LESS THAN A YEAR AF TER LEAVING SPANDAU BAL LET, TONY HADLEY I S BACK WI TH A NEW SOLO ALBUM AND A REVIVED SENSE OF PURPOSE. HE GUIDES US THROUGH HOW HI S FOUR DECADES IN POP HAVE BROUGHT H IM TO WHERE H E I S TODAY. WARNING – MAY CONTAIN FRI L LY SHIRTS!

Truly Hadley Deeply… After leaving Spandau Ballet last summer, Tony Hadley is about to release Talking To The Moon, his brand new studio album

Tony Hadley is having a minor disaster. He’s in Aynho, near Banbury, where he’s putting the finishing touches to his new solo album, Talking To The Moon, and is speaking to Classic Pop from the studio’s phone. Only he’s dropped it… “I’ve nearly busted the phone,” he says. “Bloody hell. It’s not mine either. Sorry about this. Are you still there? Honestly, don’t let me anywhere near the control desk because I always end up breaking things.”

Fortunately for Hadley, work on his new album has, in contrast, progressed in a far more fruitful manner. Today, with producer Gary Stevenson, he’s adding some sax to the mixes and is just a few days away from mastering the album. It’s a significant record for Hadley. It’s his first since leaving Spandau Ballet last summer. And, while he has released a number of solo records in the past, he says: “I’ve never made one that’s all new, all original songs. I suppose over the years I’m known as a singer first and a songwriter second. I really wanted to embrace the songwriting side of me and I think I’ve done it with this album.”

While the record comes less than 12 months after Hadley’s departure from Spandau, it’s actually been in the works for significantly longer. “This album has been years in the making,” he says. “I suppose I started making it seriously a couple of years ago. I just wanted to get it right and make sure that I was really happy with the songs. At the same time I was going on tour, so the whole recording process has been interrupted so many times. I went on tour with Spandau for a year-and-a-half, and I think I was working on the album even then – I was certainly writing the songs. It’s been a long process but I’m very happy with it.”

Hadley has dabbled with solo releases in the past. His solo debut, The State Of Play, was released back in 1992 and since then there have been a couple of live albums, a collection of covers, a swing album and, in 2015, a Christmas record. As Hadley puts it: “I’ve been a solo artist for longer than I was ever in Spandau.” But this time round, you get the sense from Tony that he’s approaching his solo career with a renewed sense of vigour. He’s been at the heart of writing material for the LP, in conjunction with former Five Star member Doris Pearson, producer and songwriter Mick Lister, and Rob Davis – the former Mud guitarist who went on to write Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) for Spiller and co-wrote Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.