Put The Needle On The Record - Week #59

Put The Needle On The Record Week #59 Spandau Ballet - Parade

For this weeks feature we go back to June 1984 and the Spandau Ballet album "Parade".

"Parade" was the 4th album released by Spandau Ballet and features a really solid set of songs and along with "True" is my favourite Spandau Ballet album. As with the album "True" it was produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The album was recorded in Munich and prior to going into the studio to record the album the band rehearsed the the songs for 2 months to get, what Gary Kemp called an "a big arena sounding", he wanted big production, hence why they rehearsed the songs so much before recording them.

Surprisingly the music critics weren't overly keen with the album, which I think is harsh, yes Spandau Ballet have been very hit and miss with their albums, however, this long player has stood the test of time really well and it also sold over 300,000 copies so it would seem music fans warmed to it.

Four singles were released off the album, "Only When You Leave", which is my favourite track on the album (which reached number 3 in the UK Singles chart), "I'll Fly For You" (which reached number 9 in the UK Singles chart), "Highly Strung", (which reached number 15 in the UK Singles chart) and "Round and Round" (which reached number 18 in the UK Singles chart).

The album reached number 2 on the UK Album chart.

Track Listing

Only When You Leave
Highly Strung
I'll Fly For You
Nature Of The Beast
Revenge For Love
Always In The Back Of My Mind
With The Pride
Round And Round

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!