Gold (Spandau Ballet song)

"Gold"
Single by Spandau Ballet
from the album True
B-side "Foundation" (live)
Released
  • 25 August 1983 (1983-08-25) (U.K.)
  • 1 November 1983 (U.S.)
Format
Recorded 1982
Genre
Length
  • 7:12 (extended version)
  • 4:51 (album version)
  • 3:51 (single version)
Label Chrysalis
Songwriter(s) Gary Kemp
Producer(s) Jolley & Swain
Spandau Ballet singles chronology
"True"
(1983)		 "Gold"
(1983)		 "Pleasure"
(1983)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

"Gold" is a 1983 single by English 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. 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.[1]

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.

Initial reception

The song is Spandau Ballet's second-highest charting single in both the United Kingdom and the United States, behind their previous release, "True",[2] 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 #29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Legacy

"Gold" was re-recorded in a semi-acoustic, unplugged-like style for Spandau Ballet's 2009 album Once More.

The song has featured in various shows and films. 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".[3]

The song has also been turned into a football chant, with fans of both West Ham and Celtic replacing "gold" with "Carlton Cole", a player who has played for their teams.

Hadley has said of the song:

"'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."[4]

He said this to explain his earnings being higher since the start of the twenty-first century than they had been in the 1980s.

"Gold" was used in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The song was also the theme music for the fictional game show Gold Rush in the 2001 Only Fools and Horses episode "If Only They Could See Us Now".

The song was featured on an episode of MTV Cribs that featured the virtual band Gorillaz showcasing the attributes of Noodle, their guitarist.

Cover versions
  • 1992: Canthina Band
  • 1997: Jerry Daley
  • 2002: Gavin & Nox
  • 2006: Boytown
  • 2007: Paul Harragon (That’s Gold)
  • 2009: Marcos Rodriguez & Charly F. feat. Jerry Daley (Gold Remix 2010)
  • 2011: Frida Gold
  • 2012: Basto vs. Spandau Ballet (Gold 2012)

Track listing

7" version

  1. "Gold" – 3:54
  2. "Gold (Instrumental)" – 2:40

12" version

  1. "Gold (Extended Version)" – 7:12
  2. "Foundation (Live)" – 3:54

Charts

Chart (1983–84, 2012) Position [5]
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 9
Canadian Singles Chart[7] 12
French Airplay Chart[8] 3
Netherlands Singles Chart 3
New Zealand Singles Chart 8
Spain (AFYVE)[9] 4
UK Singles Chart 2
US Billboard Hot 100 29
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs[10] 8
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 17

References

  1. ↑ Girl on Film (21 March 2010). "Images of Heaven: GOLD by Spandau Ballet (1983)". Imagesofheaven.blogspot.com. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004), The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition. (Billboard Publications.)
  3. ↑ "Absolute Radio to play Gold over & over". Radio Today. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  4. ↑ Webber, Richard (24 July 2011). "Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley: 'I earn more today than in the Eighties'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Chart Positions - Allmusic.com
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ "Item: 3034 - Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada - RBM. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Song artist 726 - Spandau Ballet". The World's Music Charts. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  10. ↑ "Chart Highlights: Ke$ha Climbs To No. 1 on Pop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
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