Through The Barricades - Spandau Ballet

Through the Barricades Album - Great 80s Music

Spandau Ballet's album Through the Barricades was their fifth studio album and the first one for the record company CBS. It featured the heartfelt Through the Barricades single along with the two singles Fight for Ourselves and How Many Lies.

After the release of this album the band toured the UK to promote it little realizing that this would be their last tour for thirty years. I was lucky enough to be able to be at one of these shows and Spandau Ballet really seemed to be at the top of their game - it was a fantastic performance.
Through the BarricadesCheck Price
Track listing:-

• Barricades -- Introduction


• Cross the Line


• Man in Chains


• How Many Lies?


• Virgin


• Fight for Ourselves


• Swept


• Snakes and Lovers


• Through the Barricades

Fight For Ourselves

1st Single from Through the Barricades

The first single released from the album was Fight For Ourselves which reached number 15 in the UK charts.

Let’s look at some of the background to this album - Gary Kemp wrote the whole Through the Barricades album while the band were living in Ireland for a year. At the time Spandau Ballet were in dispute with their original record company Chrysalis over the way the company had failed to promote them in the US market. When you listen to the lyrics it could be that Gary Kemp is writing about Spandau Ballet's legal woes......

Then again Gary Kemp was getting quite political around this time and had also teamed up with Billy Bragg (a well known left wing singer) and was supportive of the UK's Miners Strike so he could have just been telling everyone to stand up for what they believed was right.

Everybody, we've got to fight for ourselves

Whatever you believe the lyrics to be about one thing is for certain the song was catchy and easy to sing along to.

Through the Barricades - The Single

Through the Barricades was the second single to be released off of the album of the same name. It was written while the band were in Ireland and as Gary Kemp (the songwriter and guitar player of Spandau Ballet) said at the time "....(whilst)...we don't think to ourselves as a political band, but we can't ignore what is happening just around the corner.

Through the Barricades is essentially a Romeo and Juliet story set in Northern Ireland between a boy and a girl, one Protestant and one Catholic. It was a top ten hit in the UK and was also big in Europe (staying at number one for eight weeks in Italy) and the haunting melody has made it a favorite for the band and a large number of fans.

Through the Barricades showed Gary Kemp's songwriting abilities at their best. It also played to Tony Hadley's vocals beautifully with him giving his best performance to date on the single. The use of the drum and pipe marching music is so reminiscent of Ireland's Parades that it tugs even more at the heartstrings. Through the Barricades was also one of my favorites (can you tell?).

The line in the song Through the Barricades that goes - "as our hearts go to their graves" has been debated in some areas as to whether it means a suicide pact or an end of a doomed affair. What do you think?

Personally I think they made a suicide pact if you listen to the line 'the stars reach out and tell us there's only one escape' I can't think that it would be anything other than death.

How Many Lies

The Third Single from Through the Barricades Album

How Many Lies was their third and last single off of the album Through the Barricades. Although the band didn't realise it at the time How Many Lies was to become their last Top 40 hit single.

As I mentioned earlier this song was written when the band was in dispute with their record company while Gary Kemp was also getting very political. When you initially listen to the song you assume it’s between a couple, by knowing the background and where Gary’s head was at you start to wonder if it was a swipe at Chrysalis or even a political statement.

When you initially hear the song you assume it's between a couple, but knowing where Gary's head was at could it be a swipe at Chrysalis or even a political statement? Enjoy the song and let me know what you think.

How many lies must we tell?
How many lies must we see?
How many times must we say, it's for the best?
And leave truth as the casualty?

Scarface - A Classic 80s Mafia Movie

Among the hoards of Mafia movies released during the 80s was Scarface. This movie was a little different from the likes of Goodfellas and The Godfather in that is was based on the Cuban Mafia instead of the Italian one. With quotes like - 'Say hello to my little friend' it has become an absolute classic.

Scarface was first released in 1983 and with the excessive bloodshed and violence I wasn't able to watch it until a few years later! Excess and the eighties do go together though and so does Scarface. The biggest thing the movie had going for it from my hubby's point of view was Al Pacino. Let's face it Al Pacino is an amazing actor and he really brought his skills to the table as Tony Montana.

I was reminded the other day that it's only five months until Christmas so if you know a Scarface fan what about getting them a cool Scarface inspired gift? I have a few ideas for you -

Scarface Belt Buckles - these are really cool and a unique gift idea for a Tony Montana fan.
Scarface T-Shirts - who doesn't like a tee?
Scarface Posters - these are a great idea for the dorm room if you know a younger fan of Scarface or a Man Cave for someone who saw the movie when it was first released!

Then again you could always get them their own version of the movie if they don't already own it -

This two disc anniversary Scarface DVD doesn't just contain the movie but also has these extras -

• The Rebirth of Scarface (10 mins)
• Acting Scarface (15 mins)
• Creating Scarface (30 mins)
• Scarface:  The TV Version - a look at the two versions (3 mins)
• Deleted Scenes (22 mins)
• Def Jam presents The Origins of a Gangsta (30 mins)

Wordless Wednesday - The Rubiks Tree of Knowledge!

Add your caption idea for this photo below for some fun on this Wordless Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday - Rubiks Cube

If I plant it will the solution grow?

Journey's to Glory - Spandau Ballet

Journeys to Glory - Spandau Ballet

The dawn of the New Romantics began in the UK with the aptly named Journey's to Glory album from Spandau Ballet.   Journeys to Glory as a name really reflects how the New Romantic movement grew to have such a huge impact on the 80s music scene, it was also a great name for a debut album.

Spandau Ballet's Journeys to Glory album was released in the English spring of 1981 after the huge success of their debut single 'To Cut a Long Story Short' which was not only a cult dance club hit, but also made #5 in the UK pop charts during the winter of 1980.

If all you know of Spandau Ballet are their later offerings like True and Gold then you really do need to hear how they sounded at the beginning of their musical career.   If you remember the stylized cult sounding record and enjoyed the pretentiousness of 'the art of pretending it's art' then you will love to take a trip down memory lane with this album.

Not only was the music refreshing these five lads from Islington, London actually did something else unique with their first record - instead of signing with a record label, they created their own - Reformation.

Both Gary Kemp (songwriter and guitarist) and John Keeble (drummer) have been quoted over the years as saying that the name Reformation was chosen deliberately as they wanted Spandau's music to be all about change. Fast forward to the 21st century and Spandau Ballet have completed a world tour called the Reformation Tour, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Spandau Ballet's record making journey started with the aptly named album Journeys to Glory, so let's have a look at that album.

Journeys to Glory - The Songs

Track Listing

There were only eight songs on the album, three of them would become singles - To Cut a Long Story Short, Muscle Bound, and The Freeze.

1. To Cut A Long Story Short
2. Reformation
3. Mandolin
4. Muscle Bound
5. Age Of Blows
6. The Freeze
7. Confused
8. Toys

To Cut A Long Story Short

From Journeys to Glory by Spandau Ballet

To Cut A Long Story Short was Spandau Ballet's debut single and reached number 5 on the UK charts in 1980 (when it was released). To Cut A Long Story Short was a hit in dance clubs as crowds were moving away from the punk sounds of the late 70s and although they wanted a beat to dance to disco was dead. To Cut A Long Story Short was really seen as one of the first New Romantic singles to be released.

Journeys to Glory

The song is a great club song and I, personally, can't help singing along, however when you listen to the lyrics...........well look at this -

The song starts with the lines -

Soldier is turning
see him through white light
running from strangers
see you in the valley

And with lyrics like that it's hardly surprising that this next line is repeated throughout the song - to cut a long story short, I lost my mind.

Despite not really making a lot of sense it was exactly what the youth of Britain wanted in 1980 as was evidenced by the race up the charts and into the Top 10.

The Freeze

Second Single from Journeys to Glory by Spandau Ballet

The Freeze was released on 12th January 1981 as the second single for Spandau Ballet and it reached the #17 spot in the UK charts. If you don't know much about the history of Spandau Ballet let me explain their origins to you. Spandau Ballet were all members of a movement called the Blitz Kids and their music at this stage was still focused on what type of music the Blitz Kids would like.

The Blitz Kids became known as the Cult with No Name and were then given the label of New Romantics, the idea was that it was all about the look. In interviews over the years Gary Kemp (founder of Spandau Ballet) has admitted that they were basically hanging out in Soho posing. Now you know that the single The Freeze makes more sense (well sort of!)

The music video is very stylized and the boys are all seen to be posing while one of the (very few lines in the entire song) lines is the art of pretending it's art. I think when Gary Kemp wrote this song he was coming to the realization that if the band wanted to make it really big they would have to think further ahead than just catering to their own group.

Muscle Bound

From Spandau Ballet's Journeys to Glory Album

Musclebound was the third single off of Spandau Ballet's first album Journeys to Glory. In Musclebound songwriter Gary Kemp's words are sung really well with Tony Hadley's strong voice. The rest of the band also provides great backing in the song's chorus as well.

The song starts with - We're building fires that will burn until morning

And continues with the verse and then when you come to the chorus of the song –

Work till you're musclebound all night long
Work till you're musclebound all night long
Gotta work till you're musclebound all night long
Gotta work till you're musclebound all night long

The effect is more like a chant than the rest of the song which makes the whole single very interesting and different to the other songs on the album

Journeys to Glory

The Start of Spandau Ballet's Music Career

For a first album Journeys to Glory did well as it went gold which is what the young members of the band (the deal to make their first record was signed on Martin Kemp's 19th birthday) could only have dreamed of up to then.

The band's manager, Steve Dagger, was also very young and had been to the same school. It was with his vision, along with Gary Kemp's songs and the way the band performed together that would see them become a musical force to be reckoned with and it all started with this album!

Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen

Another classic 80s album has to be from the boss himself - Bruce Springsteen.   I can remember getting this lp on vinyl before I had a record player of my own and so I had to play it in the dining room (or the lounge, but I would commandeer the dining room record player as mine!), I would crank it up loud and books on the table so that I could 'pretend' to be studying I would sing at the top of my voice to some of the classic tracks off of this album.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album was great because any of the tracks could have been made into a hit single............and in fact many were!

The artwork for the album was as iconic as the music itself - jeans and a hankie hanging out of the back pocket - how cool was that!

Hits from the album include the title track Born in the USA, along with Glory Days and Dancing in the Dark.   If you can't remember all of the songs then check out this link - Born in the USA.   One of my favorite tracks off of the album (it wasn't a single) was No Surrender and I was surprised to find out a few years ago that Springsteen was going to leave it off the album until Steven Van Zandt convinced him otherwise - the amount of time I would belt out the lyrics, 'We learned more from a 3-minute record, baby,than we ever learned in school' was huge - it was classic teenage rebellion lyrics.   Of course the song's meaning was more about picking yourself up and keeping going, but I choose to use the literal words when I was feeling like a rebel!

Did you like Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album?   Let me know your thoughts below.

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

Well I'm back - the break from posting went on a little longer as Blogger was down when I'd penciled in my to do list and then it was the weekend for me and I managed an (almost) computer free one :)

I was going to post about something different, but I was listening to a compilation album in the car over the weekend and realized how many of the songs I'd had on vinyl.   I even had a great discussion with my 9 year old about music - she loves David Bowie's Let's Dance album and my hubby's got her obsessed with Yazoo so we were discussing 80s music along with a few songs from the here and now that she enjoys and it struck me that I should do a series of posts on 'Vinyls from the Past' showcasing different albums that I have owned during the 80s and ones that I wished I'd owned.

Anyways all of this waffling is my way of saying we're talking about different 80s albums and today's album is Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms.

Now this album was actually the best selling album of the 80s in the UK and it's no surprise to me as I think it was fantastic.   It was actually Dire Strait's fifth album, but it's been their best selling and actually became the first album to sell one million copies in the cd format - yes vinyl was about to start it's decline, but it hadn't happened yet.

Brothers in Arms featured classics such as Money for Nothing and Walk of Life.  In fact if you take Brothers in Arms and Sultans of Swing then I don't think you need worry about a best of album for Dire Straits, but I'm sure someone will want to disagree with that statement and you're welcome to leave your comments below.

I must confess I never owned Brothers in Arms on vinyl as my dad owned it......this was nearly enough reason for me to 'go off' Dire Straits completely, but their music was good enough to bridge the generation gap and besides dad had some pretty cool albums like Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf and Eliminator by ZZ Top so it wasn't all bad!

What I find amazing is that Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms album actually outsold Michael Jackson's Thriller during the 80s in the UK - I would never have guessed that.   I think the reason is what I mentioned above - Dire Straits managed to bridge the generation gap and people who had been teens in the 60s loved the sound  as much as the teens of the 80s.

So, did you own Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms album?   Let me know below.