SINGAPORE — While singer Tony Hadley will tell you that there are cool things about going on tour with Spandau Ballet (“playing live — that’s the ultimate”); there are downsides too, such as, well, going on tour.

“I would say the worst thing about being on tour is the travelling we have to do — it doesn’t matter if you’re 25 or 55,” he said over the phone from London. “Especially long-haul flights, when you run out of films to watch!” he added, laughing.

Luckily for fans, Hadley and the rest of the gang from Spandau Ballet — Martin Kemp (bass) and his brother Gary (guitars), Steve Norman (saxophone, keyboards) and John Keeble (drums) — are making that long trek over to our shores for this year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Curiously enough, although Hadley has performed in Singapore a couple of times before, this will be the first time Spandau Ballet takes to the stage here.

“I can’t believe it — 35 years and we’ve never been there,” said Hadley, adding that he loved how enthusiastic the audiences here were for his solo shows. “So hopefully it’s going to be a great welcome.”

Spandau Ballet was, of course, one of the seminal British pop bands of the 1980s. Along with other music outfits such as Duran Duran, Tears For Fears and New Order, the band led the charge in what would be called the New Romantic era of pop music. The band’s first single To Cut A Long Story Short was a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom when it was released in 1980 and it opened the floodgates; although it would take a ballad, True, off the band’s third album of the same name, to really cement Spandau Ballet’s fame on the world stage.

What is interesting about that song is that the band did not think it would make it as a hit. “We recorded it in the Bahamas and the atmosphere there gave the song that vibe, that more relaxed feel,” Hadley said. “That was our first ballad. It’s a lovely soul song and I thought it wouldn’t work, because all our other hits had been fast numbers. But radio got on to it and loved it.”

“Of course, we’ve had our critics,” he continued. “Some people like us, some people hate us; some love my voice, others hate my voice. But it’s always going to be like that and I understand. I mean, I’m a big fan of Bruce Springsteen, but I met a guy the other day who couldn’t stand Bruce; and I was like, ‘What? How could you not like Bruce?’”

Perhaps it was due to the way things were back in the early 1980s. While fans loved Spandau Ballet’s songs, it seemed that people did not seem to care as much about the band’s musical ability as much as what the band members were wearing. They often sported coordinated bright-coloured suits (as was par for the course back then) and, with their perfectly coiffed hair, were the poster boys for the New Romantic look.

“That’s what was happening in London in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I think the biggest misconception about the band is that we weren’t as good … I mean, we’re all good musicians, but journalists were more interested in what we looked like than what we sounded like,” said Hadley.

“It took a long time for people to realise that we could actually play!”

While Hadley considers playing on stage at the Wembley Stadium in 1985 for the Live Aid benefit concert to be “one of the most unbelievable events ever”, he is looking forward to the F1 show. He promised that the band would break out all of its big hits — True, Gold, Communication, Only When You Leave, Through The Barricades — as well as a few newer tracks that were recorded after Spandau Ballet reunited in 2009 (following a hiatus of almost 20 years — the band broke up in 1990).

“We don’t go through the motions, we put our heart and soul into the show every night. Also, we’re going to do a segment where … you know we used to be a dance band, so we’re going to do a 15- to 20-minute medley of our dance songs. That usually goes down well.”

Just do not expect Hadley and his mates to bust a move onstage. “No, I can’t dance … I would never have made it into a boy band today. I mean, we move on stage. We don’t just stand still. We might be 55 but we’re still fit. But we don’t dance. You don’t want to see that.”

What Hadley would like the band to see while in Singapore is more of the country. “Just to enjoy it, you know, because we’re not there for very long,” he said. “That’s always the problem about going on tour. I’ve been to so many countries in the world to perform, and obviously you try to do the tourist thing, but we’ve not got much time for that, usually. It’s just the airport, the venue, the hotel — that’s about it. Hopefully, we’ve got a bit more time now and we can go out to enjoy the sights.” CHRISTOPHER TOH

Spandau Ballet performs on Sept 19 at Zone 1 (Village Stage). More details at http://www.singaporegp.sg/