LOST TRACK “EYES” RELEASED FOR THE FIRST TIME BY LEGENDARY BAND SPANDAU BALLET
BOX SET EVERYTHING IS NOW – VOL 1: 1978-1982 OUT SEPTEMBER 12 VIA PARLOPHONE
Spandau Ballet have dropped the never-before-released song “Eyes”, which featured in their early sets at the legendary Blitz Club nights.
One of the most influential bands in British music, Spandau Ballet release a definitive early-years collection, Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982, on September 12 through Parlophone.
Today they released “Eyes”, which was recorded at Halligan’s rehearsal studio while the band were still called Gentry. It was at the studio that they were given the name ‘Spandau Ballet’ by future broadcaster and journalist Robert Elms. The song can be heard on the ‘Demos’ disc of the box set.
“Eyes” was performed on the night which truly launched Spandau Ballet – December 5th, 1979 at the legendary Blitz club’s Christmas party.
Spandau Ballet – Tony Hadley (lead vocals), Gary Kemp (guitar, songwriter), Martin Kemp (bass), Steve Norman (saxophone, percussion) and John Keeble (drums) – and the Blitz Club influenced generations of artists following the punk explosion, not only with the New Romantic movement but in the aesthetic of the pop music that would follow.
While “Eyes” didn’t make it onto the band’s debut album, today fans can hear a slice of history ahead of the release on 12th September of the comprehensive 9-disc Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982, featuring their groundbreaking first two albums alongside a wealth of previously unavailable material.
Songwriter Gary Kemp said: “’Eyes’, which we demoed at Halligan’s, was one of the early songs that I wrote with the synthesiser. It’s kind of gothic post-punk. It suits what was going on at the time with Joy Division, Siouxsie and Magazine. We liked the dirty garage quality of that period. We had all been brought up on guitar riffs and now we could riff in a way that was very monophonic and grainy that had a very modern but retro sound. I would write on the synth and on an upright piano in our hallway at home. Producer Richard Burgess didn’t think ‘Eyes’ was right for the album. I like it but it went by the wayside.”
TONY HADLEY AT HALLIGAN’S (CREDIT: GRAHAM SMITH)
Released September 12th on Parlophone, the meticulously curated collection captures the band’s origins and meteoric rise from Blitz Club favourites to chart-topping innovators. The set includes a 44-page book with original photos from fellow Blitz Kid Graham Smith and new commentary from the whole band. It features Spandau Ballet’s seminal albums “Journeys To Glory” (1981) and “Diamond” (1982) on vinyl, plus six CDs of singles, remixes, BBC sessions, demos, and a Blu-ray of Dolby Atmos mixes, videos and rare live footage. A limited quantity are signed by all band members – only available from the band’s online store.
The collection showcases the band’s evolution through their formative and revolutionary period, from the electronic-infused new wave of early singles like ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ and ‘The Freeze’ to the funk-influenced sophistication of “Chant No. 1” and “Instinction.” They were simply the most cutting edge, futuristic band in the world, at the centre of a creative scene that defined the 1980s.
The release coincides with London’s Design Museum’s exhibition ‘Blitz: The Club That Shaped The 80s’ which opens on September 20 (tickets). It explores the ‘Blitz Kids’ who pioneered new music, fashion, film, design and more from the tiny Soho nightclub The Blitz, all to a soundtrack provided by a nascent Spandau Ballet (the only artist to ever play the club). At the debut show on December 5th 1979, they were offered a record contract mid set by Chris Blackwell, owner of Island Records, and the performance pushed the band “through the looking glass” and onto an accelerated ride through the 1980s and into pop culture history and global superstardom.
“The Blitz was a real sweatbox when we performed there,” recalls Tony Hadley, “but we just had this sense that things were changing. As a young person you want to create a stir. And we did.”
The band began to export their music around the world in a series of ground breaking club culture events, including making their first New York appearance in 1981, taking key Blitz Kids with them and staging a concert and fashion show, paving the way for Britain’s second musical invasion of America. Video of this whole performance is included in the box set. On another legendary night, they played new superclub KU in Ibiza, who released a bull on the night to mark the occasion amongst the 3000 fans, and were pivotal in alerting the UK to the burgeoning Ibiza dance scene.
Spandau Ballet
Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982
(Parlophone)
Release Date: September 12, 2025
Purchase Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982 HERE
Artist Links
Photo Credits: Graham Smith
