There will be few more curious spectators at Odsal's Super League curtain-raiser tomorrow than Tony Hadley.

The former Spandau Ballet frontman has been booked to help Bradford Bulls' first home league match of the season off to a lively start.

But despite being a self-confessed rugby league novice, he is keen to stay on as an interested onlooker after he has played his 30-minute set to warm up the crowd.

For all the sporadic success of clubs like London Broncos, rugby league remains a mystery to many outside its northern heartland - none more so than Tony Hadley, who was the voice behind a string of hits in the 1980s, including True, Gold, Chant No. 1 and To Cut A Long Story Short.

But he finds the sport's bone-juddering tackling appealing.

"I'm not really a rugby league man. I'm a big football fan but I like rugby and I have been to a few games," said Tony.

" Being a London boy from the Angel, Islington, we never really played rugby at our school.

" I quite like the fact that in all the deluge of political correctness, you have still got a game like rugby which still kicks butt."

Tony Hadley no longer enjoys the same high profile that he did when Spandau Ballet were at the height of their popularity during the briefly-flourishing New Romantic fad, which also spawned bands like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode.

But he has successfully made the tricky transition from being part of a band to a solo artist.

It's been quite a switch for him, as Spandau Ballet were not some group fabricated behind closed doors by record company moguls with an eye on a gap in the market but the product of a genuine friendship between a group of teenagers.

He had originally been a school band called The Makers with guitarists Gary Kemp and Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble, all of whom were later in Spandau Ballet.

After more than 20 years of enjoying the cosy environment of being in a band with his mates, striking out on his own was a big step for Tony.

"It was pretty nerve-racking going solo first of all," he said.

"It was the first time I had done anything solo since I was a kid. When I was young I was in a talent contest as a solo act. The responsibility on you is quite daunting.

" I made a lot of mistakes but it's been a good learning process."

While singers like former Housemartins vocalist Paul Heaton have been successful by starting afresh, fronting the Beautiful South in his case, Tony always wanted to make a go of it as a purely solo artist, even though he has put together his own regular band rather than just using sessions musicians.

"Some people like to hide behind the name of a band again," he said.

"I don't think I'd ever go out as Tony Hadley and The Vagabonds or anything like that. The band has in some ways come about as an accident over a number of years.

"I'm a great believer in loyalty and I expect the same in return.

"John Keeble from Spandau Ballet is the drummer and he's tremendous. Everyone else we just get on so well and we have a great rapport.

"It isn't an 'us and them' situation. You don't see a Tony Hadley dressing room and another one for everyone else.

"I like to be on my own but it's completely democratic.

"Having said that, the buck stops with me. I quite enjoy that, though. There are some great things about being in a band but what I don't like is that sometimes you end up compromising.

"I like the freedom you get as a solo artist. We write together but at the end of the day it's my name that is on the records or the posters."

Booking Tony for tomorrow's game is a coup for promoter Dave King, who hopes to line up other big names for pre-match entertainment throughout the rest of the season.

Tony himself promises there will be some oldies in his set.

"I love studio work but to me it's getting out doing gigs is really what it's all about," he said.

"I'm a great believer in playing what people want to hear so we will be doing a couple of Spandau Ballet numbers as well as a couple of covers and a couple of new songs.

"It's just a bit of a one-off, to be honest. We have been working really hard, touring right up to Christmas.

"We'll be doing the new album in May and then have June, July and August off then bring it out in the autumn."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.