet disbanded in 1989 and in 2004 "released his autobiography To Cut a Long Story Short, which achieved top ten status in The Times bestsellers' list. The book charts Tony's youth, his early days in the school band, the heady heights of worldwide super-stardom as lead-singer of Spandau Ballet, the acrimonious split of the band, and Tony's life since."
Currently Tony is "working hard on his long-awaited swing album with collaborators Paul Moran and Andre Jacquemin. He's been intending to make this style of album for several years and hopes that his choice of songs, vocal and musical arrangements will delight not only his existing fans, but also some new ones. The album Passing Strangers, featuring a few of Tony's favourite artists and musicians, will be released in Autumn 2006, accompanied by a tour with a 17-piece big band."
Material: chrissyfessler.blogspot.com & wikipedia.org
Quotes: tony-hadley.com
