Spandau Ballet have shared the never-before-released track, Eyes, from their early sets at London’s legendary Blitz Club.
The New Romantic legends – Tony Hadley, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Steve Norman and John Keeble – recorded the gothic post-punk gem when the band were still called Gentry.
The song had its live debut on December 5, 1979 at the Blitz Club’s iconic Christmas party. However, it never made it onto their debut album, 1981’s Journeys to Glory.
Gary said: “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.”
The song’s release comes ahead of a new box set dropping September 12, Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978–1982.
The definitive early-years collection features their first two albums, Journeys To Glory and 1982’s Diamond, rare demos, and unreleased material that maps the sonic DNA of Spandau Ballet before they became chart royalty.
The set also includes a 44-page book with original photos from fellow Blitz Kid Graham Smith and new commentary from the whole band, Dolby Atmos remixes by Steven Wilson, and much more.
The new song and box set coincides with London’s Design Museum’s exhibition Blitz: The Club That Shaped The 80s, which opens on September 20.
A must for fans of the ’80s, the exhibition tells the story of the Blitz Kids who pioneered new music, fashion, film, design and more from the tiny Soho nightclub. Spandau Ballet were the only act to ever play the club. At the True band’s debut show at Blitz Club they were offered a record contract mid-set by Chris Blackwell, owner of Island Records, and the rest is history.
Singer Tony recalled: “The Blitz was a real sweatbox when we performed there, but we just had this sense that things were changing. As a young person you want to create a stir. And we did.”
Pre-order Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978–1982 is now via spandauballet.lnk.to/EverythingIsNowPS.