These Are My Salad Days: Spandau Ballet On YouTube

Posted in Music, Retrovirus, Video |

Men who dress like old lesbians.

“I’ll Fly For You”
This video was filmed in Louisiana; we see Mardi Gras parades, bayou scenes, and tooling around the streets of the French Quarter in a Toyota jeep and whatnot. However, as a native of the state I need to make one thing clear. I know that when you’re a rich pop star you eventually get bored with groupies and you have to explore new kinds of kinky sex to get your rocks off, but trust me, NO ONE who lives in the south copulates on a cypress branch in the middle of an algae-infested swamp. Just to clarify. Aaaand it’s probably not a good idea not to romanticize slavery, either. But hey, they got members of the NOPD to actually do something, so props to them. (By the way, where was I when they filmed this? I swear I do not remember this happening.)

“Highly Strung”
There are grave fashion crimes in this video (perhaps what was being tried in the courtroom scenes of the video for “I’ll Fly For You”), including, but not limited to, crop tops, shirts unbuttoned to the waist, striped pants, crocheted tank tops, Tony Hadley’s makeup, and Martin Kemp’s eyepatch. In the midst of all of this, we’re supposed to concentrate on the storyline, which seems to involve a neurotic Chinese fashion model. This is another excellent tune, though.

“Round And Round”
Sadly, we have come to the end of the videos. It’s probably just as well, because I’ve noticed the dreaded hallmarks of mid-80s fashion slowly creeping up, i.e., oversized, brightly-colored clothing and variations on the mullet. (Even Spandau rivals Duran Duran were not exempt from this; see the video for “The Wild Boys” for evidence.) This is actually a cute video . . . be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Steve Norman’s “right back atcha” hand gesture. Hey look, it’s Ron Perlman!

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As you may or may not have heard, Spandau Ballet are reforming and embarking on a world tour towards the end of this year. Of course, many will likely call this a cash grab, and it may be the case, but reading a quote from Martin Kemp on the reunion is so sweet, I can totally forgive them: “If the five of us ever worked together again, after 15 minutes we’d be laughing at the same stupid jokes we laughed at when we were 17.”

For more details on the upcoming tour, visit the band’s official site.

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