Martin Kemp was 'mediator' in bitter feud with Spandau Ballet and brother Gary
Martin Kemp found himself stuck in the middle of a tense clash when his Spandau Ballet bandmates fought his brother Gary in a messy court battle.
The chart-topping band, who was put together in 1976, was made up of brothers Martin and Gary Kemp, along with frontman Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble. They made a huge name for themselves, with hit tracks like Gold, Only When You Leave and True - but it wasn't all smiles behind closed doors.
Martin was forced into the role of peacekeeper when the band had one of the most bitter splits in music history. In a Jonathan Ross interview over 30 years later, the musician recalled: "I was the mediator, I tried to make sure that everybody was happy all the time. Sometimes I was the go-between. I didn't mind that, that was my role, that's what I played. Just a shame I didn't get paid for it."
The group tried to sort it out amicably but they couldn't come to an agreement - so it was taken to court (Getty Images)In March 1990, the band decided to take a break for the first time after playing the final date of their 10th anniversary tour to pursue other acting and solo projects. Gary and Martin played East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie in The Krays film, while Tony recorded his first solo album in Los Angeles. However, it became a proper split due to a heated row over loyalties - with Tony, John and Steve unsuccessfully trying to sue Gary in a High Court Battle.
They claimed they were entitled to a share of the songwriter's earnings from the publishing rights of hits as they had a "verbal agreement" to 1/12 of all the song royalties. "We had an arrangement between ourselves, and we were schoolmates. We weren't cynical, we just did things on trust. Besides, we were playing in the Hope and Anchor, in small pubs at that time. The idea of sorting out a serious contract didn't cross our minds," John told The Guardian in 1999.
Kate Middleton teams up with Roman Kemp for short film discussing mental health
While the judge said they had made 'impressive and excellent' contributions to the recordings, they did not alter the song enough to make them joint authors and found in favour of Gary. The judge found it "unconscionable" that they had tried to lay claim to hundreds of thousands of pounds they knew that Gary regarded as his own.
Admitting he was very disappointed after the ruling, Hadley said: "Let this be a serious lesson to any up-and-coming artist or band. No matter how good mates you are or whether you were at school together, get a contract... We did try to sort out the whole thing amicably many, many times."
He added: "In my heart of hearts I was hoping that someone would tap me on the shoulder just before the court door opened and say, 'Come on lads this is stupid; let's go out to the pub, let's have a drink and sort it out'. But it didn't happen. I don't think anyone can take pleasure in going to court to fight it out with their old best mates." While Gary simply said: "I see this as a victory on behalf of all songwriters."
The three had to sell their shares in Spandau Ballet's company to Gary to pay off legal debts but continued to tour as a trio. They toured under their names followed by the suffix 'ex-Spandau Ballet', which they had to drop as Gary, Martin and the group's original manager Steve Dagger owned the rights to the name with their company, Marbelow.
Sadly the lads split once again in 2017 after Tony dramatically quit the band for good (Commercial Team)Despite the bad blood, the band made a remarkable reunion in 2009 as they reformed for a world tour and released new studio album, Once More. "Time is a great healer," Tony said at the press conference. "As you can see, we are back together again and we are very happy boys. We first met in the pub, had a few beers, the stories and the anecdotes came out and we just realised we are great mates."
They were still touring in 2015, but in 2017, Tony dramatically quit the band for good in a cryptic statement posted on Twitter. The short statement read: "Due to circumstances beyond my control, it is with deep regret that I am no longer a member of the band Spandau Ballet and as such I will not be performing with the band in the future."
Spandau replied with a statement of their own, which said: "Much to the frustration of the band, Tony had made it clear in September 2016 that he didn't want to work with the band anymore. This has not changed and 2015 was the last time we were able to perform or work with him. So we have now made the decision to move on as a band."
The band was reportedly offered a string of lucrative opportunities that Tony didn't want to be involved with because he wanted to focus on his solo career. A source told the Mirror at the time: "Tony has been billed as being 'formerly of' Spandau Ballet on several tour posters. There had been tensions brewing between Tony and the rest of the group for almost two years, since he decided he did not want to perform with them.
"This was the final straw, and Tony had an ultimatum - take part in Spandau or quit entirely. The band were offered a string of lucrative opportunities that Tony didn't want to be involved with. There was talk of a new album and tours including a huge US headline tour - the UK's biggest festivals had offers on the table, too. But Tony opted to focus on his solo career, meaning everyone missed out."
Martin, who pursued an acting career and starred as Steve Owen on EastEnders, revealed last year how much the split hurt him. "When Spandau Ballet split up, I had about eight years when I wouldn’t even buy a record because it made me feel physically sick," he told Radio Times. "Being in Spandau was just one argument after the other. We'd go from arguing to being best friends to arguing. It's been a trial the past few years."
Roman Kemp's priceless reaction to his parents appearing on The Masked Singer
- The Kemps: All Gold airs on BBC Two at 10pm tonight on Friday, December 29.
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