Spandau Ballet "True" Drum Cover by Alan Badia, Long Version 6:31, 1980s Power Ballad

Spandau Ballet were pioneers of the 80s romantic movement. "True" is the epitome of the 80s power ballad classic that has withstood the test of time. I've always liked the drum track, melody, harmonies, rimshot, pauses, and that smooth sax solo. This is the long (album) version, 6:31 - which sounds better than all the other versions. True was released in 1983 as the third single from their third album, True. This was a huge worldwide hit, going to #1 in 21 countries. Lead Singer: Tony Hadley Guitar: Gary Kemp Guitar: Steve Norman Bass: Martin kemp Drums: John Keeble The following is courtesy of Songfacts. Band member Gary Kemp wrote this when he was in the middle of an unrequited love affair. He wrote of the song on his website: "I wanted to write a Soul song a la Al Green or Marvin Gaye. I still remember sitting on my bed at my parents' house writing it on guitar and calling Martin (his brother and Spandau Ballet bass player) in to listen to it. It became a song about trying to write a love song to someone who didn't know your true thoughts, but how difficult it is to spell out your feelings without seeming too foolish. The lyrics were delicately influenced by Nabakov's Lolita, a book that she'd given me to read at the time. Unfortunately, she never got the message! We never realized the full potential of this song until we started to record it at Compass Point. On the ECD's home movie footage of Nassau you can see the moment where we're playing back the song, half finished, in the studio, and everybody, including the roadies, are singing along to it. It was at that moment that I knew we had something special." One of the song's producers, Tony Swain, recalls in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, "We made the True album in the Bahamas and I am sure that a lot of that place got into the album. True was not a complicated song but it has really got something. There is something timeless about it: it has had over 2 million radio plays in America and it has been used in the wedding scenes for lots of films. It's very nice to have made a record that has lasted that long and I still feel good about it." P.M. Dawn sampled this on their 1991 hit "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss." It was also sampled on Nelly's 2004 song "N Dey Say." This has been used in a number of movies and TV shows, including The Wedding Singer, Sixteen Candles, Wedding Crashers, The Office, Spin City and The Simpsons.