Spandau Ballet:Greatest Hits
That small coterie of early-'80s Britpop bands who were part of the New Romantic movement--a dressed-up and dance-oriented response to punk rock--have largely been dismissed as pretty boys whose affinity for hairspray and trend mongering outweighs their talent. And while there's some truth in that, it's largely an unfair characterization. As evidence, check out this collection from Spandau Ballet, who began life as the overly photogenic house band (love that eye patch) for London's Blitz club and went on to international fame with pop-soul crooners like "True" and "Gold." But the band was more interesting on earlier tracks like "To Cut a Long Story Short," which suggest that brothers Gary and Martin Kemp could come up with a slightly smoother take on the intentionally stilted funk of croniesA Certain Ratio. In the unlikely event that pop revisionists ever give the New Romantics their due, Spandau Ballet will be at the head of the queue.--Bill Forman