Just when we were poring over the tour shirts that we had sold off many years ago, we got a missive from the Spandau Ballet mothership alerting us to a set of t-shirts from every album they released in the 80s. Their classic canon as rendered in cotton and silkscreen. This is significant, because I never got the chance to see Spandau Ballet live.

Oh, we had tickets in our hand, once! Their “Parade” tour was touching down in Tampa as the opening act for the [unfit to launder their shirts] Robert Palmer-free Power Station [featuring this guy singing!], in the spring of 1985. My friend Jayne was deep into her Spandau Ballet phase. We’d loved “True” and while I felt that “Parade” was more [yet paradoxically, less] of the same sauce followign three radically different albums, I was still all-in on seeing them live. The “Live Over Britain” viddy was the artifact that turned me around on their merit. And besides, they would have to perform “Chant No. 1 [I Don’t Need This Pressure On]!” Surely the best song ever written, yes?

But someone forgot to tell Steve Norman, their sax player and utility infielder deluxe, and when he broke his leg, that was it for the big US tour. Embittered, we plotted grandiose plans of vengeance yet retreated to our Record Cell to mutter imprecations beneath our breath while awaiting the next big thing instead. Besides, in 1985, I surely would not have bought whatever t-shirts were on sale at their merch table. As I was deep into my “no-t-shirt” phase that lasted from 1980-1990.

But that was then and this is now! In the ensuing 40 years I’ve only seen my awe and wonder at the “I-still-can’t-believe-they-released-that” “Diamond” album of 1982 grow beyond my wildest imaginings. In 1985, I owned one copy of it. A cheap, used US LP I probably paid $3.00 for at Murmur Records! Fast forward 40 years and I own:

• US LP
• UK LP [w/hype sticker + posh textured sleeve]
• UK 4×12″ Boxed Set
• JPN LP [w/obi] [Yes, I am the person who entered that one into the Discogs database!]
• US CD
• UK 2xCD DLX RM [2010]

…And I’d own more if I could! When Spandau Ballet dangle a “Diamond” t-shirt in front of my widened eyes, of course I’m going to want one very badly! My love for this album is in reverse geometric proportion to the millions more who [foolishly] turn their noses up at this not terribly successful album. And then there’s the other five albums as well.

So the facts are that these shirts will be shipped on August 18th, and are currently in pre-order status on the band’s webstore. Does that mean that they are printing to order [fiscally a smart thing to do] and once they ship we are all out of luck? Possibly. I don’t have the answers, but better safe than sorry, I say. The shirts are priced more kindly than if we were to buy them at the merch table, I think. And given that Spandau is on ice right now [and for the foreseeable future] there probably won’t be any merch table to buy them at. So, how much per shirt, you ask?

• £22.99
• €26.99
• $29.99

Truth be told, I might pay a lot more for that fine, grey “Diamond” shirt if it was down to me! The shirts also have a feature that I’ve never seen before but it seems pretty classy to me. The “True” dove logo by David Band [r.i.p.] is silkscreened on the inside of the shirt under the “tag” printing. And you’d better believe that I put one in a shopping cart to see that the shipping to America was a decent enough $14.00. Not a deal breaker. But I’ve got lots of musical travels and adventures coming my way like a freight train that begin next weekend and keep me busy through Rocktober! I need to cull many shirts that I already have, as mentioned in the epic “Lost T-Shirt” thread of recent weeks. Still, I hope that I can find a spare $43.99 in some seat cushions. If you agree, then DJ hit that button!

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