Song · Spandau Ballet
“Only When You Leave” by Spandau Ballet
From the album Parade (1984)
“Only When You Leave” by Spandau Ballet appears on 5 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1984 and 2003. It was first released in 1984 on the album Parade. Its best result is #56 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #64 alternative song of 1984 and #3,908 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (spandauballet). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Only When You Leave" opened the Parade campaign for Spandau Ballet in June 1984, the lead single from their fourth album. Coming off the success of True in 1983, the band stuck with that record's co-producers, Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, and decamped to Munich to make the follow-up. Gary Kemp, the guitarist who wrote it, called it a go-between for the two albums, sparse in its arrangement but still tuneful and soulful.
Most critics singled out Tony Hadley's vocal, and the video spun the song's theme of revenge into a tribute to the late Alfred Hitchcock. It gave the band a number three in the UK, while in America it peaked at 34 and turned out to be their last visit to the Hot 100.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 68 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984 | 106 |
| 1984 | 56 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984 | 91 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 390 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 2002 | 1198 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 955 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
Also listed as: Only When You leave.
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