Occasional Albums Thing 044 - Spandau Ballet “Journeys To Glory”

This much is true (see what I did there), somewhere between the release of their second album, 1982’s “Diamond”, and their third, 1983’s “True”, Spandau Ballet morphed from somewhat pretentious Blitz-kid bastard love-children of Bowie and Gina X into fully fledged, silk besuited post-Roxy Music Bryan Ferry lounge lizards. This was not a good thing. “Diamond” had seen them take on the 80’s NewFunk sound and do it very well (“Instinction”, “Chant No. 1”). “Journeys To Glory” was a different beast and I still admire the cojones on them for doing it. To my ears everything that came after those first two records is unlistenable pop drivel.

In 1980 when “To Cut A Long Story Short” was released Spandau Ballet were viewed as genuinely post-punk, part of the new move toward electronic music. They were real Blitz Kids (The Blitz being the club night in London overseen by Steve Strange and DJ Rusty Egan) and initially presented themselves to the world looking like window mannequins from an upmarket Edinburgh tartan suppliers. That single was a perfect opening statement. Driven along by a simple, repetitive synthesiser line with slashing guitars in the background, the main feature is Tony Hadley’s perfectly enunciated, almost operatic vocal, the whole thing feeling cold and aloof. It was an instant “futurist club” hit and dancefloor filler.

In between the austere vocals and one handed synth lines we also hear some funky slapped bass bits (check out “The Freeze”) and big Roto-Tom drum fills, all things that would be developed later on “Diamond” and by bands like Blue Rondo A La Turk and Pigbag over the next year or so. Second single “Muscle Bound” ramped up the homo-erotic imagery that was undoubtedly part of Spandau and the Blitz scene’s make up. Finally, I don’t care what anyone says but penultimate song “Confused” sets a blueprint for what would become part of the sound of the Stone Roses first album, I can certainly hear things like “Waterfall” in it. So Spandau were ahead of the times too.

Yes they were pretentious, the Blitz-kid scene they grew out of demanded that of them. In places you can feel the contempt they would have had for those that approached the door of The Blitz and weren’t dressed to kill oozing right out of the grooves (Mick Jagger was turned away at the door by Steve Strange, Bowie was  escorted to a VIP table..of course he was !). But somehow Spandau Ballet took all the music that was being played in that little club in Covent Garden, Bowie/Roxy/Iggy, Kraftwerk, Post-Punk, Krautrock and to an extent Funk, and fashioned it into perfect 80’s club music. Ultimately (to my ears) they become big stars making unlistenable pop drivel but for a couple of albums here Spandau Ballet were the sound of the future.

Confused - https://youtu.be/L9C9z-Yheog?si=gl5LHhaAtpjKlkvc