Interview: Tony Hadley
Nov 27 2008 by Barbara Hodgson, The Journal
Barbara Hodgson chats to pop star Tony Hadley about bringing us some early festive cheer.
AH, the 80s. A time of big hair, brash fashion – cerise pink or electric blue ra-ra skirts, legwarmers and ‘Frankie says...’ T-shirts (sometimes altogether) – and bold pop videos.
My musical memories are a colourful jumble: from Duran Duran’s hair flying in the Rio breeze to New Romantic pioneers Spandau Ballet belting out Gold and True.
And, curiously, what sticks in my mind is seeing Spandau frontman Tony Hadley on a horse in some teen mag photoshoot.
Anyway, those luxurious, golden days of excess seem especially far off in these grim times of economic restraint.
Thank goodness then for Mr Hadley riding back to the rescue with a fair sprinkling of pre-Christmas cheer.
He’ll be performing at The Sage Gateshead on Monday, the last of just four December dates he has lined up.
“It’s not a tour really,” he tells me. “It’s a bit of fun. We spend a lot of the year abroad, so the band and I thought we’d have a few dates before Christmas – and parties as we go along.”
The night, he says, will feature a mix of songs: some old classics, ballads, and Spandau hits. “And we’ll throw a couple of classical Christmas songs in at the end.”
He’ll be joined by special guests, too, but he’s not yet sure who – “probably just a couple of mates of mine!” he laughs.
“It’ll be really up-tempo. We want to give people a good time – a happy Christmas.”
He’s friendly and polite on the phone, and – it’s good to hear – fun seems to form a big part of the singer’s life.
As we speak, he’s also planning a big family gathering; and a curry (his band all love it); as well as a beer order for a party.
And Hadley, as he happily admits, likes his beer. So much so, he owns a company.
Well, not exactly, but he is heavily involved with one: the Red Rat Craft Brewery in Suffolk, although his association with brewer Kevin McHenry started out just as a bit of fun.
“Kevin had come to see one of my concerts on a ‘by request’ tour where the audience chooses songs,” he explains. “I pulled out his wife’s choice, twice.
“We got talking afterwards and he asked if I’d like my own beer. I like real ale so later we had samples – I could say ‘I’ll have this one’ or ‘add to it, make it a bit more hoppy’.
“Then we designed the label and now I have ‘Hadley’s golden ale – ‘too good to be true’!” he laughs.
The beer is on sale now and the brewery has grown considerably. Jimmy’s Farm also sells its custom-made beers; other beers, with special messages, can be bought by the public for armed forces abroad, with donations going to a military charity.
There are also plans for a cookbook, matching beers with food.
“It’s all getting bigger and bigger,” says Hadley.
“I thought of it as a bit of fun then thought ‘oh, blimey, this is serious’.
“I leave the business side to Kevin – but I do like the sampling.”
Seeing an opportunity for a good time and to try something new is also the reason Hadley recently took a role as a nightclub gangster called Eddie Richards in new UK film, Shoot The DJ, due for completion in December.
“Hopefully I’ll be a bit better than Vinnie Jones!” he says.
Life’s clearly as busy as it was in Spandau Ballet’s heyday when, as lead vocalist, he enjoyed a string of Top 10 hits, including a number one for True and number two for Gold both in 1983.
Since 1990, while developing his solo career, he’s collaborated with a number of artistes, including some of his old 80s rivals.
He tells me he’s just been performing in New Zealand with Paul Young – “we found a great curry house in a one-horse town” – and some years earlier Simon le Bon of Duran Duran did backing tracks on Hadley’s 2003 album True Ballads.
“We did an album cover of Duran Duran’s Save a Prayer – I thought that was one of their best songs.
“I gave Simon a call and he did the backing vocals. He’s a top guy, and it was a top band.”
He can afford to be generous. After something of a blip in the 1990s – when he and two fellow Spandau members launched a court case against its songwriter Gary Kemp in a failed bid for a share of royalties – Hadley appears to be thoroughly enjoying life.
He often performs in Europe; found success as a radio presenter – his popular Virgin Friday and Saturday night party classics show also translated to Australia; won reality TV show Reborn in the USA; wrote best-selling autobiography To Cut a Long Story Short; and played Billy Flynn in Chicago last year in the West End.
“I’d really like to try to get into America,” he says of the future.
He’s certainly versatile enough. His 2006 jazz/swing album Passing Strangers – which was followed by a big band tour – mixed original songs and covers of artists such as Tony Bennett and Jack Jones.
Hadley says: “I’ve always liked that swing stuff. I love singing those songs, I really do. It’s something I wanted to do for years.
“I grew up listening to it. For me, to go from pop and rock into swing, I’ve always found that transition really easy.
“Sinatra, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald – I’ve always loved it.”
After 25 years in the music business, Hadley, now a 48-year-old father of four, loves the time he spends with his children, though it’s “probably not as often as I’d like”. They all share his passion for skiing and horse-riding – so I was right about my memory of the horse.
He knows he needs to sit down long enough to finish some current songs, several of which he has on the go at once. But he clearly finds it hard to find the time.
But, as I ring off, he’s back to making social plans, too.
Even at his busiest, it seems he’ll always make time for fun.
Take an opportunity to share in it on Monday.
Tony Hadley and band, plus special guests, will play Hall One of The Sage Gateshead at 7.30pm on Monday, December 1. Call (0191) 443-4661.
