I Bought A Ticket To The World

I have no idea why, but when True was on heavy rotation, I really disliked it. Maybe I found it to be too slow (something about the beginning makes my spine unwind, and not entirely in a good way). Maybe I found it to be too R & B (and my eleven year old self hadn't yet accepted the blue eyed soul bands of the New Wave movement into her heart...truth be told, at eleven, it was all Go-Gos all the time, so maybe it isn't all that shocking that I wasn't enamored of this song). Maybe I didn't find any of the members of Spandau Ballet to be cute. Whatever the reason, I did not like this song 25 years ago and I cannot tell you why because now, in 2009, I seek this video out on YouTube.

Some people may say this is simple nostalgia, that the songs which were played at school dances will always have a certain place in my heart regardless of what I felt for them way back when. Possibly, but I think the songs actually have to be good in and of themselves for this to hold true (I can think of a number of songs I never want to hear again, EVER, which were played at dances...I think, but I have repressed the memories because I hate those songs so much). It is also possible that my musical tastes expanded and I found myself liking songs in retrospect.

The simplest explanation may just be that the singer in me can't resist a song which has karaoke written all over it. Really, it's a shame I only go karaoke singing once every decade.

All this is, perhaps, moot where Spandau Ballet is concerned because I remember the moment they switched from the dislike to like column in my mind. It was the moment I heard the song (and saw the video) Only When You Leave.



I have no idea why this song captured my fancy (the Great Gatsby meets Pal Joey meets James Bond feel of the viedo's plotline, such as it is, probably helped) but capture my fancy it did and, a few days later, I was at someone's house and we spent the afternoon calling B96's request line asking them to play this song (they never did. Anyone who has ever listened to B96 will not find this surprising).

Behold, the power of the music video: it turned me from a hater to a fan of Spandau Ballet. Not fan enough to buy their records (so many records, so little time) or see them in concert (ditto), so perhaps fan is too strong a term. Supporter? Advocate?

Well, whatever I once was, I think the fact that I am talking about them now makes me a fan, and the fact that you are reading this probably makes you one, too.

So, in light of our newfound fanship, I have some news.

Are you sitting down?

You really should be sitting down for this news.

Alright, here it is.

Spandeau Ballet will be touring this fall.

How cool is that? Seriously, the only thing which would make this cooler is if they were touring with ABC and Paul Weller. Well, and if they actually had some North American tour dates because, fan or not, I probably won't be dusting off my passport to see them. I mean, who do they think they are, Roddy Frame?