Round and Round (Spandau Ballet song)

"Round and Round"
Single by Spandau Ballet
from the album Parade
B-side"True" (live)
Released26 November 1984
RecordedSpring 1984
GenreNew wave
Length
  • 4:34 (single version)
  • 5:27 (album/12" version)
  • 4:27 (video version)
Label
Songwriter(s)Gary Kemp
Producer(s)
Spandau Ballet singles chronology
"Highly Strung"
(1984) 		"Round and Round"
(1984) 		"Fight for Ourselves"
(1986)

"Round and Round" is a song by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released as the fourth single from the 1984 album Parade. In their native UK, the song reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart, and reviews were mixed.

Release and commercial performance

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Recorded in spring 1984,[1] "Round and Round" was released in the UK on 26 November of that year[2] and peaked at number 18 there.[3] It also reached number 9 in Ireland,[4] number 11 in Italy,[5] number 14 in Spain,[6] number 16 in Australia.[7] and number 37 in the Netherlands.[8]

Critical reception

[edit]

Lesley White of Smash Hits summed it up as "slick, polished and confident. A hit—with me at least."[9] In a review of Parade for Record Mirror in which she finds little to recommend, Betty Page admitted the song had a "neat turn of melody".[10] Number One's Phil McNeill, however, wrote that band guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp "seems so obsessed with crafting his little pop gems, he doesn't notice how boring they are" and dismissed "Round and Round" as "well-crafted tedium".[11]

When the band reunited for their comeback tour in 2009, Dave Simpson commented on the song in his review for The Guardian: "Other songs have aged badly – the power ballads sound like they're stuck in an '80s suburban wine bar. However, 'Round and Round'… is hugely poignant."[12]

Music video

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The concept for the song's music video is the presentation of a school play by children in Key Stage 2. The video begins in the classroom as individual students daydream about the characters in the play: one sees the school headmaster as a vampire; another imagines their teacher as a snow queen. Other scenes involve rehearsals and the parents watching the play in which the boys are mostly monsters and vampires and the girls are dressed as flowers and snow princesses. Spandau Ballet were filmed separately from these scenes on a mostly bare stage with minimal set decoration. Members are shown sporadically throughout as they sing and play instruments alongside various school- and play-related props such as student desks, folding chairs, stacks of books and a blackboard. The entire video was filmed in black and white.

Track listing

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Personnel

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Credits adapted from the liner notes for Parade:[1]

Charts

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Chart performance for "Round and Round"
Chart (1984–1985) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 16
Europe (European Top 100 Singles)[15] 18
Ireland (IRMA)[4] 9
Italy (Musica e dischi)[5] 11
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 37
Spain (AFYVE)[6] 14
UK Singles (OCC)[3] 18

References

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  1. ^ a b Parade (record sleeve). Spandau Ballet. London: Chrysalis Records. 1984. CDL 1473.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ "News" (PDF). Record Mirror. 24 November 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Spandau Ballet: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Round & Round". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 16 February 2023. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Round and Round" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
  6. ^ a b Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  7. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 286. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ a b "Spandau Ballet – Round and Round" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  9. ^ White, Lesley (6–19 December 1984). "Spandau Ballet: Round and Round". Smash Hits. No. 157. p. 19. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  10. ^ Page, Betty (30 June 1984). "Bland Spands> Spandau Ballet: Parade (Chrysalis/Reformation CDL 1473)". Record Mirror. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  11. ^ McNeill, Phil (1 December 1984). "Spandau Ballet: Round and Round". Number One. No. 77. p. 52. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  12. ^ Simpson, Dave (18 October 2009). "Pop and Rock > Review > Spandau Ballet > Arena, Sheffield". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  13. ^ Round and Round (7-inch single liner notes). Spandau Ballet. Chrysalis Records. 1984. SPAN6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Round and Round (12-inch single liner notes). Spandau Ballet. Chrysalis Records. 1984. SPANX6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ "Top 75 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 5 January 1985. p. 7. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
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