| Highbury & Islington Express |
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| It is 20 years since Spandau Ballet released their classic single True. Writer Gary Kemp tells Jem Maidment of the group’s rise to stardom and his passion for all things. |
| It’s two decades since fresh faced New Romantics Spandau Ballet wriggled free from the sweaty confines of King’s Cross clubland to become the smarter, smoother outfit that so epitomised ’80s excess, but for Gary Kemp, the group’s tour de force, it seems only yesterday. “It doesn’t seem so long ago. It has gone very quickly. I mean, it’s kind of scary,” he admits. “But it doesn’t make me feel old. The reason is the music still lives. “I was on Steve Wright’s show recently and he told me that True still sounds so modern. And I think he is right, it does.” A generation on and the song which possesses that rare timeless quality also, it would be fair to say, provides Kemp with a sizable annual royalties cheque. It recently picked up an award for three million airplays in the US alone. “A Hard Day’s Night only got a million,” says an incredulous Kemp. But did he know all those years back that he had written a modern classic? “When I wrote True I knew it was potentially a great song. “I remember playing it to the rest of the band when we were recording in Nassau and everyone agreed this could be ‘the one’. “I had always wanted to write that kind of blue-eyed soul record. It was different to anything the band had done before. We had arrived with it internationally. “True is just one of those records that will always be played. I get so many people coming up to me and telling me it is ‘their song’ with their partner. Kevin Costner once did I remember.” Spandau had got together several years earlier under the guise of the Makers and from the very beginning it was Gary Kemp who showed the drive to hit the big time. He, younger brother Martin, and Islington pals Tony Hadley, John Keeble and Steve Norman, were major players in the ever-changing club scene of late ’70s London. But long before that the Kemps had had a brush with fame. As youngsters growing up in Elmore Street, near Balls Pond Road, the brothers appeared in Children’s Foundation films and Jackanory as part of a long line of acting successes to come out of the Anna Scher Theatre School in Barnsbury. He is in no doubt about the influence Anna had on him and his brother, who recently played soap baddie Steve Owen in EastEnders. “The question is, if it wasn’t for her would Martin and I be here doing what we are doing now?” he says. “I honestly don’t know. But she played a huge part. “She is a truly extraordinary woman. So many people from Islington have so much to be thankful to her for. The list is endless: Pauline Quirke, Phil Daniels, Ray Burdess, Linda Robson... so many.” So, what is her secret formula for success? I ask. “She showers you with praise. It is that simple. She is kind to everyone. The first time I met her I saw this lovely little Irish-Jew, just so full of passion and enthusiasm for the children all around her.” Even back in the early ’70s, Scher’s school was a refuge for so many children in Islington who had very little to do, explains Kemp. “I remember it was 10p to get in. My parents had no idea we’d all be going there – I don’t know what they would have thought, to be honest. But we did, we were drawn to the place every week. “She had us reading poetry; she had kids who would never, ever have read poetry before with their heads in poetry books. It is a remarkable talent to have. “She praised kids who would not get praised at home, and I mean real tough kids from very disadvantaged backgrounds who didn’t have much to go home for. “There were kids there who had probably never had praise before they had stepped in there. There were black kids from poor backgrounds who went there for that very reason.” And directors flocked to the school, hoping to unearth the next rough diamond. “There was always directors hanging around there. But Anna would never let any of us do adverts. She feared we’d be overexposed! “Martin and I did Jackanory once. It was filmed near Arsenal’s stadium which was a big thrill for us as obviously Martin and I, growing up in Islington, were huge fans at the time, and we still are. He was actually quite a good footballer but he got a bad knee injury. “I remember with my first cheque from a Children’s Foundation film I was in I brought my first electric guitar and amp and told Anna I didn’t want to be an actor anymore, I wanted to get into music.” And for a decade or so he pursued the international pop star option. Not a bad choice. The hits flowed, as did the adulation and excess, but come the late ’80s, as the band creaked and cracked before eventually calling it a day, the Kemp brothers returned to their acting roots. The pair famously won much critical acclaim for their chillingly accurate portrayals of gangland mobsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the former arrested by nemesis “Nipper” Read at his flat just off Old Street 35 years ago. More roles came in films such as The Bodyguard and Killing Zoe, there was a much-publicised divorce from actress Sadie Frost, and more recently an on-going battle with former band mates Hadley, Keeble and Norman over royalties and use of the coveted Spandau name. But now, in his 44th year, Gary Kemp is looking forward to new challenges and harbours a desire to return to his first love of acting. “There is a definite interest to continue acting now,” he says. “Martin went that way and has done very well.” There is a musical in the pipeline too. “It is about Yeats’ relationship with aristocrat Maude Gonne, who was an English woman who became an Irish freedom fighter and was interned in Holloway Prison. It greatly excites me. “Shane Connaughton, who co-wrote My Left Foot, is working with myself and Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt on it, although there is still a lot to do.” And, of course, there is his beloved Arsenal. “I am still very passionate about my team,” he admits. “Charlie George was and still is my hero. Up there with Bowie and Rod Stewart for me. “I remember running on the pitch when we won the Fairs Cup in 1970 and ripping up a huge piece of turf. I kept it for years in a bible. Many years later I found it and it had gone a weird brown colour! “Even during the Spandau heyday, wherever we were in the world we’d call our dad and find out the Arsenal score. “Now, the team we have is the best ever. Truly wonderful to watch and with so much potential. I don’t get down there as much as I’d like but I will still pay through the nose for the big games.” In the meantime, the album True has been digitally remastered and re-released. And despite a successful courtroom battle with some of his old band mates, would he still be willing to take to the stage once more with the original line-up? He does not need long to ponder. “I honestly would not write off a reunion at all. It is something that could happen in the future but some people may have a longer journey to make than others though. “Tony is a long way off, I think, but I personally would never say never. Why not some-time in the future? From my point of view, the door is always open for a pint and a chat and then, who knows?” |