True (Spandau Ballet song)

"True"
Artwork for vinyl releases
Single by Spandau Ballet
from the album True
B-side	"Lifeline" (remix) "Gently" (US)
Released	15 April 1983[1]
Recorded	October–December 1982
Studio	Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas) Red Bus (London)
Genre	Blue-eyed soul[2] pop
Length	5:39 (single version) 6:29 (album/12-inch version) 6:08 (The Twelve Inch Mixes version) 5:17 (music video version) 4:58 (promo 45 edit)
Label	Chrysalis Reformation
Songwriter(s)	Gary Kemp
Producer(s)	Tony Swain Steve Jolley Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet singles chronology
"Communication" (1983) "True" (1983) "Gold" (1983)
Music video
"True" on YouTube

"True" is a song by English pop band Spandau Ballet, released in April 1983 as the title track and third single from their third studio album. It was written by the band's lead guitarist and principal songwriter Gary Kemp to express his feelings for Altered Images lead singer Clare Grogan. Kemp was influenced musically by songs of Marvin Gaye and Al Green he was listening to at the time, and lyrically by Green and the Beatles. "True" reached number one on the UK singles chart in April 1983 and made the top 10 in several other countries, including the US, where it became their first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100.

Kemp wanted to shift the sound of Spandau Ballet into soul and incorporated band member Steve Norman's newfound interest in the saxophone into his writing; the band also updated its look to suits for the song's music video and tour. "True" was recorded with most of the other tracks from the album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. The True album was then released as "Communication", its first single, was climbing the UK Singles Chart. DJs were so enthusiastic about playing the title song that the band knew it would be their next single.

The song has since become the band's signature hit. It has been covered by Paul Anka in a swing style, and used in films such as Sixteen Candles and 50 First Dates, as well as TV series such as Modern Family. Other artists have sampled it in their own hits, including P.M. Dawn, who went to number one in the US with "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" in 1991.