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Spandau Ballet are an English new wave band formed in London in the late 1970s. The band were inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic movement. They became one of the most successful groups to emerge during the New Romantic era. The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble. The group's debut single "To Cut a Long Story Short", which reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980, was the first of ten UK Top 10 hits, including a No. 1 single "True", a No. 2 single "Gold", and two No. 3 singles: "Chant No. 1" and "Only When You Leave". The band have had eight UK Top 10 albums, including three "greatest hits" compilations and an album of re-recorded material. At the height of their popularity in 1984, they received the Brit Award for technical excellence. The band split in 1990 and the members pursued solo careers, with both Kemp brothers winning acting roles. Since their reformation in 2009, the band have been recognised at the Q Awards and Gary Kemp's songwriting has been honoured by the Ivor Novello Awards. ==Formation and early successes== The band was formed in 1976 as The Cut, with Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on guitar, later saxophone and percussion. Kemp and Norman were attending Dame Alice Owen's School in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and were close friends, as they shared a similar interest in music and a common desire to form a band. They were joined by fellow student John Keeble, who met Norman when he stored his drum kit in the school's music room, and the three met regularly at lunchtimes to practise. They were joined by bass player Michael Ellison and by Tony Hadley, who knew Norman, as lead singer. After a few months, Richard Miller replaced Ellison on bass, before Kemp's younger brother Martin Kemp took over the role a couple of years later. By this time, the band had already gained some live experience. Steve Dagger, a close school friend of the band members, was asked by Norman and Gary Kemp to manage them. He was to be an integral part of the band's success. The band changed its name to The Makers in late-1976 and played as a punk band at the Roxy in their early years.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Roxy Club )〕 In 1978 they became a power pop band and changed the name to Gentry, under which they played a few gigs, including at Kingsway College. They changed the band's name to Spandau Ballet after a friend of the band, journalist and DJ Robert Elms, saw the phrase "Spandau Ballet" scrawled on the wall of a nightclub lavatory during a visit to Berlin. The expression "Spandau Ballet" was slang used by Allied troops in the trenches in the First World War referring to the twitching of the corpses hanging on the barbed wire and repeatedly hit by Spandau machine gun fire from the German lines.〔Soldier story to Tony Pitt circa 1960〕 The name also refers to Spandau Prison and the many hangings there, especially in 1945–46 of Nazi war criminals, when the victims would twitch and jump at the end of a rope. The new Spandau Ballet, with Martin Kemp and Hadley, began performing with this name around London. Their music had been in the style of the early Rolling Stones or The Kinks, but became more electronic after they attended clubs such as Billy's and Blitz where the New Romantic scene was spearheaded and they listened to bands like Kraftwerk and Telex. Spandau Ballet were involved in a major bidding war, but signed to Chrysalis Records and released "To Cut a Long Story Short," produced by the electronic musician Richard James Burgess. Released 10 days after the band emerged from the studio, "To Cut a Long Story Short" became a top 5 hit in late 1980. This was followed by further top 20 hits with "The Freeze", "Musclebound", and the Gold-certified debut album ''Journeys to Glory'' in 1981. The follow-up album, ''Diamond,'' also produced by Burgess, was released in 1982. This album was certified Gold by the BPI and featured the funk-flavoured Top 3 hit "Chant No. 1".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Spandau Ballet: Diamond )〕 The band had Burgess remix every single from both albums for inclusion on each single's B-side and for 12-inch club releases. These mixes were later released as a boxed set. However, the second single from ''Diamond'' was "Paint Me Down," which broke their run of top 20 hits by stalling at No. 30. The third single, "She Loved Like Diamond", failed to make the UK Top 40 at all. Trevor Horn remixed the track "Instinction", which was released as the fourth single from the album. Backed with a special dance remix of "Chant No. 1" on the 12-inch single version, the release was very well received. It returned the band to the UK top 10 after the poor chart performance of their previous two singles. The group also had success in the United States when "Chant No. 1" peaked at No. 17 on the dance charts in 1981. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spandau Ballet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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