For those who fear we are fast-becoming a politically apathetic nation who have the lost the fire of a good debate, worry not. Britain has been divided in a day, following the surprisingly controversial reunion of Eighties New Romantic five-piece, Spandau Ballet.
Following a split over royalties, the band swore that they would never reunite – and as recently as 2007, Tony Hadley told a national newspaper “I know you should never say never, and bands in the past have said hell would freeze over before they got back together, but in our case I think hell is frozen and we still wouldn’t do it.”
But they were singing a different tune yesterday aboard HMS Belfast, the former warship on which they performed their first gig in 1980. As they announced their world tour, to kick off in the UK in October, gone were the frills and eyeliner, and instead ushered in a new era of waxy hair, porcelain teeth and plucked eyebrows.
And despite their promise of some pop-tastic nostalgia – including Gold and True, which will no doubt lift our flagging spirits as it starts raining again and the economy continues to slide – not everyone is pleased to see the boys return.
To some, Spandau Ballet represent the best of the Eighties. The shameless excess, the over-earnest lyrics and the big hair. Other, more cynical observers are quick to lambast the group for their apparent ‘cashing in’ on the big-band reunion trend – seen more recently amongst the likes of Blur and Take That.
But knowing them like we do, we can’t imagine for that this will slow the Ballet boys down one bit. We can’t wait to see what they come up with!
