It’s True, I wish I’d sung in Duran
TONY HADLEY, lead singer of 1980s band Spandau Ballet, says he wishes he had actually sung with chart rivals Duran Duran.
Hadley, 60, has never revealed why he quit to go solo, but hinted at an acrimonious fallout with bandmates Gary and Martin Kemp, Steve Norman and John Keeble.
In April 1999, Hadley, Norman and Keeble failed in an attempt to sue Gary Kemp for a share of his songwriting royalties.
The band reformed in 2009 after 19 years apart but have failed to find success since Hadley’s departure three years ago.
But back in the 1980s Spandau’s strongest chart competition came from fellow New Romantics Duran Duran.
Arguments
Asked if he would have swapped with heartthrob Simon Le Bon to head up Duran Duran, he said: “Yeah, I would. Yeah. In retrospect I would have gone in there like Flynn.”
Hadley, inset right, also talked to the podcast Stars Cars Guitars about the touchy subject of songwriting.
He said: “There are so many arguments and court cases about songwriting, I’m just not going there. Especially in America when you’ve got four people in a room and they do a songwriting day. One of them might, literally, just come up with a line but get 25 per cent of the song [ royalties]. There are strict rules.”
Asked how many songs he has written, Hadley said: “Not enough. Judging by my royalty cheques, not enough successful ones.”
He continued: “I only started writing in the latter days of Spandau Ballet.
“I didn’t know I could write because we all had our roles within the band.
“It wasn’t until later on when we were doing the Through The Barricades album – that’s when I first started trying to play keyboards and things like that. So I didn’t write till a lot later.”