EVERYTHING IS NOW – VOL 1: 1978-1982
6 CD, Blu-ray, 2LP Box Set
OUT SEPTEMBER 12TH ON PARLOPHONE
Released Today – The Freeze Steven Wilson Stereo Mix
Release coincides with ‘Blitz: The Club That Shaped The 80s’ a major exhibition at London’s Design Museum from September 20
Artwork by original band graphic designer and Blitz Kid Graham Smith
Spandau Ballet, one of the most influential bands in British music, announce the release of their definitive early years collection, „Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982“ – a comprehensive 9-disc box set featuring their groundbreaking first two albums alongside a wealth of previously unavailable material. It includes a beautiful 44 page book with original photos from fellow Blitz Kid Graham Smith and new commentary from the whole band. A limited quantity are signed by all band members – only available from the band’s online store‚.
Released September 12th on Parlophone, this meticulously curated collection captures the band’s origins and meteoric rise from Blitz Club favourites to chart-topping innovators. The set includes their seminal albums „Journeys To Glory“ (1981) and „Diamond“ (1982) on vinyl, plus six CDs of singles, remixes, BBC sessions, demos, and a Blu-ray of Dolby Atmos mixes, videos and rare live footage.
Released today is the Steven Wilson Stereo Mix of “The Freeze”, the band’s second single after the hit of “To Cut A Long Story Short”. Both tracks reflected the European electronic music that the band heard at The Blitz, making full use of the Yamaha CS-10 synthesizer they had acquired on hire purchase. The mix features on the Blu-Ray Stereo and Instrumental remixes by acclaimed musician and go-to Dolby Atmos mixer, Steven Wilson.
Of the title, songwriter Gary Kemp says, “I was having a conversation with Spandau’s manager and lifelong friend Steve Dagger. We were talking about my kids who are constantly listening to and streaming old music, making discoveries like Steely Dan or The Zombies. On TikTok and social media old tracks are getting reinvented. Our streaming is going up and up for people of all ages. Dagger said, ‘The thing is everything is now.’ I said, ‘That’s the title.’ It isn’t the past anymore. It’s in constant re-evaluation and people are discovering it.”
The collection showcases the band’s evolution through their formative and revolutionary period, from the electronic-infused new wave of early singles like „To Cut A Long Story Short“ and „The Freeze“ to the funk-influenced sophistication of „Chant No. 1“ and „Instinction.“ They were simply the most cutting edge, futuristic band in the world, at the centre of a creative scene that defined the 1980s.
This release coincides with London’s Design Museum, who open their exhibition ‘Blitz: The Club That Shaped The 80s’ from September 20 (tickets). It explores the ‘Blitz Kids’ who pioneered new music, fashion, film, design and more from the tiny Soho nightclub The Blitz, all to a soundtrack provided by a nascent Spandau Ballet (the only artist to ever play the club). The band’s friend and fellow club goer, Robert Elms, had suggested the new name and they made their debut as Spandau Ballet at The Blitz on December 5th 1979.
They were offered a record contract mid set by Chris Blackwell, owner of Island Records and the performance pushed the band “through the looking glass” and onto an accelerated ride through the 1980s and into pop culture history and global superstardom.
“The Blitz was a real sweatbox when we performed there,” recalls Tony Hadley, “but we just had this sense that things were changing. As a young person you want to create a stir. And we did.”
The band began to export their music around the world in a series of ground breaking club culture events, including making their first New York appearance in 1981, taking key Blitz Kids with them and staging a concert and fashion show, paving the way for Britain’s second musical invasion of America. Video of this whole performance is included in the box set. On another legendary night, they played new superclub KU in Ibiza, who released a bull on the night to mark the occasion amongst the 3000 fans, and were pivotal in alerting the UK to the burgeoning Ibiza dance scene.
This boxset charts those origins, from the band building a scene of the coolest fans on the planet in hometown London, through a record label bidding war, an iconic just pre-fame performance aboard HMS Belfast and into worldwide success that went on to almost perfectly span and define the 1980s.
Highlights include:
* Comprehensive collection of 7″ and 12″ singles, remixes and versions
* Two complete BBC concert recordings from 1981 and 1982 and a BBC Session from 1981
* Previously unreleased demos including early Gentry recordings
* Dolby Atmos remixes by Steven Wilson
* Rare live footage from NYC’s Underground Club (1981)
* Original albums „Journeys To Glory“ and „Diamond“ on vinyl
* Includes rare set of remixes for the „Diamond“ album. Previously unavailable on CD
* 44 page booklet with all new quotes from every band member and classic photos charting key moments, design and style
The box set features all the band’s early classics including „To Cut A Long Story Short,“ „Chant No. 1,“ „Muscle Bound,“ „Paint Me Down,“ “Instinction” and „She Loved Like Diamond,“ and presents multiple versions of tracks that trace their development from initial demos to extended 12″ club mixes.
The Blu-ray component includes Dolby Atmos and stereo remixes by acclaimed producer Steven Wilson, alongside original music videos, BBC TV appearances and the complete 56-minute concert from New York’s Underground Club in 1981.
„Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982“ stands as the definitive document of Spandau Ballet’s revolutionary early period, when they helped define the sound and style of a generation. Pre-order: CLICK
