Comments on: Lost in the ’80s: Spandau Ballet, “Through the Barricades”

By: jocko

jocko — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:07:29 +0000

One of my most fondest memories is seeing Spandau Ballet play the old Variety Theatre in Cleveland Ohio. Tickets were a mere 8 dollars, an all ages show, of course. They were AMAZING, really, they had a wicked tight sound. Back in April they were on Friday Night w/Jonathan Ross and sounded decent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjPMHrTowvc

By: jocko

jocko — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:07:29 +0000

By: jocko

jocko — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:07:29 +0000

By: JerryM

JerryM — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:37:25 +0000

I agree that “Fight For Ourselves” is pretty atrocious, but I thought a couple of the mullet-rock songs on this album were actually kinda fun: “Man in Chains” and “Snakes and Lovers”.

And I have to toss in a couple more classic Spandau couplets:

“These are my salad days/ Slowly being eaten away.” – “Gold”

“We're the artisans/ And we've been crafted.” – “Round and Round”

By: Antti

Antti — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:15:46 +0000

Of course, he also came up with this genius couplet from Highly Strung: “She used to be a diplomat / But now she's down the laundromat”

By: JohnHughes

JohnHughes — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:19:30 +0000

While a great chunk of Gary Kemp's lyrics do certainly seem 'shroom induced, every once in a while, he'll hit one out of the park, like “When I'm under you, I'm overjoyed” or “I thought we were the human race / But we were just another borderline case.”

By: Lance

Lance — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:51:25 +0000

Thanks for the insightful article, John. I honestly never realized SB had such a fairly lengthy history. I thought they had pretty much come and gone after their first LP.

I always loved True(who doesn't?) and enjoyed Only When You Leave. After years of hemming and hawing, I finally purchased a copy of the album True via Ebay, and immediately regretted it upon listening! I can deal with esoteric lyrics, but some lines had me wondering if the goody-goody looking preppie group had been doing some serious lines in between recording sessions. The CD is a true(no pun intended) snooze-fest, and when I heard they were getting together again after all these years, I couldn't stop laughing for about ten minutes.

I don't mean them any ill will, though. After reading your piece, I'm sure they'll continue to have bigger success back home than they ever could here in the States, and I wish them well.

By: kingofgrief

kingofgrief — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:57:59 +0000

I remember a review (though I forget the magazine) for Through the Barricades that described it as “stinky fake crotch-rock” and advised the listener “[not to] listen without a rubber”. It didn't surprise me that I never heard a note from the album on the radio after reading that blurb. I have the UK best-of with all three tracks featured here; “How Many Lies?” is my favorite by far as it mines comfortable territory. Is there an extended version on that maxi pictured at the top?