With a voice as towering as the man himself, 6 ft 4 in Tony Hadley made his mark on a string of hits with Spandau Ballet in the 1980s. From 'True' to 'Gold' to 'Only When You Leave', the Londoner gave the new romantic act a classy edge that he's now carried forward into his latest swing and big band projects; "Sometimes I put my swing head on, and other times I put my rock head on", he tells us as we sit down for a chat. Talking this summer's touring plans, his love of hard rock, and a tantalising supergroup featuring members of Toto and Blondie, we caught up with Tony Hadley. Through the barricades; Eamon O'Neill.
Photo: Press.
Hi Tony, how are you doing?
Yeah, good, thank you. Not bad at all. Pretty, good. I'm in the car. My wife's driving, and we're just on our way back from Hadrian's Wall. We've been at a charity auction for a little cottage and it's taken us eighteen months to get the time with the children to go up there and spend three or four nights at Hadrian's tour, do a bit of walking and hit some nice pubs. It's a lovely part of the world. Beautiful.
That sounds lovely, and a whole world away from the madness of the '80s festivals that you enjoy playing.
God, yeah! Well, I mean, come this Saturday, I'm just chock-a-block. The next two or three months are just literally crazy. I get a bit of a holiday which is great, but I mean, it's good that I'm still doing what I love and enjoying every minute of it,
You really do seem to really enjoy it. At Rewind last year your leg was all trussed up, and you might have been physically damaged, but the voice was still there, wasn't it?
Yeah, I'm lucky that after forty-four years of singing and stuff - even longer, if you count from when I was non-professional - that I'm still able to hit all the notes, in fact, probably higher than I ever could when I was younger. I think it's all to do with, you know, it's a muscle; you have to use it all the time. You make sure you exercise before you go on stage, and you've got to love what you do as well. If you don't, then I really think that reflects towards the audience as well.
You seem to have a great relationship both with the audience and with the songs.
I mean, people often say; "you've sung ' True' , 'Gold', and 'Only When You Leave' a million times; do you ever get bored?" I say; "no, I don't get bored because every gig is a new gig; every audience is a different audience." When you look out into that audience, whether it be 2,000 or 20,000 there's something there. There's a connection there; they're singing along, you see people's reaction; "this was my love song at a wedding. This is my first kiss song. This is the anthem", you know; 'Gold' is the kind of football anthem type thing. So every audience is different, so I never, ever get bored of singing those songs. We always put a Queen song in there as well because I'm massive Queen fan, and then we put in two or three new songs, and so it keeps the whole thing fresh and yeah, I'm very lucky that I still love what I do.
Coming from Northern Ireland, 'Through the Barricades' is the one that always does it for me; it's amazing that a band like Spandau would have done a track like that especially at that time.
Well, we were down in Dublin at the time. We were living in Dublin for about seven and a half months, and I remember when Gary [Kemp] first played it, I just thought, wow, this is different, because the beginning of the song is more like a folk song rather than a pop song, and then you get to the anthemic bit where the drums come in, and that goes kind of quite rocky. But I just thought, wow, this is a great song, and, you know, we grew up in the '60s and 70s, bombs in London, you know, troubles in Northern Ireland. so we were more than aware of what was going on and the tragedies that occurred, and that song just captures that sort of, in a sense, Romeo and Juliet moment. Why can't you love someone from a different background? I mean, you can apply that to many different countries and religions or political persuasions, and I just think that it's just such a brilliant song, and it's the one song when you look out to the audience, you will often see people get quite upset when they're listening to that song. It has an enormous power.
Yeah, good, thank you. Not bad at all. Pretty, good. I'm in the car. My wife's driving, and we're just on our way back from Hadrian's Wall. We've been at a charity auction for a little cottage and it's taken us eighteen months to get the time with the children to go up there and spend three or four nights at Hadrian's tour, do a bit of walking and hit some nice pubs. It's a lovely part of the world. Beautiful.
That sounds lovely, and a whole world away from the madness of the '80s festivals that you enjoy playing.
God, yeah! Well, I mean, come this Saturday, I'm just chock-a-block. The next two or three months are just literally crazy. I get a bit of a holiday which is great, but I mean, it's good that I'm still doing what I love and enjoying every minute of it,
You really do seem to really enjoy it. At Rewind last year your leg was all trussed up, and you might have been physically damaged, but the voice was still there, wasn't it?
Yeah, I'm lucky that after forty-four years of singing and stuff - even longer, if you count from when I was non-professional - that I'm still able to hit all the notes, in fact, probably higher than I ever could when I was younger. I think it's all to do with, you know, it's a muscle; you have to use it all the time. You make sure you exercise before you go on stage, and you've got to love what you do as well. If you don't, then I really think that reflects towards the audience as well.
You seem to have a great relationship both with the audience and with the songs.
I mean, people often say; "you've sung ' True' , 'Gold', and 'Only When You Leave' a million times; do you ever get bored?" I say; "no, I don't get bored because every gig is a new gig; every audience is a different audience." When you look out into that audience, whether it be 2,000 or 20,000 there's something there. There's a connection there; they're singing along, you see people's reaction; "this was my love song at a wedding. This is my first kiss song. This is the anthem", you know; 'Gold' is the kind of football anthem type thing. So every audience is different, so I never, ever get bored of singing those songs. We always put a Queen song in there as well because I'm massive Queen fan, and then we put in two or three new songs, and so it keeps the whole thing fresh and yeah, I'm very lucky that I still love what I do.
Coming from Northern Ireland, 'Through the Barricades' is the one that always does it for me; it's amazing that a band like Spandau would have done a track like that especially at that time.
Well, we were down in Dublin at the time. We were living in Dublin for about seven and a half months, and I remember when Gary [Kemp] first played it, I just thought, wow, this is different, because the beginning of the song is more like a folk song rather than a pop song, and then you get to the anthemic bit where the drums come in, and that goes kind of quite rocky. But I just thought, wow, this is a great song, and, you know, we grew up in the '60s and 70s, bombs in London, you know, troubles in Northern Ireland. so we were more than aware of what was going on and the tragedies that occurred, and that song just captures that sort of, in a sense, Romeo and Juliet moment. Why can't you love someone from a different background? I mean, you can apply that to many different countries and religions or political persuasions, and I just think that it's just such a brilliant song, and it's the one song when you look out to the audience, you will often see people get quite upset when they're listening to that song. It has an enormous power.
Speaking of 'True', I was a Download Festival a couple of weeks ago. and extreme metal act Mr.Bungle, which feature members of Faith No More, Slayer and Anthrax covered it; were you aware of that?
Oh fantastic! I mean, I've always been a bit of a heavy metal fan anyway. I mean, ourselves and Iron Maiden, we used to rehearse in the same space, Halligan's Rehearsal studios on the Holloway Road, so myself, Madness and an Iron Maiden. I remember going to an Iron Maiden concert once, and loads of heavy metal fans came up to me and said; "we're massive fans. We love your music!", and I'm like; "really?!" you know? I am so into Queens of the Stone Age, all those kind of bands, so I do like a bit of rock, there's no doubt about it. But the fact they covered it is an absolute honour.
I would advise you to have a look.
I will definitely!
Moving to a completely different realm and you recently released a swing album 'The Mood I'm In', and did the swing tour.; your voice is perfect for that stuff, isn't it?
Yeah, I mean, I've always I grew up listening to that kind of music, where Mum and Dad would play it leading up to Sunday lunch. So Sinatra, Bennett, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis; I mean, the list is endless. But I was also into the Pistols, The Clash and Queen, so it was a bit of a mix.
How was the tour?
We did a sold out tour, and there was a standing ovation every night. We released the album on coloured vinyl, which was amazing, and so the record company want us to work on another swing album or big band album, and in the meantime, I've got a contemporary album that I've nearly finished as well. Sometimes I put my swing head on, and other times I put my rock head on. I love singing that kind of style of music, and, yeah, I think I do a pretty good job. I mean, the audience seem to love it, so yeah, and I love it too. Some beautiful songs. They're really fantastic.
With a voice like yours, with Spandau Ballet ending originally in 1990, were you approached to join any other bands, or have you been approached by others since?
No, I haven't actually. I've never been approached by a band to join them. I mean, at one point I was thinking of because I do love a bit of rock, and I was going to get together with Steve Lukather from Toto And Clem Burke, and then start recruiting; get those two guys who I know, and then start recruiting other guys to form a sort of mega rock band, but anyway, I never got around to it, but maybe one day.
You can't just tease that! Members of Toto, Blondie and Spandau in one band?
I've always been a frustrated drummer, and I'm a massive Clem Burke fan. I mean, I think he's a top guy and a brilliant drummer, but no, I've never been approached by another band. So, yeah, I've worked with orchestras, I've worked with other artists, from James Brown to Joe Cocker to Alice Cooper, but, yeah, I've never been approached by another band.
I'm going to have hold you to that super group you just mentioned; that has to happen.
I think it's a great idea. I mean, I really do. See, Steve's hilarious, he's a brilliant guy. Yeah, the stories I could tell!
Before I let you go, what's coming up for you?
Well, it's festivals throughout the summer, because summer always seems to be the busiest time. We'll be playing all the classic Spandau songs and also some new songs from the forthcoming album, but we might do a couple of swing songs amongst the rock stuff, I don't know. We'll see if we can work it out, but, yeah, generally, just touring. I'm touring with Culture Club, as special guests on the Culture Club tour with Heaven 17 in December, and then Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East next year, and America and a another swing tour next November, December.
So it could be a while before you get to Hadrian's Wall again, by the sounds of it.
Well, that's the problem. That's the only kind of window of opportunity we had to get to Hadrian's, and it's bloody brilliant it was as well. Listen; what did the Romans ever do for us?
Tony Hadley plays Rewind North this summer. For dates and info, visit the Rewind Festival site.
Oh fantastic! I mean, I've always been a bit of a heavy metal fan anyway. I mean, ourselves and Iron Maiden, we used to rehearse in the same space, Halligan's Rehearsal studios on the Holloway Road, so myself, Madness and an Iron Maiden. I remember going to an Iron Maiden concert once, and loads of heavy metal fans came up to me and said; "we're massive fans. We love your music!", and I'm like; "really?!" you know? I am so into Queens of the Stone Age, all those kind of bands, so I do like a bit of rock, there's no doubt about it. But the fact they covered it is an absolute honour.
I would advise you to have a look.
I will definitely!
Moving to a completely different realm and you recently released a swing album 'The Mood I'm In', and did the swing tour.; your voice is perfect for that stuff, isn't it?
Yeah, I mean, I've always I grew up listening to that kind of music, where Mum and Dad would play it leading up to Sunday lunch. So Sinatra, Bennett, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis; I mean, the list is endless. But I was also into the Pistols, The Clash and Queen, so it was a bit of a mix.
How was the tour?
We did a sold out tour, and there was a standing ovation every night. We released the album on coloured vinyl, which was amazing, and so the record company want us to work on another swing album or big band album, and in the meantime, I've got a contemporary album that I've nearly finished as well. Sometimes I put my swing head on, and other times I put my rock head on. I love singing that kind of style of music, and, yeah, I think I do a pretty good job. I mean, the audience seem to love it, so yeah, and I love it too. Some beautiful songs. They're really fantastic.
With a voice like yours, with Spandau Ballet ending originally in 1990, were you approached to join any other bands, or have you been approached by others since?
No, I haven't actually. I've never been approached by a band to join them. I mean, at one point I was thinking of because I do love a bit of rock, and I was going to get together with Steve Lukather from Toto And Clem Burke, and then start recruiting; get those two guys who I know, and then start recruiting other guys to form a sort of mega rock band, but anyway, I never got around to it, but maybe one day.
You can't just tease that! Members of Toto, Blondie and Spandau in one band?
I've always been a frustrated drummer, and I'm a massive Clem Burke fan. I mean, I think he's a top guy and a brilliant drummer, but no, I've never been approached by another band. So, yeah, I've worked with orchestras, I've worked with other artists, from James Brown to Joe Cocker to Alice Cooper, but, yeah, I've never been approached by another band.
I'm going to have hold you to that super group you just mentioned; that has to happen.
I think it's a great idea. I mean, I really do. See, Steve's hilarious, he's a brilliant guy. Yeah, the stories I could tell!
Before I let you go, what's coming up for you?
Well, it's festivals throughout the summer, because summer always seems to be the busiest time. We'll be playing all the classic Spandau songs and also some new songs from the forthcoming album, but we might do a couple of swing songs amongst the rock stuff, I don't know. We'll see if we can work it out, but, yeah, generally, just touring. I'm touring with Culture Club, as special guests on the Culture Club tour with Heaven 17 in December, and then Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East next year, and America and a another swing tour next November, December.
So it could be a while before you get to Hadrian's Wall again, by the sounds of it.
Well, that's the problem. That's the only kind of window of opportunity we had to get to Hadrian's, and it's bloody brilliant it was as well. Listen; what did the Romans ever do for us?
Tony Hadley plays Rewind North this summer. For dates and info, visit the Rewind Festival site.
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