Spandau Ballet
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40 free Spandau Ballet trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Spandau Ballet went from London club favourites to one of the biggest British pop groups of the 1980s, and a handful of their singles have never left the radio. True and Gold alone have been sampled, covered and dropped into films and sitcoms for four decades. This quiz follows the hits of Spandau Ballet from the early dance-floor singles to the ballads and anthems that made them stars, and on to the later songs with heavier stories behind them. Along the way it covers who inspired the songs, where the albums and videos were made, and what Tony Hadley, the Kemp brothers and Steve Norman did next. It mixes questions most people who lived through the decade can answer with a few for devoted fans.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which instrument does Steve Norman play in the famous solo on Spandau Ballet's ballad True?
Saxophone
Saxophone was a new interest for Steve Norman, who had started out in the band on guitar. Gary Kemp wrote True around it, changing key so the solo would stand apart from the track.
Q 02Spandau Ballet's Gold was written as a homage to composer John Barry's themes for which film series?
James Bond
James Bond scores by John Barry were the model, and Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger theme inspired the title. Gary Kemp admitted he had set out to write a movie theme.
Q 03Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp won awards as villain Steve Owen in which British soap opera?
EastEnders
EastEnders gave Martin Kemp a second career from 1998: he was voted Most Popular Actor at the 2000 National Television Awards, then left in 2002 for a deal with ITV drama.
Q 04Gary and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet played real-life gangster twins in which British film?
The Krays
The Krays cast Gary as Ronald and Martin as Reginald, although the Kemps are brothers rather than twins. Both had learned to act as children at the Anna Scher drama club.
Q 05Which Molly Ringwald teen film plays Spandau Ballet's True during its school dance scene?
Sixteen Candles
Sixteen Candles uses True as Samantha watches her crush Jake dance with his girlfriend. John Hughes's film reached cinemas a year after the song had topped the UK chart.
Q 06Which musician recruited Spandau Ballet for the original Band Aid single after a chance meeting with Gary Kemp?
Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof signed up Spandau Ballet after bumping into Gary Kemp in London. Tony Hadley was then the first singer to record a solo part for the single.
Q 07Writer Robert Elms said he saw the phrase Spandau Ballet written on a wall in which Cold War city?
Berlin
Berlin was where Elms said he spotted the graffiti, on a weekend trip to the western half of the city. It referred to Rudolf Hess, by then the lone inmate of Spandau Prison.
Q 08Which hip-hop act sampled Spandau Ballet's True for the US number one Set Adrift on Memory Bliss?
P.M. Dawn
P.M. Dawn, the brothers Jarrett and Attrell Cordes, built the track around True and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1991. Tony Hadley appears toward the end of its video.
Q 09At which London venue did Spandau Ballet play Live Aid in 1985 to a huge global TV audience?
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium staged the London half of Live Aid, seen by an estimated 1.9 billion people in 150 nations. Spandau Ballet's previous UK tour had ended with six nights at the arena next door.
Q 10Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet made his Hollywood debut as Sy Spector in which Whitney Houston film?
The Bodyguard
The Bodyguard was Whitney Houston's first feature film as an actress as well as Gary Kemp's first Hollywood movie. He played the publicist to her character, two years after Spandau Ballet's final show.
Q 11Spandau Ballet were stars of which British pop movement born in London's underground club scene?
New Romantic
New Romantic bands sold image as much as sound: Spandau Ballet made their Top of the Pops debut in Scottish military regalia, a few tartan items included.
Q 12The lyrics of Spandau Ballet's True name-check which American soul singer, a favourite of Gary Kemp?
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye gets the mention as a reference to Gary Kemp and Steve Norman, who shared a love of his records. Kemp called it a defiant nod to London's soul boy culture.
Q 13Spandau Ballet toured Australia in 2010 alongside which other British band of the 1980s?
Tears for Fears
Q 21Through the Barricades reached number one in which European country, a first there for Spandau Ballet?
Italy
Italy sent the ballad to the top of its chart, something Britain never did: it peaked at number six at home, where it was the band's final top ten hit.
Q 22Which funk single gave Spandau Ballet a UK number three with a brass section from Beggar and Co?
Chant No. 1
Chant No. 1 saluted Le Beat Route, the Soho club where its video was shot. Sales were so strong that the band expected a first number one and celebrated early at their label's offices.
Q 23Which Buggles founder remixed Instinction and returned Spandau Ballet to the UK top ten in 1982?
Trevor Horn
Tears for Fears joined the Australian leg of the Reformation Tour, Spandau Ballet's first run of concerts in 19 years. Tickets for its London O2 shows had sold out within 20 minutes.
Q 14Spandau Ballet's Through the Barricades was inspired by the killing of a crew member in which city?
Belfast
Belfast was home to Thomas Reilly, who had sold the band's merchandise on tour and was shot in 1983. Gary Kemp wrote the song after seeing the peace-line barricades on a visit to his grave.
Q 15Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp joined Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets to play which band's early music?
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason invited Kemp, a longtime fan, to contribute guitar and vocals. Kemp was on a US tour with the group when he said Spandau Ballet had no plans going into 2020.
Q 16Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley had a stage residency as Billy Flynn in which hit musical?
Chicago
Chicago gave Tony Hadley a spell in musical theatre during the years the band was apart. In 2003 he also won an ITV reality series by singing Through the Barricades in the final.
Q 17Spandau Ballet's True expressed Gary Kemp's feelings for Clare Grogan, the lead singer of which band?
Altered Images
Altered Images had Clare Grogan, who also starred in Gregory's Girl, out front. Kemp already had a girlfriend, so he told her how he felt through phrases only she would understand.
Q 18Spandau Ballet recorded most of the album True at Compass Point Studios in which island country?
The Bahamas
The Bahamas appealed because of the soul records made at Compass Point, and Gary Kemp felt the tropical setting would shape the music. Only Lifeline was recorded in London, before the trip.
Q 19Which American city was the backdrop for Spandau Ballet's I'll Fly for You video?
New Orleans
New Orleans supplied the Mardi Gras parade during which Tony Hadley's on-screen lover escapes police custody. The BBC objected to a scene of Martin Kemp and a local model in the mud.
Q 20The revenge-themed video for Spandau Ballet's Only When You Leave salutes the films of which director?
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock had died four years earlier, and director Simon Milne staged surreal vignettes borrowing from films such as Strangers on a Train. Tony Hadley called the song a lover's revenge.
Trevor Horn turned the album track into a number ten single after two releases had flopped. He left soon afterwards: he wanted to replace the band's drummer, and Gary Kemp refused.
Q 24Spandau Ballet's founders formed their first band after seeing which punk group play a London cinema?
Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols played the Screen on the Green in the summer of 1976, and Gary Kemp and Steve Norman started a school band that October. It was first called Roots, after one of Kemp's songs.
Q 25Spandau Ballet formed in which part of north London, where the Kemp brothers grew up?
Islington
Islington is where the Kemps were raised and where Gary met Steve Norman at Dame Alice Owen's School. The school later moved out to Potters Bar, where the band rehearsed at lunchtimes.
Q 26Spandau Ballet's first gig under that name was the 1979 Christmas party of which London club?
The Blitz
The Blitz was the Tuesday-night haunt of the scene's trendsetters, and the band shaped its image around the club. An invitation-only showcase weeks earlier had served as their audition.
Q 27Three Spandau Ballet members lost a 1999 High Court case against Gary Kemp, seeking a share of what?
Songwriting royalties
Songwriting royalties went to Gary Kemp as the band's writer, and he denied ever agreeing to share them. The losing trio later sold him their stake in the band's company to cover legal debts.
Q 28Which actress, later married to Gary Kemp, played a gold-painted nymph in Spandau Ballet's Gold video?
Sadie Frost
Sadie Frost was in one of her earliest roles, and the shoot ran so late that Tony Hadley fell asleep before their final scene. She and Kemp did not meet again until a 1986 video shoot.
Q 29Which veteran singer gave Spandau Ballet's True a swing arrangement on his album Rock Swings?
Paul Anka
Paul Anka's big-band take was singled out by critics as one of the better tracks on Rock Swings. Tony Hadley found it a bit strange, though he has sung True with a swing orchestra himself.
Q 30Spandau Ballet filmed the Highly Strung video in which crowded Asian city to evoke claustrophobia?
Hong Kong
Hong Kong was chosen for its sheer density, and Billboard believed no major pop act had made a big-budget video there before. The band also wanted to film in mainland China but applied too late.