"Raw" is a song by English
new wave band
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...
, released as the first single from their 1989 album ''
Heart Like a Sky''. It failed to make the top 40 in the UK but received mostly positive reviews.
Background
During the making of Spandau Ballet's 1986 album ''
Through the Barricades'', brothers and band members
Gary and
Martin Kemp were approached with the idea of starring in a film about twin gangsters
Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
Their work on the film disrupted the recording of their next album, ''
Heart Like a Sky'', and created tension between the Kemps and the rest of the band.
During a cover photo shoot for the first single from the album, "Raw", Gary Kemp criticized lead singer
Tony Hadley
Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley retur ...
's choice of clothing and thought the other band members would agree. Instead their saxophonist,
Steve Norman
Steven Antony Norman (born 25 March 1960) is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English New wave music, new romantic band Spandau Ballet.
Biography Early years
Steve Norman was born in ...
, responded sharply in Hadley's defence.
In his 2004 autobiography ''To Cut a Long Story Short'', Hadley wrote, "You just have to look at the shots from that session to see the hostility written all over our faces."
Kemp told ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
'' at the time of its release that "Raw" was "about paranoia" and that it was "based on"
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...
's 1987 film ''
Angel Heart''.
Dialog from the film can be heard on the Amnesia Mix of the song. Kemp said, "I wanted it to be voodoo, … I wanted it to be manic, and to have a kind of
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
feel, so at the beginning there's that wild trumpet. It's almost a ritualistic, drug-orientated feel."
[ ''Angel Heart'' also inspired the video, which was filmed at an old power station in South London.
]
Release and commercial performance
"Raw" was released in the UK on 22 August 1988[ and peaked at number 47 on the UK Singles Chart.][ It also reached number 11 in Italy,][ number 22 in Belgium,][ number 23 in the Netherlands][ and number 79 in Australia.][ Kemp described the song as " return to ']Chant
A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of no ...
'-style funk with a swamp-infested, malevolent beat that, in our opinion, would take Spandau Ballet straight back to the dance floor."[ He realized in retrospect, however, that new trends in dance music that the band was not following had taken over.][
]
Critical reception
"Raw" received mostly positive reviews upon its release. ''Smash Hits
''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...
'' critic Alex Kadis wrote, "Now they're back with probably their best offering yet! 'Raw' is a-brim with atmosphere and steamy bits and is really very exhilarating indeed." ''Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
''s Robin Smith wrote, "'Raw' is the stuff of which great comebacks are made. A fiery dance blend that hints nostalgically at the past but looks forward at the same time." '' Number One''s guest critic Mark Goodier gave the song three stars out of five, remarking, "This takes too long to get to the chorus."
Track listings
*7-inch single
Charts
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
1988 songs
1988 singles
CBS Records singles
Song recordings produced by Gary Langan
Songs written by Gary Kemp
Spandau Ballet songs