Gold (Spandau Ballet song)

"Gold" is a 1983 single by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, taken from their third album True.

"Gold"
Single by Spandau Ballet
from the album True
B-side"Foundation" (live)
Released
  • 5 August 1983 (1983-08-05) (U.K.)
  • 1 November 1983 (U.S.)
Recorded1982
Genre
Length
  • 7:12 (extended version)
  • 4:51 (album version)
  • 3:51 (single version)
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)Gary Kemp
Producer(s)Jolley & Swain
Spandau Ballet singles chronology
"True"
(1983)		 "Gold"
(1983)		 "Pleasure"
(1983)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

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.

Release

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 reaching #29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Legacy

Ian Gittins described the song in The Guardian as a "brash blare of self-belief that appears to be constructed from pure titanium. It may be the least subtle song ever written, but, like Spandau Ballet, it mainlines sheer chutzpah."[3] Tony Hadley said, "'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." He said this to explain his earnings being higher since the start of the 21st century than they had been in the 1980s.[4]

The song has been used in two adverts for Bold laundry soap, in 2012 with child gymnasts[5] and in 2019 with an employable woman.[6]

"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".[7]

The song has also been turned into a football chant, with fans of West Ham replacing "gold" with "Joey Cole" or "Carlton Cole", both players who turned out for the team; fans of Celtic also chanted it when Carlton Cole played for them. Irish side Bohemian have adopted it as their club song, replacing the chorus of "gold" with "Bohs".

"Gold" was used in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the fictional in-game radio station "Wave 103". The song was also the theme music for the fictional game show Gold Rush in the 2001 Only Fools and Horses episode "If They Could See Us Now".

The song featured in a flashback in the "Buntin" episode of Still Game, where Boaby discovers that Pete the jakey has more about him than meets the eye, leading the characters to suspect he may be a spy.

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) Peak
position[8]
Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] 9
Canada RPM Top Singles[10] 12
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[11] 27
French Airplay Chart[12] 3
Netherlands Singles Chart 3
New Zealand Singles Chart 8
Poland (LP3)[13] 7
Spain (AFYVE)[14] 4
UK Singles Chart 2
US Billboard Hot 100 29
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs[15] 8
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 17

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Gold 400,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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. Gittins, Ian (1 October 2014). "Spandau Ballet review – return of the shoulder-heaving soul boys". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4knW9AZCjwQ. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SfxAwu1bug. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "Absolute Radio to play Gold over & over". Radio Today. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  8. Chart Positions - Allmusic.com
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. "Item: 3034 - Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada - RBM. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  11. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 11 February 1984. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  12. "Song artist 726 - Spandau Ballet". The World's Music Charts. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  13. "Notowanie nr 76" (in Polish). 1 October 1983. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  14. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. "Chart Highlights: Ke$ha Climbs To No. 1 on Pop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  16. "British single certifications – Spandau Ballet – Gold". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 April 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Gold in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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