The original romantic, Tony Hadley, one-fifth of the 1980s band Spandau Ballet which was behind hits True and Gold, will be flying solo at Epsom Downs Racecourse on July 11 with his own band.

With a new album on the way in October, Hadley speaks to Vibe about making-up with Spandau Ballet, why he’s a big One Direction fan, and how the bands in the 80s were the last ones with the ability to shock...

Q: What can people expect from The Tony Hadley Band as part of the Epsom Live! at Epsom Downs Racecourse On July 11?

A: "First and foremost, fun. "People come to racecourses because they want a great day out and a party. To me, there’s always a festival-type atmosphere.

"You’ve really got to give people what they want.

"I’ll be playing the hits, True, Gold, Barricades, and other stuff I love.

"I’ve seen people try to be clever and it doesn’t work. People want to deny their past - if I didn’t do True that would be suicidal."

Q: What is The Tony Hadley Band like?

A: "It’s a great band, we’ve been together for a long time. We’re not a wishy-washy ‘hey let’s sing a nice ballad’ band. We’re a pretty tough band.

"Johnny Keebles from Spandau Ballet is with me on drums.

"We are a great bunch of mates. We work together in the studio, we write songs together and that’s what we’re in the middle of that now - recording the new album."

Q: What can people expect from the new album?

A: "I started thinking about the album and working on a few songs before Spandau Ballet got back together again and then we were on tour. I came straight out of Spandau and went straight on the road again with my own band.

"I’m not really good at writing and recording when I’m on the road. So literally in the last few months I’ve really dedicated myself to it.

"We’ve got the first couple of singles all ready to go.

"I’ve really gone back to my roots to Spandau Ballet, the 1980s, Cut A Long Story Short - but with a bit more oomph.

"One of my favourite periods of Spandau was the early days when it was very much guitar-based, fall-on-the-floor, quite dancey music.

"The album will have classic pop songs with a bit of edge which are just pretty groovy really.

"With this album I said ‘look, I’m doing it my way, that’s it’.

Q: Are you working with any big names on the album?

A: "I’ve worked with some great writers and producers - Jake Gosling who has worked with Ed Sheeran, the One Direction guys and Paloma Faith. Doris Pearson who is in Fivestar and she’s a great singer and a great writer. Rob Davis did all the Kylie stuff.

"Everyone whose heard snippets of the album has been going ‘wow, I want to be involved’ and that’s a good sign. I’m really excited about it."

Q: Spandau Ballet reunited in 2009 for a tour. What was it like being back together with the boys?

A: "We got back together after 20 years of not liking each other very much.

"For me, I’ve never stopped gigging and performing, and Johnny Keeble has been a drummer with me in the band, so for me and Johnny it wasn’t a big deal.

"For the others it was like ‘wow, we haven’t done this in so long’. Gary and Martin [Kemp] were acting, Steve [Norman] was dabbling with music but not to the extent that myself and Johnny were.

"For them it was a little bit daunting.

"Bands fall out all the time, it’s like a marriage, but the nice thing was to get back together in a room again, have a drink, have a bit of fun, and put the past behind us.

"I keep in touch with the others and there’s talk about getting back together, but when that will happen I don’t know.

"We left the Spandau Ballet tour and all went off and did our own thing again. I think that works quite well because my main priority is being a solo artist with The Tony Hadley Band, but the Spandau thing is a bit of fun that we might do every few years."

Q: Why do you think Spandau Ballet was such a hit band?

A: "We were the last decade where the media really embraced music. Everyone got to know us - a whole generation of people.

"We survived for a long time, but television also really wanted pop on all the time so people couldn’t get away from us.

"The market is so flooded now, but in those days, record companies really did get behind the records and put a massive marketing spend behind you so you had a pretty good chance of establishing yourself as a major artist.

"They were great songs, fashion was really big, and fashion and the media went hand-in-hand.

"That decade was different, it was changing - politically, musically, fashion-wise. It was a very different time to today."

Q: Why were the 1980s a special time in music?

A: "Rock ‘n’ roll has always been about shockability - not about being offensive, but stirring things up.

"The 1980s was the last decade which had a mild shock factor.

"If you look at punk in the mid-1970s into the romantic period, the establishment was still shocked about what people were doing. Those kids are now the adults.

"We pushed the boundaries of taste and morality to such an extent that nothing’s shocking any more.

"Any band that comes along now that wants to shock people, they would have to be offensive to do that. Spandau weren’t offensive, we were trying to be different."

Q: What do you think of reality shows like The X Factor and The Voice?

A: "I watch them all, I love them. I really don’t see what the problem is.

"You get all these artists going ‘it’s all rubbish, it’s killing music’ - nonsense, it’s not killing music. There’s always been shows like that - Opportunity Knocks, New Faces.

"If you said to a solo artist ‘would you like to be on The X Factor at 8 o’clock on a Saturday night and you’ve got a chance of maybe a record contract’, are you going to stay no?

"There are still millions of bands coming up in the normal way, playing in clubs, doing what we did in the band."

Q: Who is your favourite current artist or band?

A: "The Killers have been around for ages, but I love them, and the Kaiser Chiefs, Muse, Kasabian. I’m a bit of a rocker really.

"Ed Sheeran is a very, very talented songwriter. Paloma Faith is really cool.

"We took the kids to see One Direction recently, as they love them. What a great band, we had such a good time. They’re really good guys. It’s pure pop, but it’s good stuff."

Q: What would you like people to say about Tony Hadley?

A: "He was in a great band and has become a great solo artist. I think I always cut it, I give people 110 per cent.

"I love singing, I love being on stage, and that’s the thing - I’ve never gotten bored of it. Lots of artists get really fed-up with the travelling, I don’t.

"I still get a kick out of what I do and still like a kid in a sweet shop.

"I was a kid watching Top of the Pops. I wanted to be on there, I wanted to make music. The dream came true. I signed my first record deal when I was 20. I’m 53 and I’m still doing it. I’m very, very lucky. Not many people get to live the dream and get paid for it."

Tony Hadley - Epsom Live!; Epsom Downs Racecourse; July 11; adult tickets are £22.50 in advance and £25 on the day; 17 and unders are £9 in advance and £10 on the day; call 0844 5793004; visit www.epsomdowns.co.uk/live/Tony-Hadley