When I was younger, I heard a rumor that British pop group Spandau Ballet used to tell all Jews in attendance at their concerts to leave. I had always believed this to be true, probably because Spandau was the name of a concentration camp (and ‘Spandau Ballet’ was a Nazi guard phrase describing the death contortions of executed Jewish prisoners in the gas chambers).
The topic came up again recently when one of their songs came on the radio and I found myself singing to it.
So I decided to find out whether or not the rumor is
A Google search did not reveal any evidence of this or any other antisemitism from the band, although it did show the question has been asked by others. So I am not completely delusional.
It did, however, reveal that band member Gary Kemp is married to a Jew:
When I met my wife, who’s Jewish, 15 years ago, we started arguing straightaway, so we knew we were right for each other. But after four weeks we split up dramatically. Then one evening I opened the door and she had an apple strudel in her hand. Her mum suggested it as the best way to solve the situation. It worked.
And former lead singer Tony Hadley seems anything but racist. He is also a supporter of the Conservative Party and an admirer of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which makes him less likely to detest Jews in my mind.
By the way, the band chose the name after friend and writer Robert Elms told them he had seen that phrase written on a wall on a weekend trip to Berlin.
In other words, I am willing to call BS on this rumor* over 30 years after I first heard it.
*just like with the Phil Collins antisemite rumor
