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Gold (Spandau Ballet song)
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Wikipedia article
'"Gold"' is a 1983 single by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, taken from their third album 'True'.
Production history
Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain.
The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video features members of Spandau Ballet walking through a desert, down streets and gathering inside various buildings while searching for gold shapes that make up a gold puzzle.
A 'making of' video featured photographs of the band taken by his son, Chris Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles.
Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.
Release
The song is Spandau Ballet's second-highest charting single in both the United Kingdom and the United States, behind their previous release, "True",Whitburn, Joel (2004), 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits,' 8th Edition. (Billboard Publications.) reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart (KC and the Sunshine Band's "Give It Up" held it off the top of that chart), and reaching #29 on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart.
Legacy
Ian Gittins described the song in 'The Guardian' as a "brash blare of self-belief that appears to be constructed from pure titanium. It may be the least subtle song ever written, but, like Spandau Ballet, it mainlines sheer chutzpah." Lead singer Tony Hadley said, "'Gold' is the song which even today's kids enjoy singing along to in student bars up and down the country, and is one of main reasons I get so many corporate shows. It's requested all the time at awards shows." He said this in 2011 to explain his earnings being higher since the start of the 21st century than they had been in the 1980s.
"Gold" was re-recorded in a semi-acoustic, unplugged-like style for Spandau Ballet's 2009 album 'Once More'.
Popular culture
As part of the UK radio station Absolute Radio's celebrations for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Christian O'Connell, the network's breakfast show host, pledged to play the song for every gold medal won by Team GB. Spandau Ballet's lead singer Tony Hadley was also invited onto the programme for a live performance of "Gold".
Track listing
7" version
# "Gold" 3:54# "Gold (Instrumental)" 2:40
12" version
# "Gold (Extended Version)" 7:12# "Foundation (Live)" 3:54
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Category:Spandau Ballet songs
Category:1983 singles
Category:Songs written by Gary Kemp
Category:Song recordings produced by Jolley & Swain
Category:Football songs and chants
Category:1982 songs
Category:Chrysalis Records singles
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