Viv Hardwick talks to Tony Hadley about his forthcoming nationwide tour and why he believes that Spandau Ballet could never hit the comeback trail like so many other 1980s acts.

SPANDAU Ballet are the one band who will never have a comeback tour says former frontman Tony Hadley. Too many unpleasant things have been said inside and outside the courtroom about the publishing royalties from the band's 1980s chart-topping days and Hadley is still clearly bitter about losing £400,000 in costs.

There are even suggestions that the rift with famous Spandau Ballet brothers Martin and Gary Kemp - Hadley, Steve Norman and John Keeble claiming they had a verbal agreement with Gary over profits from 20m albums and 23 singles - led to the break-up of his 23-year marriage.

In 2003, Hadley staked his comeback bid on winning the phone vote for ITV reality show Reborn In The USA and now he's back in demand.

A nationwide spring tour with Martin Fry of ABC takes in Darlington, Harrogate, Scarborough and Newcastle.

He says: "It's a nice position to be in... and life has been mad for some time. This year's my 25th anniversary in the business and to survive and still be successful after 25 years of the trials and tribulations of this crappy business I think is quite an achievement in itself.

"It's a really extensive tour and includes 62 dates starting February 1 and finishes early May, taking us all over the shop. We're doing the Albert Hall plus many of the beautiful theatres around the country." He rates the North-East as one of his most enthusiastic audiences and calls his fans in the region "a lovely bunch of nutters".

Looking back at Reborn In the USA, which returned his private life to the pages of tabloid newspapers, 43-year-old Hadley has no regrets about taking part in the show. "You're in the public eye and always up for grabs. I don't always agree with it and they're unkind sometimes as well but that's, in a sense, what you're up against," he says about having his crumbling marriage to wife Leonie being featured at a time when he'd been portrayed as a happy father of three. "I've had so many bad things said about me that I've lost count. You can't get too hung up about it or you'd end up crucifying yourself.

"You've got to be careful to keep a balance. There was a really, really nasty article written about my book (To Cut A Long Story Short) which turned out to be written by someone from my old school. At least if I died tomorrow there would be some record of my existence on this earth, which is more that you can say for a lot of people... not that I want to die tomorrow.

"We are just such a bunch of cynics in this country and we don't like people who are successful. The fact is that I've worked really hard, paid my dues time and time again and had a degree of talent and managed to do well in this business."

He actually viewed Reborn In The USA as "eight weeks of primetime television exposure" when he already had a tour booked, an album ready to release and a charity trip to Peru arranged. "Lionel Richie and Shania Twain did Fame Academy for the BBC and they are two of the biggest recording stars in the world, but they know that TV sells records and keeps your personality in people's front rooms."

Asked about artists from the 1980s on the golden oldies tour circuit he says: "I still feel good about myself and the future and the whole nasty past and the business of Spandau is behind me. I think the others would dearly love to get the band back together but there's far too many personal issues for that to happen. Perhaps we're the band that promises not to tour again.

"Things have changed and life throws a few problems at you and that's how things go. I can't take too much notice of being painted as the bad guy over my marriage split and sometimes it's best left ignored. If I believe everything that was said about me then I wouldn't be talking to you now, but my private life is my private life.

"You can't go through life worrying that at every twist and turn there's going to be someone with a camera to tell the world what you're doing. I certainly don't give people like that a second thought. I don't think if I'm going to the corner shop 'oh my good God I can't go out looking like this', if that's your job then get on with it."

Son Tom is 21 next month, and involved in the music business; daughter Toni, 19, is just starting out as an actress and son Mackenzie is 14 and wants to be a pro footballer.

He says: "They're just normal kids and don't care two hoots about who or what you are. Every kid goes through the Kevin and Perry stage where they don't want to be seen with their parents, but that's all part of growing up and I don't take it personally."

The current tour is the result of a long friendship between Hadley and Martin Fry and follows a highly successful 2004 tour involved the singer and Pete Cox from Go West.

He says: "We decided to put the whole kit and caboodle together again with a whole brass section and nearly all different songs."

His book is being released as a paperback this year and he's re-writing the final chapter. "I'm arguing with the publisher about how we're going to bring people up to date on a few things. I think they want me to say more about my private life than I'm actually willing to do so, but we'll see," says the man who admits that he was either going to become an alcoholic or somehow find a way through life.

* Tour dates: March 22, Darlington Civic, Box Office 486555; April 1, Harrogate Arts Centre, 01423 537230; April 20, Scarborough Futurist, 01723 374500 and May 4, Newcastle City Hall, 0191 2221778.

Published: 20/01/2005