True is the third studio album by British band Spandau Ballet. It was released in March 1983. While Spandau Ballet's first two albums earned them European popularity, True made them worldwide stars and was heavily influenced by jazz, soul, and R&B. It reached No. 1 on the UK charts, the top 20 in the United States,[citation needed] and charted in numerous countries around the world. The title track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles charts and went to no. 4 in the United States.
Other singles from the album included "Gold" (a No. 2 UK hit and a Top 30 hit in the U.S.), "Lifeline," "Communication," and "Pleasure." Later album releases by the band never equalled the success of True. Spandau Ballet broke up in 1990 and reformed in March 2009.
"True" was remastered on CD and stereo SACD in 2003 for its 20th Anniversary. In June 2010, a special edition was released on 2CDs and DVD as part of the 2010 Spandau Ballet reissues series, featuring remastered 12" remixes and b-sides, plus a live concert.
In 2008 the album was given away free with copies of the Daily Mail newspaper.True is the third studio album by British band Spandau Ballet. It was released in March 1983. While Spandau Ballet's first two albums earned them European popularity, True made them worldwide stars and was heavily influenced by jazz, soul, and R&B. It reached No. 1 on the UK charts, the top 20 in the United States,[citation needed] and charted in numerous countries around the world. The title track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles charts and went to no. 4 in the United States.
Other singles from the album included "Gold" (a No. 2 UK hit and a Top 30 hit in the U.S.), "Lifeline," "Communication," and "Pleasure." Later album releases by the band never equalled the success of True. Spandau Ballet broke up in 1990 and reformed in March 2009.
"True" was remastered on CD and stereo SACD in 2003 for its 20th Anniversary. In June 2010, a special edition was released on 2CDs and DVD as part of the 2010 Spandau Ballet reissues series, featuring remastered 12" remixes and b-sides, plus a live concert.
In 2008 the album was given away free with copies of the Daily Mail newspaper.false2022-09-13 14:15:41True7.320032003-01-012003-01-0136ElectronicNew RomanticNew WavePopRockSophisti-Pop11423221296162202987e-8a12-4701-80ae-052561e1245c4c0d9acf-a8a1-4765-9c56-05f92f68c04860605247-c6b1-37fc-b18a-1f9dab47dd9d/media/data/media4/Music/Spandau Ballet/True (1983)/folder.jpgSpandau BalletAlbumArtistSpandau BalletArtistSpandau BalletSpandau BalletSpandau Ballet ( SPAN-dow BAL-ay) were an English pop band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European Dance Music" as "The Applause" for this new club culture's audience. They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop and were part of the Second British Invasion of the Billboard Top 40 in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material. Their musical influences ranged from punk rock and soul music to the American crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
The band's classic lineup featured Gary Kemp on guitar, synthesiser and backing vocals; his brother, Martin Kemp, on bass; vocalist Tony Hadley; saxophonist Steve Norman; and drummer John Keeble. Gary Kemp was also the band's songwriter. Their debut single "To Cut a Long Story Short" reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980 and was the first of ten UK top-10 singles. The band peaked in popularity in 1983 with the album True, as its title track reached No. 1 in the UK and the top 5 in the US. In 2011, it received a BMI award as one of the most-played songs in US history with four million airplays. In 1984, they received a Brit Award for technical excellence and were the first act to be approached by Bob Geldof to join the original Band Aid lineup. In 1985, they performed at the Live Aid benefit concert at Wembley Stadium.
In 1990, the band played their last live show before a 19-year absence. In 1999, Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful case in the High Court against Gary Kemp and his Reformation Publishing Company for a share of the band's songwriting royalties. Spandau Ballet reformed in 2009 for The Reformation Tour, a sell-out "greatest hits" world tour. In 2014, their archive-only feature-length documentary biopic, Soul Boys of the Western World, was world-premiered at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It was officially screened at the Rome, Ghent (Belgium) and NYC Doc film festivals and received its European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
In 2017, Hadley left Spandau Ballet. A year later, singer and actor Ross William Wild became their new frontman for a series of European live dates and a one-off show at Eventim's Hammersmith Apollo. In May 2019, Wild tweeted that he had quit the band "to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio", while Spandau bass player Martin Kemp confirmed there were no further plans for Spandau to tour without original singer Hadley.