| Tony Hadley By Request | Tony Hadley in Bucks and Herts 19 March: Civic Centre, Aylesbury, Bucks 13 April: Alban Arena, St Albans, herts 29/30 April: The Stables, Wavendon, Bucks For full details of the tour visit Tony's Website |
If someone had told me 20 years ago that I’d speak to Tony Hadley one day, I’d probably have passed out, ruining my prized Spandau Ballet T-shirt in the process! The Kemps did nothing for me, it was the tall lead singer with the powerful voice that was the "True" star!
 | | Tony as Tom Marshall in "Down to Earth" |
But now somewhat older and calmer, I was able to talk with some sense of decorum to a man whose distinctive tones are synonymous with some of the greatest 80s anthems which were the soundtrack to many of my formative years. As lead singer of Spandau Ballet he staked his claim as one of popular music’s greatest vocalists. Spandau sold over 20 million records worldwide and reached Number 1 in 21 countries with the single "True". But it hasn’t all been rosy. The period following Spandau Ballet’s final split in 1990 has been marked by legal wrangles, court cases and counter-claims over royalties which have threatened to overshadow the success. Some two decades further on, Tony Hadley remains proud of his past but has also worked very hard on developing his solo career. In 2003 he won ITV's "Re:born in the USA", a series where stars who had tasted success in the past brought their talents to a whole new audience in an eight week tour of the USA, broadcast in the UK on a Saturday night in a reality TV stylee. And since then he seems to have toured constantly! Fresh (?!) from an emergency appendectomy and a fundraising trek to the "Lost World" in Venezuela, he is celebrating 25 years in the business by embarking on a new tour - "Tony Hadley By Request", where the audience will have a chance to get more involved than they might normally expect! You're celebrating 25 years in "the business", I can't believe it! Tony: [laughs] It's a bit frightening yes! When do you count that from - your first single release? Tony: From the first time we signed a record deal which was the 10 October 1980 so the anniversary date was last year but this is the celebratory year. Can you tell us a bit about your new tour - Tony Hadley By Request? Tony: Yes - the first half will be a kind of musical biography, a journey, the first record I ever bought and the first song I sang at Pontins etc. The second half will be "by request". As the audience go in they're given a menu of about 60 songs - they will need to tick the box of the song they'd like and put them in a box at the front of the stage. Then about two or three songs into the set they will be collected and 12 songs will be picked out. During the interval we'll arrange them into some kind of order, do a set list and away we'll go! So as well as the songs in the first half, you're rehearsing about 60 songs?! Tony: Yes - that's why I sound a bit out of breath at the moment! We're rehearsing about 70 songs in total so in the past three days I've sung about 210 songs so I'm a little bit tired! What sort of songs will be on the "menu"? Tony: There'll be some Spandau songs, some cover stuff and some original music - a real mixture really. It will be interesting as the tour starts, to see what they [the audiences] want. But people shouldn't worry if "True" or "Gold" aren't picked out of the box, there'll be a chance to sing those in the encore if necessary, so if they're not in the set, when we get to the encore just shout it out and we'll play it! I should think that audiences will always want to hear the old songs, do you find the Spandau songs a blessing or a bit of a millstone?
 | | Tony Hadley in Spandau Ballet |
Tony: To be honest I don't have a problem with them, despite the shennanigans and bad feeling that there's been since then. I do see them as a blessing because they are part of my life. I remember when "True" went to number 1, and what I was doing that morning, with great fondness. People often ask me if I get bored singing them again and again but I don't. And the audience sing along as well - I don't even have to sing sometimes! It's also a great feeling to know that the songs mean a lot to the people out there. I got a letter from a guy for whom "Through the Barricades" had been the favourite song of him and his wife and this [my gig] was the first time he'd been out since she'd passed away from cancer. He said that all the fond memories came flooding back and he was crying his eyes out but it had still brought back some fantastic memories. It was a really sad letter but he had obviously made a step forward. Sometimes as an artist you don't realise what these songs mean to people. Are your audiences all people "of a certain age" or do you get a new younger audience as well? Tony: Yes - the ones corrupted by their mums and dads! The audiences are often 35 plus but they have young kids and just as my mum and dad bombarded me with jazz and swing (which is why I now love those styles) the same thing is happening to them. So we do have quite a few younger people coming along which is great. We get quite a diverse range of ages coming a long really, but the main thing is that they all have a good time. One of the other things I'm pleased about is that it's all going to be quite intimate. On the menus there's going to be a space where you can comment on why you chose a particular song so I'll probably be reading a few of those out as well. It's really good to draw people in. Also, I haven't played a lot of these songs for a long time so that's going to be really good as well. Are there any songs that you really hope are chosen?! Tony: We do a cover of U2's "With or Without You" which is one of my all time favourite songs and it sounds really great, it's a beautiful song to sing. Also there's "I Can't Make You Love Me", the Billie Lake song. Spandau Ballet was obviously a big part of your life. There's been a lot of well documented bad feeling since then but what are your fondest memories of that time? Tony: Yes - there was signing the record deal, getting a number one record and we had such good fun on tour which makes it all the more worrying after the court case and everything because we genuinely had a lot of fun.
 | | Tony in his mullet days! |
There was also things like getting your first suite in a hotel, which was like "Wow"! There was my first helicopter ride at 21 or my first trip in a private jet - they were things that you could only dream of before. Then there was Band Aid, Live Aid and the Nelson Mandela concert. We just had a fantastic time. It was an amazing lifestyle but luckily I'm still fortunate to have a nice life! If I was to give advice to any new young bands is that it all goes so quickly, because you are working your nuts off, that you don't have time to stand and stare. So just try and stand still for ten seconds and think "Wow this is great!" Even now it's like airport / hotel / show / next town but now I try and take stock of things a bit more. But it's not easy. I did a gig in Holland the other week and I think I only had half an hour to myself the whole day! Do you ever get fed up of touring then? Tony: No - I like a bit of time off but I don't ever get tired of touring! I don't mind living on a tour bus, I love playing and I love performing, I love everything about it except photo sessions. I hate having my photo taken! As well as singing you've also been doing a lot of fundraising for charity and you've just been on a trek to [Arthur Conan Doyle's] "The Lost World". What was that like? Tony: Yes, I went to Venzuela for Action Medical Research and took a film crew. Mount Roraima which is the "Lost World" was an amazing mountain plateau like something out of Jurassic Park. And it was wonderful, even though we were trekking up there with two stone on our backs! Wow! And you'd just been quite ill hadn't you? Tony: Yes - I'd been ill for a while and not known why. Then in January I was rushed into hospital and they whipped out my appendix and then I got a secondary infection. It was very suspect as to whether I'd be able to go on the trek but then I got the all clear so I could go. So did you feel OK on the expedition? Tony: Yes - I felt really, really great. We trekked up the mountain, slept in a cave and then came back down the next day. Then I went ski-ing for a week! Some might say you're indestructible?!
 | | Tony Hadley |
Tony: [laughs] Other than a drinking injury- yes! On the last night of the trek we had a big meal and I fell over and had to have seven stitches above my eye! You seem to be doing a massive amount for charity? Tony: Yes - in this 25th anniversary year I'm trying to do testimonials for the charities I'm involved with such as Huntingdon's Disease, Action Medical Research and the Shooting Star Childrens Hospice [of which he is a patron]. We're doing a big band gig at the Dorchester for Shooting Star and then one at the Hilton for Action Medical Research, but it's not just about raising money it's about raising awareness of the charities too. And you're also doing a benefit gig for a Chesham teenager who was born with Edwards Syndrome? Tony: Yes - I heard about Saskia through my management company. She is very disabled and needs to kit out her home to make it easier for her family so I said
find a village hall and we'll do a gig - but the school we're actually playing at is my nephew's. We're doing that on the day before we start the tour - but it's not a "by request", it'll just be 17 great songs! What about recording? You're working on a new album aren't you? Tony: Yes - I've just finished the vocals. It had been put on hold because I was ill before and after Christmas. It's very different, it's not like Robbie Williams or Westlife, it's more 60s "music to watch girls by" type of thing. And all the people who've heard it have said why didn't you do it years ago! It's out in October when we'll also start a 17 piece big band tour, so that will be near Christmas. That will be full of great songs and you can't not appreciate a great song. I'm very excited about it as I've not made an album in a while. You've done, and still do, so much, have you got any ambitions left?! Tony: Free fall parachuting?!! I'd like to do that! And I've not really embraced acting. I've been involved in some TV series because of the music side of things - the theme tune etc. But I may take six months out, take some serious lessons and try my hand at it! I'd also like to do Las vegas. It's really trendy to do it now. It used to be old style cabaret but now it's hip. I'd love to do a big band show there. But as far as my latest concerts go, the main thing is for everybody to have a good time. I saw you at The Stables about three years ago and loads of fans ran to the front in gold shirts! Tony: [laughs] Oh yes - how lovely those gold shirts look! But seriously, the fans are lovely - they've always been very supportive! | 
