Only When You Leave

Spandau Ballet had their greatest success to date with their 1983 album True, which spent a week at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and yielded 4 hit songs, including the title track, which became their first number 1 UK single. The band decided to continue working with their True co-producers, Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, on their next album, Parade, which was recorded in Munich. The band's guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp described "Only When You Leave", the first single from the new album, as "a good mediator between True and Parade. It's got quite a bare arrangement, but it's still melodic, still soulful."{{cite magazine |title=Spandau Ballet on Parade |magazine=Number One |issue=57 |date=2 June 1984 |last=Simper |first=Paul |page=11|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48617476272/in/album-72157710536159688/ |access-date=6 January 2023}}

File:Only When You Leave screen shot.jpg (as Hitchcock did in Strangers on a Train, 1951)."{{cite book|title=Film and Television In-Jokes|author=Bill van Heerden|page=256|year=1998|publisher=McFarland & Co.|isbn=978-0-7864-3894-5}}]]Although Kemp normally would come up with whatever concept or storyline was presented in Spandau Ballet videos, his focus on the new album meant handing over control of "Only When You Leave" to the director.{{cite magazine |title= Socks 'n' surrealism |magazine=Record Mirror |date=2 June 1984 |last=Strike |first=Andy |page=14|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48041968821/in/album-72157709030333083/|access-date=8 January 2023}}{{efn|"Gary plays a large part in Spandau Ballet videos, thinking up the concept and storyline directly from his lyrics, but he's handed over control of 'Only When You Leave' to an outside director because of the band's hectic schedule at present, as he explains. "We only finished the new album a couple of days ago, so it's all been a matter of finding the time."}} Lead singer Tony Hadley summarized "Only When You Leave" as a song about "a lover's revenge" in explaining director Simon Milne's decision that the music video would interweave surreal vignettes saluting Alfred Hitchcock films with scenes of the band performing, noting that the late director's films were "all about romance, murder and revenge".{{cite magazine |title=Spandau Ballet: "Only When You Leave" |magazine=Number One |issue=60 |date=4 August 1984 |last=Bursche |first=Paul |page=37|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48647931256/in/album-72157710614091216/|access-date=8 January 2023}}{{efn|"Basically, it's a performance video," says Tone, "director Simon Milne{{nbsp}}… added some surreal images, which are tributes to Alfred Hitchcock's films. We thought it was appropriate because his films are all about romance, murder and revenge, and that's what the song is all about – a lover's revenge."}} Kemp explained that the vignettes, some of which borrow elements from movies like Strangers on a Train, are not meant to present an entire story, saying that "you just give people the general idea and they work it out for themselves."

The entire video was filmed on a Battersea{{cite magazine |title= Socks 'n' surrealism |magazine=Record Mirror |date=2 June 1984 |last=Strike |first=Andy |page=13|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48041967626/in/album-72157709030333083/|access-date=8 January 2023}} sound stage with minimal set decoration. A set of bleachers functions as a stage for some of the performance shots of the band, seating for an audience at an unseen tennis match, and stairs for various other scenes, one of which shows a young boy seated on them and dressed in white as he plays with a harlequin doll.{{efn|Spandau Ballet cover artist David Band dressed as a harlequin for the photo portion of the Parade album cover and incorporated harlequin sketches into the sleeve and label design as a replacement for the dove used for the True album. {{cite magazine |title=Spandau Ballet on Parade |magazine=Number One |issue=57 |date=2 June 1984 |last=Simper |first=Paul |page=10|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48617331386/in/album-72157710536159688/|access-date=18 January 2023}}{{efn|"At the moment I'm trying to replace the dove symbol from True. That's what the harlequin figure on the record is all about. I was a bit suspicious, though, when Martin (Kemp) got me dressed up in a harlequin outfit for the album sleeve parade…" }}}} A man smoking a cigar steps on the doll on his way up the stairs, and the boy's clothing changes at that moment from white to a dark shade of pink, a colour that predominates throughout. Dark pink fabric is the sole backdrop for all of the scenes, and the actress playing Hadley's lover is primarily wearing dark pink clothing. At one point, however, she is shown alongside a matching 1949 MG, and both the colour of the car and her clothing change from pink to white when Hadley touches her shoulder. Their relationship is first presented as she steps backward while Hadley falls to the floor as if she has just shot him. The same scenario is presented in reverse at the end of the video; he steps back as she falls to the floor. A scene at the start of the bridge to the song presents what looks to be her dead body being discovered by the tennis match audience members in the bleachers just moments after she and Hadley were in conversation.

"Only When You Leave" was listed on MTV's reports to Billboard indicating what videos were in rotation on the cable network, making its first appearance there in the 14 July 1984 issue, which indicated that it had been added to their playlist as of 3 July.{{cite magazine|title= Video Music Programming |magazine= Billboard |date= 14 July 1984 |volume= 96 |issue= 27 |page= 25 |issn= 0006-2510 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1984/1984-07-14-Billboard-Page-0025.pdf#search=%22spandau%20only%20when%20you%20leave%22}}

Recorded in spring 1984,{{cite AV media notes|title= Parade |others= Spandau Ballet |date= 1984 |type= record sleeve |publisher= Chrysalis Records |id= CDL 1473 |location= London}} "Only When You Leave" was released as a 7-inch single in the UK on 28 May of that year and peaked at number 3 there. It also reached number 2 in Ireland and the Netherlands, number 3 in Greece, number 4 in Spain, number 5 in Belgium, number 8 in Norway, number 10 in New Zealand, and number 34 in the US on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, making it their last chart entry there. Kemp was unhappy with the lower peak positions that their recent singles had attained stateside,{{Harvnb|Kemp|2009|p=224}}:'Communication' and 'Only When You Leave' had fallen away early. which resulted in their move from Chrysalis to CBS Records in 1986.{{Harvnb|Hadley|2004|p=132}}

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At the time of its release, most critics applauded "Only When You Leave" and appreciated Hadley's vocals. Paul Bursche of Number One magazine felt he was "emerging as a super crooner" and described the song as "superb pop".{{cite magazine |title=Spandau Ballet: Parade (Chrysalis) |magazine=Number One |issue=60 |date=4 August 1984 |last=Bursche |first=Paul |page=37|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48647931256/in/album-72157710614091216/|access-date=8 January 2023}} In their capsule review, the editors of Billboard magazine wrote, "Elegance, sophistication, panache and a dance beat to boot; unwonted restraint from singer Tony Hadley."{{cite magazine|author= |title=Billboard's Top Single Picks >Pop >Spandau Ballet – Only When You Leave|date=28 July 1984|magazine=Billboard|page=64|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1984/1984-07-28-Billboard-Page-0062.pdf#search=%22spandau%20only%20when%20you%20leave%22|access-date=8 January 2023}} Neil Tennant of Smash Hits concurred that Hadley "gives a warm, restrained performance on this funky and rockin' number which also displays Gary Kemp's talents as a scratchy rhythm guitarist."{{cite magazine |last=Tennant|first=Neil |author-link=Neil Tennant|title=Spandau Ballet: "Only When You Leave" |magazine=Smash Hits |issue=144 | date=7–20 June 1984 |page=19|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/51262390151/in/album-72157719444384636/|access-date=6 January 2023}} When his colleague Ian Birch reviewed Parade upon its release, he was effusive, opining that the song was "almost too good a start to the LP. Tony Hadley's vocals are more confident than ever; the production{{nbsp}}… is crisp and succulent at the same time; and the song itself is Gary Kemp's finest to date."{{cite magazine |last=Birch|first=Ian |title=Spandau Ballet: Parade (Chrysalis)|magazine=Smash Hits |issue=144 | date=5–18 July 1984 |page=21|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/51268162921/in/album-72157719456466501/|access-date=7 January 2023}} Conversely, however, Graham K. of Record Mirror thought it was "their weakest offering for ages" and dismissed it as "a grandiose, empty re-write of 'Foundation'."{{cite magazine |title= The battle for coverings of class. Sleeves to make you grieve… Spandau Ballet versus I-Level |magazine=Record Mirror |date=2 June 1984 |last=K |first=Graham |page=16|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48042005128/in/album-72157709030333083/ |access-date=6 January 2023}} In a negative review of Parade's fourth single, "Round and Round", Phil McNeill of Number One admitted, "The Spands did achieve a kind of pleasant perfection on the wonderful 'Only When You Leave'."{{cite magazine |title=Spandau Ballet: Round and Round |magazine=Number One |issue=77 |date=1 December 1984 |last=McNeill |first=Phil |page=52|url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/48743932717/in/album-72157710869239391/|access-date=4 February 2023}}

In retrospective reviews, Ian Gittins described the song in The Guardian as typical of the band's move into "slick, chart-friendly shoulder-heaving soul". Peter Larsen wrote for the Orange County Register that it mines "a vein of soulfulness tinged with nostalgia and romance".{{cite web | url= https://www.ocregister.com/2015/01/25/spandau-ballet-stays-true-to-its-sound/ | title= Spandau Ballet stays 'True' to its sound | work=Orange County Register | first=Peter | last=Larsen | date=25 January 2015 | access-date=6 June 2019}}

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• 7-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title= Only When You Leave |others=Spandau Ballet|year=1984|type= 7-inch single liner notes|publisher=Chrysalis Records|id=SPAN3}}

1. "Only When You Leave" – 4:48
2. "Paint Me Down" (live) – 4:39

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• 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title= Only When You Leave |others=Spandau Ballet|year=1984|type= 12-inch single liner notes|publisher=Chrysalis Records|id=SPANX3}}

1. "Only When You Leave" (extended mix) –6:45
2. "Only When You Leave" –4:48
3. "Paint Me Down" (live) – 4:39

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Credits adapted from the liner notes for Parade:

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Spandau Ballet

• Tony Hadley – lead vocals
• Gary Kemp – guitar and backing vocals
• Martin Kemp – bass
• Steve Norman – saxophone and percussion
• John Keeble – drums

Additional musician

• Jess Bailey – keyboards

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Production

• Tony Swain – producer, engineer
• Steve Jolley – producer
• Spandau Ballet – producers
• Richard Lengyel – engineering assistance
• Pete Hillier – equipment
• Nick Sibley – equipment
• David Band – illustration
• Mixed at Musicland Studios (Munich)

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book|last=Hadley|first=Tony|year=2004|title= To Cut a Long Story Short| place=London |publisher= Sidgwick & Jackson |isbn= 978-0-283-07386-1}}
• {{Cite book| last=Kemp | first=Gary | year=2009 | title=I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau | place=London | publisher=Fourth Estate | isbn=978-0-00-732330-2 }}

• {{youtube|hlLCC_gF8QY|"Only When You Leave" Official Music Video}}

{{Spandau Ballet}}

Category:1984 songs

Category:1984 singles

Category:Spandau Ballet songs

Category:Chrysalis Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Jolley & Swain

Category:Songs written by Gary Kemp