It didn’t take Spandau Ballet long to ditch the hard electronic stomp of their early singles for a sound that better reflected their roots as Soul Boys. Their musical evolution also reflected the trajectory of the 1980s, a bit heavy and intense at first then becoming more glitzy and aspirational. They started out with the style and sound of underground London clubs but later provided the soundtrack for wine bars, double-breasted suits, and Club 18-30 holidays in Magaluf.
I liked their early stuff but Tony Hadley’s big voice made them sound a bit Teutonic at times and he was better in lighter musical surroundings. One of my favourites of their later singles was “I’ll Fly For You” from 1984 which wasn’t a huge hit like some others of theirs — you know, the one we all slow danced to at cheesy discos — but it’s cut from the same expensive cloth with a smooth, gliding surface and crisp, ringing guitar. And of course it has a creamy saxophone on it, the instrument that Spandau (and “Careless Whisper”) helped make synonymous with 80s pop.
Download: I’ll Fly For You (12″ mix) – Spandau Ballet (mp3)
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The lyric is pretty cheesy, but I really love this. Spandau were one of ‘our bands’ where I grew up, they were local boys, Martin Kemp went to my school – as I’ve said a million times probably. They were the girls band it was alright for boys to like I guess. I still listen to their 82-85 output regularly, some great songs.
“I’m just an average boy
you’re more than an average girl and
when you sing to me the ‘shoo be doos’
you sing so well”
Oh how I wanted a girl who would sing to me. The first one that did – many years later – I married!
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