Music Reviews 4U - Spandau Ballet - To cut a long story short - Review

 

Music Reviews 4U - Spandau Ballet - To cut a long story short - Review

Spandau Ballet - To cut a long story short 7" Vinyl single

To cut a long story short is quite apt as a reference point to start this in a series of music reviews. This review will cut the story of the music down into sections. Not only do you get an overview of the music, we'll include a few facts about the people and the equipment and my own memories of the time (if I was around then when the music was released, I was )! 

So, lets go back to 1980 to a band now named Spandau Ballet and as the last strains of punk rock were fading out, the 'new wave' music came into the British pop scene. 

The post punk scene was an exciting time as new musical technology having recently emerged, now forged ahead, changing popular music forever.

Spandau Ballet - To Cut a Long Story Short video -

filmed in the London Dungeon Tourist attraction

Spandau Ballet - the group

Formed in Islington in the mid 1970's, after a few lineup and name changes including the Gentry, they took the name Spandau Ballet that was apparently from a piece of Berlin Graffiti about Rudolf Hess, the last WW2 prisoner in Spandau Prison in Berlin. 

By now fronted by Tony Hadley (Vocals), Gary Kemp (Guitar, Synths), Steve Norman (Guitar, later Sax), Martin Kemp (Bass) and John Keeble (Drums) this was the group that has endured over the last 45 years with hiatus, breakups and reunions allowing.

Their breakthrough came playing at the Blitz Club in Covent Garden and Billy's in Soho in 1979-80, the Covent Garden area had been slated for redevelopment but likely due to the financial situation of Britain in 1979 after the collapse of the labour Government in 1979, this fiscal vacuum left the venue available until the nation became more financially viable and redevelopment could take place.

Spandau Ballet - Before the discord

The Blitz became one of the places for the new, young avant garde often students or fashion trend setters to be seen. The 'New Romantic' movement created by the Blitz and Billy's clientele for example were a diametric opposite to the nihilistic punk rockers of the Sex Pistols ilk. Punk imploded with the legacy of the late Sid Vicious. 

The 'Blitzers' of the New Wave were in effect the 'new Dandies' (Dandies had been the New Wave of their time in 1700's and 1800's London), the New Wave dressed in retro chic fashion, created their own take on the past and with many fashion students among the crowd, a new 'look' emerged in London, spreading out across the country.

Spandau Ballet became the house band at the Blitz, playing dance music inspired by soul and by American stars such as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.

 The Yamaha CS10 - key to the sound of the single

The key to the song was the repetitive riff running through the song that songwriter Gary Kemp came up with as the hook. Steve Norman, Guitar and later Sax player said that essentially once Gary had the Riff, the song was established.

The legacy of the track was that it launched over 30 dance music bands in the following year alone onto the charts. It created a new genre of music that rubbed along with performers like Eric Clapton, Elton John and Dire Straits - whose more traditional music structure co-existed with this new craft.

The Equipment - Enter Synth-Pop - the Sequenver and the Arpeggiator

Music technology in the 1970's had moved on from the Keyboards of the 1960's Mellotron (a proto synth) and the early Moog Synths of the late 1960's. 

Keyboards such as the 60's Fender Rhodes and the Vox Conqueror were ironically by this era having a resurgence as the Ska genre was being revisited by groups such as the Selector, The Specials, Madness and Bad Manners, who were putting their own mark on this music.

Duran Duran and Depeche Mode were two of the contemporary groups who were using the emerging new synth technologies in their music. Gary Kemp had bought a synth which no doubt contributed to the new music he was writing.

Synths like the Roland Juno, Yamaha DX7, Odyssey, Prophet and Emulator brands made their presence in the UK music charts felt. You can identify the signature sounds on many of the hits of the time. Emulator was one of the first Synths to have a sampling function.

The Yamaha CS-10 was as they say 'instrumental' in the sound of To Cut a Long Story Short. What some might say was that the riff of the song was a programmed arpeggiation, some Synths of this time did have arpeggiation functions - a single note when played could then create a set of played notes around that core note.

(Some Synths of the era could be programmed to play sequences of notes and arpeggiated notes in 'sequences' hence these Keyboards later became known as 'Sequencers').

The Yamaha CS-10 had no arpeggiator, but by using the LO-FI Oscillator, an arpeggiated style could be created. Certainly in the Studio, with the use of multi tracking, the arpeggiated phrases could be 'cut and pasted' electronically by re-recording the phrasings and adding them in sequences to a track. 

This was before the days of computerised 'cut and paste music' production was around, although Digital recording consoles were coming in by 1980, if you had the money!

To the video

The song having achieved air play on Radio 1 by DJ Peter Powell and others, that got this as then unsigned band out into the public domain and led to Chrysalis Records signing the band.

The subsequent video for the song was filmed in a venue called the London Dungeon, a tourist themed attraction in Tooley Street, London. The group were brilliantly styled in their fashion, it made anything of the punk era decidedly old hat. 

The band adopted a Scottish military Tartan inspired look for the video and with friends in the new wave movement who were often art school and fashion students as group followers, they were at the epicentre of a new look for avant garde youth of the time, life imitating art in these great times where pop and life co-existed in real time.

The music sounded exciting and the limited space of the video filming venue concentrated the action onto the group and a few of the Blitz club entourage appearing as extras in the video. 

Shot for a by now modest budget of £5000, there is no doubt that this video really launched the band visually. It shows that simple works well, when you compare it to some of the modern productions of today costing in real terms so much more to achieve.

The first time I saw the group was on a Saturday morning television show, I thought on seeing their performance this was Band unique - in terms of the look and the sound, this was very different and I liked it. The riff was catchy and the electronic style of the music was refreshing.

As the front man, Tony Hadley really stood out, his style was almost operatic, we hadn't seen anything like this in this form before. 

The only reference point to this musical style was from singers like Mario Lanza, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra from the 50's and 60's - Tony Hadley by chance had coincidentally met Frank Sinatra at a concert in London.

The Legacy

The legacy of the song cannot be just written off as a piece of throwaway pop music, when it existed ironically in precisely that sort of arena - in the charts for a few weeks and gone, as was the fashion.Good music never goes away and this hasn't. 

That said, we now still hear on the radio many of the pop music hits of the last 60  plus years rubbing shoulders with music from the stars of today. 

Could this song be improved? I doubt it, it did what was required, the band had the visual image to carry it off on stage or on Top of the Pops and the other music shows of the time. The lyrics are quality, meaningful and are delivered over the insistent and urgent arpeggiated riff.

Even now 45 years on this song does not rally sound dated, music technology may have moved on, but even today songs from that 80's era and before are still sampled in modern music. The test is that it still sounds great today.

The longevity as I frequently say is down to the legacy of this group having done the musical apprenticeship as a group in the pubs and clubs. With the talent of the players and the song writers, great music endures. 

It was fortunate in this era that Gary Kemp could write his songs as he envisaged them. Today, song writing is more like a unionised restrictive practices exercise with every man and his dog on the credits for their one or two lines of contribution, it seems.

The legacy of this song is that one man wrote it, the contributions of the players in the studio brought it to life and it still sounds great. 

It didn't need Uncle Tom Cobbley and his mates putting their Ten Shillings worth into the song to make it work as would be commonplace today.

The memories of the era

The early 1980's were an interesting time if you were young and in London or the London area like I was at the time.

The Cold War was at its height and we lived in the shadow of that and the fact we might be literally gone in a flash from Soviet missiles. 

I worked in London over the first few years of the 80's and briefly in the Kings Road in 1983 near the World's End part of Chelsea, it was a great time to be around the capital.

Not only that, but I was at that time making music with a band made up of people I had been at school with, we had left school in 1982 and by 1983 were writing our own music which we slotted in between covers of mostly 50's and 60's classics when we played live.

It was a great time to see the fashions of the time, even then young people of our age wore the fashions as 'normal' attire, this didn't sit well with many of the starchy office environments of the time, but you'd often see women who worked in shops or offices creatively using make up and hair styling that made them stand out. They looked great, different, stylish. It was an exciting time to be there - like the 60's was for the previous generation.

The 80's was a great era to be around in, the 90's with its grungy laziness seemed to be a backwards step I thought. 

You just had to be there in the 1980's to see the young peacocks. The 80's had the advantage over the 60's in that it also had the great music of its own time and also the legacy of the 60's to draw on which it did.

There was a buzz and a vibe to the time. To cut a long story short, I was there....

Guitar Reviews 4U - the Gretsch 6120TG Nashville in Azure Metallic

  

Guitar Reviews 4U - the Gretsch 6120TG Nashville in Azure Metallic

Still shown on the Gretsch site as of October 2025

This special Players edition 6120 Nashville in Azure Metallic Blue - 

a great colour against the Gold plated hardware on this Terada Japan Gretsch

Now available also in Midnight Sapphire a darker shade of Blue

A few years back Grestch introduced the Player series of guitars, at the same time as it had the Professional series guitars in the line. 

The Player series level of Gretsch guitars appears now to be a new 'standard' Japan level guitar range, with the Professional series now in the Custom Shop level. The Player is more player friendly and the Professional, more vintage specification.

Or so it appears.... Here's how this seems to be balancing out. Before we dive into the review, I'll give you a brief outline of how the Japan guitars and the model names and appointments have recently evolved.

Here the Blue really vibes as it catches the light - a classic Terada

guitar with the legendary easy playing neck does not disappoint

The Player series now seems to encompass the classic models made in Japan, but with new twists. In short, if we take the above 6120 guitar, we have a 1 selector switch and 2 Volume, 1 Tone and 1 Master Volume controls on what is a basic 6120 1959 style guitar. Previously in this level, a 6120 would have a Tone Switch configuration with 2 Toggle Switches.

(In the 90's the Japan guitars often featured 'odd' hardware features like Block fretboard markers on a 6120 with a 'V' Bigsby B6C.These had more 'arched' headstock top profiel shapes, some even featured De Armond pickups - basically there were some guitars and Fender did similar things, where they combined a 'vintage' looking Maple neck Stratocaaster with narrow 12th fret dots. With the Gretsch buyout, the guitars became more as they were.)

This 6120 offers you 'Player' functionality and playability without the hard work of 'original' pattern neck profiles, or the more complex (if you don't know how it works) switching for example. 

Also, the Tuners on this 6120 are locking type which means you get nice ratio geared greased and sealed from the dust Tuner units, not higher ratio open back units with a rather agricultural industrial gear ratio as on the old 50's guitars, so what Gretsch is doing now in this level of guitar is giving you functionality, looks and playability but without total 'as they were made' appointments. 

As an aide, my 6120 AM & TM guitars have sealed Grover Machines, my 6120DC from 2003 has the open backs. The Japan guitars had sealed Grovers, my 6120 Duane Eddy from 99 has these, the modern version has the open backs.

This azure blue is hard to photograph - it has 'trick' properties -

Like a custom car paint, the metallic in it as you can see

plays the light reflection back to the eye from light to dark

This 6120TG (Tremolo, Gold Plated Hardware) Nashville is a modern take on the now 70 year old Chet Atkins 6120 guitar from 1955. There have been Blue paint Gretsch 6120's over the years, the Brian Setzer Hot Rods and 6120's in Blue from Japan, but they have been often limited in number, with most people opting for Orange stain guitars. Or Hot Rod 6120's if you want more adventurous colours!

This Azure blue pops in the light - depending on the light source -

Daylight can appear dark, sunlight can show off the tint and candy metal effect,

Artificial light can really make the paint look almost Kingfisher Blue -

A darker Midnight Sapphire colour is now offered.

In 2021 these 6120 Nashvilles with Gold Hardware started appearing, those of you following Gretsch will note that the 6118 -60 Anniversary guitars of this time had also gone over to using locking machine heads, as does this one. The 6118 was long famous for its adherence to the Grover open back 'cog' style gearing, had now gone modern with sealed greased machines. 

(In context and I cannot figure out why, Gretsch keeps on putting those budget open back Tuners on the 5420T, rather than sealed units as on the cheaper 2420 Streamliner?)

The recent Player series guitars also gained a variation of the 59 Trestle bracing but with only the 'feet' at the rear end by the Bridge.

This variation of the feet provides Trestle support from top to back boards on both sides under the Bridge, this gives you stability, feedback reduction but a degree of 'feedback control' as you can if you get near to the amplifier utilise the 'edgy' feedback this gives that makes the guitar feel alive. The boards have more movement and are less 'contained' than is the braces had 4 contact points making the bracing more rigid in effect.

You are almost getting old Ford Mustang Blue vibes here! 

Seeing this with your own eyes you'll appreciate how good this colour is!

This is actually a truer colour shade that you will see when you 

look at the guitar in natural light indoors - deep blue!

Body depth at 2.5" is the same as the Hot Rod and the 6120 AM & TM guitars, it features a 16" width body, the fretboard is Ebony and has that great feel, as does the fairly slim neck with vintage height frets, the Terada guitars as the main producer of Japan guitars for some years have settled on a neck profile that is very easy to play even if you are a Stratocaster player used to smaller neck guitars. The necks on these guitars are amazing to play.

The new FT-67P Pickups are really clear sounding, finished in Gold 

as is the String thru B6GP Gold plated Bigsby unit

Whether you are country or jazz player, you'll find the new FT-67P pickups which are also on the Double Platinum 6118 and Falcon guitars sound really clear and precise.

I normally play straight sounds with just soem chorus and reverb to enhance the sound, these FT67's really sound clear, on the neck pickup, played close to the bridge you can almost get a Dynasonic sound for a bit of Duane Eddy with tremolo on the amplifier.

The Bridge base is Ebony and is topped with a Tunamatic with blade saddles, I swap the blade type Bridge unit straight out for a Roller Saddle Tunamatic version on my guitars mostly and this allows the Bigsby to work easily and to keep the strings in tune better. 

Supplied strings are 11's and were the originals on the guitar, I changed them for 10's when I swapped the Bridge for the Roller Saddle Tunamatic. The action of the guitar was very good and after the new strings and the Tunamatic swap, a small amount of adjustment was required as the replacement was a higher section bridge. A quick intonation adjustment and it was playing really nicely.

I did take the string height at the Bridge measurement before I did this work and it is now right back in place as was. New strings and the new bridge make this sound amazing. I fitted a set of D'Addario EXL 10's 10-46 on it which I use on all the Gretsches I have. 

The paint shade is Azure Metallic blue - darker than Fairlane Blue, the newer version of this 6120 guitar from 2024 now has Midnight Sapphire Metallic blue which is really darker in shade than Azure. The Azure really works nicely with the Gold hardware.

The Blue Metallic colours really sing!

6120TG Azure, 5420T Fairlane, 6120 Hot Rod Blueburst

The rest of the guitar is really as you expect on a modern 6120 from Japan in that it is high quality all the way down the line, with white binding on neck, headstock and body with white black white sandwich binding on the body edges. Oversize F Holes are bound too, the white against the blue really looks good here.

Electronics are simple and feature a single pickup selector switch as on a 1958 6120 (or modern 5420T Electromatic), a nice Metal Jack Socket Plate is now fitted which helps to protect the paint from jack plugs and damage. The Pots are Master Volume, two pickup volumes and Tone pot with oil and paper capacity, featuring treble bleed circuitry.

A Tunamatic Roller Bridge was installed -

Makes the Bigsby stay in tune better

At the tail end is the reliable Bigsby in Gold Plate and this now has no string ball end pins on, the string ball ends sitting in recesses inside the round bar to allow for easier string changes. I found that you have to bend the plain end slightly at an angle to get the string to feed into the hole. the Top E string runs close to the side of the frame and it is trickier to get this string through. 

The Bigsby is smooth and has good tone transfer, I have installed a Roller Saddle Bridge which makes the string path travel smoother when using the Bigsby. I restrung the guitar with 10's as it had the original 11's on which has improved it no end.

Schaller Strap locks are the final touch and this is good to have as stock fitment, the Gretsch turn barrel strap buttons can be easily dropped! Strap lock buttons snap into place easily and give a secure strap situation. 

A Gretsch branded TKL Hardshell case is included too.

L-R - A study in Blue Gretsches!

6120 in Azure Blue, 5420T in Fairlane Blue and

6120 Hot Rod in Blueburst

Having owned a number of 6120's over the years, these new Nashville 6120's are some of the best I have played for sound and ease of playability. The finish and build quality is really great, compared to solid body guitars costing two plus times as much, these offer great value for money. When you consider a Custom Shop Stratocaster is likely twice the price of this guitar, you can see the value for money.

I was actually looking at buying a used 6120 Hot Rod but this appealed to me greatly, so I purchased it unplayed from a retailer I have used before, but I was not disappointed, a great guitar, easy to play with a great sound and colour! It was set up well which they are good at, some retailers do not even touch the guitar and ship it as is.

Check out the Player series, if you want something in the same area but without laying out too much money, try the new Synchromatic guitars available in Nashville and Falcon versions for a more wallet friendly price.