Songoftheday 10/23/13 - Laying in the after glow I only want to learn what you know, but now you're leaving...

Spandau Ballet - "Only When You Leave"
from the album Parade (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #34 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 4

Today's Song of the Day is by the English New Romantic pop group Spandau Ballet, who softened their sound and scored a huge hit in America in 1983 with their ballad "True", and followed that with a top-40 single "Gold". The following year the band released their fourth studio album Parade, and the first single from the set was a sophisticated slice of romantic drama that was written by guitarist Gary Kemp and produced by the team of Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, who already were enjoying success producing for Bananarama...

"Only When You Leave" became the Ballet's third and final (so far) top-40 pop single in the US in September of 1984. Internationally, the song was huge, reaching #3 in their native Britain, as well as top-10 in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Ireland.

They would have three more top-20 singles from the album in the UK, but none of them would get any notice across the ocean. Their next album, Through The Barricades, would net them a trio of UK top-40 hits, including their most recent top-10 hit with the title track. But after their 1989 set Heart Like A Sky failed to send any of their four singles into the British top-40, the band split up, with brothers Gary and Martin Kemp furthering their acting careers, and singer Tony Hadley going solo.

Fast forward twenty years and the band reunited for a sold-out tour and a top-10 "comeback" album Once More. The single released from the set, "Once More", only topped out at #82, but I'm sure the band were more grateful to sell more albums...

They still are one of my lasting faves from the decade - I'm in utter awe of Tony Hadley's voice, which I'd sell a limb to have....

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..and here's the band performing the hit live at Live Aid in 1985...

...and again from their reunion tour...

Up tomorrow: The Material Girl makes a wish...