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True (Spandau Ballet song)

"True"
TrueSpandauBallet.jpg
Artwork for vinyl releases
Single by Spandau Ballet
from the album True
B-side "Gently"
Released 14 April 1983
Format
Recorded October–November 1982
Genre New wave
Length
  • 4:58 (promo 45 edit)
  • 5:39 (single version)
  • 6:08 (12-inch version)
  • 6:29 (album version)
Label Chrysalis
Writer(s) Gary Kemp
Producer(s) Jolley & Swain
Spandau Ballet singles chronology
"Communication"
(1983)
"True"
(1983)
"Gold"
(1983)
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"True" is a song by the English band Spandau Ballet. It was released on 14 April 1983 as the third single from their third studio album of the same name. The song was written by band member Gary Kemp.

The song was a huge worldwide hit, peaking at number one in the UK Singles Chart on 30 April 1983 for four weeks, becoming the sixth biggest selling single of the year, and charting highly in 20 other countries. It is Spandau Ballet's biggest hit and their only major hit in the U.S., reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the autumn of 1983 and topping the adult contemporary chart for one week.

In 1985, the band performed the song during Live Aid. A new mix by Tony Swain and Gary Kemp was released in 2002 on the compilation album Reformation.

On 30 April 2008, the single celebrated its 25th anniversary, and in honour, EMI released a brand new True EP on 5 May 2008, which included the original single, the new mix found on Reformation and the remastered album version, plus a live recordings of "True" and "Gold" from the last show of the group's 1983 tour at Sadlers Wells.

A notable omission is that Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp did not perform on the track, rather a bass synthesizer was used instead. However, Kemp would play in his capacity for future live performances.

It was composed by group leader Gary Kemp who wrote the song at his parents' house, where he lived at the time. It is a six-minute (in its original album version) song that in part pays tribute to the Motown artist Marvin Gaye, who is mentioned in the lyrics, and the sound he helped to establish. The song was recorded before Gaye's murder a year later. The song was also partly about Kemp's platonic relationship with Altered Images singer Clare Grogan. Some phrases in the lyrics (including the much-quoted reference to "seaside arms") were adapted from Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, a copy of which Grogan had given Kemp. The Song is written in the Key of G Major. It has a Tempo of 98 BPM and a Chord Progression of:G, Em, C/G, Bm. The Song changes Keys when it hits the Instrumental Break. The Instrumental Break is in the Key of E♭Major. Source:[1] Chord Progression Source:[2]


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