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Press Release: ‘Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982’ Box Set

Thu, June 19, 2025

SPANDAU BALLET ANNOUNCE DEFINITIVE EARLY YEARS BOX SET

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 - Listen here

Artwork by original band graphic designer and Blitz Kid Graham Smith

Release coincides with ‘Blitz: The Club That Shaped The 80s’ a major exhibition at London’s Design Museum from September 20

Click here to Pre Order now. Copies signed by ALL FIVE band members are available in the Official Spandau Ballet Store >> https://spandauballetstore.com

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. Copies signed by ALL FIVE band members are available in the Official Spandau Ballet Store >> www.spandauballetstore.com

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”. “The Freeze” reflected the European dance 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. Click here to listen now.

 

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 its 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 band to ever play the club and their first gigs), whose friend and fellow club goer, Robert Elms, had suggested the new name. The band’s first performance as Spandau Ballet was at the Blitz Club 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 made their New York debut 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. They then went on to Ibiza to play new superclub KU, who released a bull on the night to mark the occasion with 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.

SPANDAU BALLET - EVERYTHING IS NOW – VOL 1: 1978-1982
CD1: JOURNEYS TO GLORY ERA SINGLES, REMIXES & VERSIONS
CD2: DIAMOND ERA SINGLES, REMIXES & VERSIONS
CD3: DIAMOND – 12” SINGLES BOX SET
CD4: BBC SESSION 1981 / BBC IN CONCERT BOURNEMOUTH 1982
CD5: BBC IN CONCERT PARIS THEATRE 1982
CD6: DEMOS
BLU-RAY (DISC 7): DOLBY ATMOS, PROMOS & EXTRAS
LP1 (DISC 8): JOURNEYS TO GLORY
LP2 (DISC 9): DIAMOND

CD1: JOURNEYS TO GLORY ERA SINGLES, REMIXES & VERSIONS
7 inch A-Sides
1. To Cut A Long Story Short (7” A-side) [3:22]
2. The Freeze (7” Version A-side) [3:32]
3. Muscle Bound (7” Version A-side) [3:58]
4. Glow (7” Version AA-side) [3:49]
7 inch B-Sides
5. To Cut A Long Story Short (Version) [3:22]
6. The Freeze (Version 7” B-side) [4:23]
12 inch A-Sides & B-Sides
7. To Cut A Long Story Short (Mix 1 A-side) [6:32]
8. To Cut A Long Story Short (Version) (Mix 2) [3.59]
9. The Freeze (12” A-side) [4:36]
10. The Freeze (Special Mix 12” B-side) [6:33]
11. Glow (12” Version) [8:11]
12. Muscle Bound (12” B-side) [4.51]

CD2: DIAMOND ERA SINGLES, REMIXES & VERSIONS
7 inch A-Sides
1. Chant No 1 (7” A-side) [4:07]
2. Paint Me Down (7” A-side) [3:13]
3. She Love Like Diamond (7” A-side) [2:52]
4. Instinction (7” Trevor Horn Version) [3:34]
7 inch B-Sides
5. Feel The Chant (Short - 7” B-side) [4:04]
6. Man With Guitar (B-Side of Paint Me Down) [2:52]
7. Gently (B-Side of Intinction) [4:00]
8. She Loved Like Diamond (Instrumental B-side) [2:56]
12 inch A-Sides & B-Sides
9. Chant No.1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On) (Extended Mix - 12” A-side) [5:52]
10. Feel The Chant (Long - 12” B-side) [5:49]
11. Paint Me Down (12” A-side) [7:05]
12. Re Paint (12” B-side) [6:53]

CD3: DIAMOND – 12” REMIX SINGLES BOX SET
1. Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On) (Remix) [8:04]
2. Instinction (Remix) [6:59]
3. Paint Me Down (Remix) [6:25]
4. Coffee Club (Remix) [6:49]
5. She Loved Like Diamond (Remix) [3:41]
6. Pharaoh (Remix) [6:37]
7. Innocence And Science (Remix) [4:28]
8. Missionary (Remix) [7:02]

CD4: BBC SESSION 1981 / BBC IN CONCERT BOURNEMOUTH 1982
BBC Session - Studio B15, March 15, 1981
1. The Freeze [4:41]
2. Mandolin [4:07]
3. Muscle Bound [4:52]
4. Glow [4:14]

BBC In Concert Bournemouth, April 19, 1982
5. The Freeze [5:13]
6. She Loved Like Diamond [3:10]
7. To Cut A Long Story Short [3:52]
8. Glow [5:13]
9. Paint Me Down [4:45]
10. Instinction / Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On) [6:10]
(Medley: Instinction [5:46] / Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On) [1:24]

CD5: BBC IN CONCERT PARIS THEATRE, LONDON 1982
Produced by Jeff Griffin
1. Instinction (Version 1) [5:28]
2. The Freeze [5:11]
3. She Loved Like Diamond [2:59]
4. To Cut A Long Story Short [3:46]
5. Pharoah [6:07]
6. Glow [5:11]
7. Muscle Bound [4:56]
8. Confused [4:07]
9. Paint Me Down [4:56]
Embargoed until 2pm, June 19, 2025
10. Coffee Club [6:38]
11. Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On) [6:56]
12. Instinction (Version 2) [4:28]
13. Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On) (Reprise) [1:22]

CD6: DEMOS
1. Toys (Gentry Demo) [4:20]
2. Age Of Blows (Gentry Demo) [3:47]
3. Eyes (Gentry Demo) [5:27]
4. To Cut A Long Story Short (Arista Demo) [3:42]
5. The Freeze (Arista Demo) [4:56]
6. Confused (Arista Demo) [4:10]
7. Reformation (Arista Demo) [4:59]

BLU-RAY: ATMOS, PROMOS & EXTRAS
DOLBY ATMOS, STEREO & INSTRUMENTAL REMIXES BY STEVEN WILSON
To Cut A Long Story Short
The Freeze
Muscle Bound
Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
Paint Me Down
Instinction

MUSIC VIDEOS
To Cut A Long Story Short
The Freeze
Muscle Bound
Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
Paint Me Down
She Loved Like Diamond
Instinction

OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST, BBC TV 1982
She Loved Like Diamond
Coffee Club

LIVE AT THE UNDERGROUND CLUB, NYC, USA, MAY 6, 1981
Intro by Jim Fouratt
The Freeze
Mandolin
Reformation
Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
Toys
Age Of Blows
Muscle Bound
Confused
To Cut A Long Story Short
Glow

EXTRAS
HMS Belfast footage

LP1: JOURNEYS TO GLORY (1981)
Side One
1. To Cut A Long Story Short [3:20]
2. Reformation [4:54]
3. Mandolin [4:07]
4. Muscle Bound [5:06]
Side Two
1. Age Of Blows [4:09]
2. The Freeze [4:35]
3. Confused [4:38]
4. Toys [5:48]

LP2: DIAMOND (1982)
Side One
1. Chant No 1 [4:05]
2. Instinction [4:48]
3. Paint Me Down [3:44]
4. Coffee Club [5:30]
Side Two
1. She Loved Like Diamond [2:55]
2. Pharaoh [6:35]
3. Innocence And Science [4:15]
4. Missionary [7:15]