Interview: Spandau Ballet's Steve Norman

He said: "It's been unbelievable, wonderful on every level. It hurt when we went our seperate ways because we were friends from school. The split was devastating but now we've got our memories back. All those squabbles seem irrelevant.

"Musically we're playing better, everything just connected back in place. It's like beginning again and it's really exciting. It's refreshing and inspiring.

"If we were just doing it for the money people would just look right through that. I think we're bigger than that and there's potential to be even bigger.

"I think people who come to see the shows will be surprised at our energy. We're better on stage than on record because I don't think we ever captured that energy and vibe on disc."

Steve, 49, revealed the reunion was a long time coming, with the former friends seemingly irreconcilable after a royalty dispute 10 years ago. It left songwriter Gary Kemp and brother Martin on one side, with Steve, drummer John Keeble and singer Tony Hadley on the other.

"It started to improve about five years ago," said Steve. "A couple of mutual friends got Martin back in touch with me while I was living in Ibiza and he came over to visit.

"He walked in looking like Elvis - tall, tanned and handsome - and he just gave me a great big hug. We picked up from where we'd left off and went out and got very drunk.

"Martin, who was always the peacemaker, said Gary had softened and it just went from there. Tony took the longest to convince - he had vowed never to come back - but eventually he came round to the idea and it's been brilliant."

The history of the group stretches back to the late 1970s when they were all schoolfriends in north London. Becoming part of the New Romantic scene Spandau created an underground buzz on the London club circuit before unleashing themselves on the world with their first single, To Cut A Long Story Short. They quickly established themselves with a string of chart hits including Chant No. 1 and Musclebound.

Developing a slicker sound, with Steve taking on saxophone and percussion duties, saw Spandau's appeal go global and mega-hits like Gold and True became radio staples, as well as school disco favourites.

It meant the band were invited to be part of two of the seminal moments of popular music history - Band Aid and Live Aid. Steve revealed they almost didn't make it to the recording of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure's charity single in December 1984.

He said: "We were in Germany on tour and ended up having a drinking contest with Duran Duran the night before we were due to fly back for the recording.

"Needless to say it all went pretty far, although I'm pleased to say Spandau won that particular contest.

"It meant we didn't have much time to recover but we made it back in time with stinking hangovers.

"I'm proud we were on the record. Band Aid was a massive thing."

Steve is also pleased the band were asked to be part of Live Aid in July 1985.

He said: "At the time nobody realised the power of music. It took a scruffy Dubliner to do it and it changed the direction of music and politics.

"It was a really positive thing and it showed we musicians could be responsible.

"I don't really remember too much about it other than playing the saxophone solo in True. For the rest of our set I was just on autopilot.

"But I did watch most of the other bands. Status Quo were amazing when they kicked things off with Rockin' All Over The World but for me the highlight was The Who.

"I saw them at the Valley in the early 1970s and they were awesome so to stand by the side of the stage and watch them playing Won't Get Fooled Again was fantastic."

Spandau carried on until the end of the decade, although the hits began to dry up as musical tastes changed. For Steve and band-mate Martin Kemp there was an interesting diversion - they were signed up to play for fictional football team Melchester Rovers in the comic Roy Of The Rovers in 1986.

"That was great," said Steve. "They somehow found out Martin and I both played football and they approached us to be in it, probably because they thought it would boost their sales, and of course we agreed like a shot.

"I'm a big Spurs fan, although that has been difficult over the years because the rest of the Spandau boys are all Arsenal supporters. They have ganged up on me at times."

Steve spent a lot of the 1990s living in Ibiza where he explored other muscial genres and immersed himself in the island's club culture.

He also toured with Tony Hadley and John Keeble but the Spandau story eventually came full circle when they announced their return at a press conference on board HMS Belfast back in March. Since then they have been rehearsing hard and are keen to hit the road.

"We can't wait for the tour," said Steve. "We're like kids about it. We used to have a lot of fun and I think we'll have a lot of fun this time round.

"As a band we like to work hard and party hard. To be honest, it's the best job in the world."

The O2 shows in October are some of the most eagerly anticipated of the year and long-time fans of the band are in for a treat.

Steve said: "We want to give a greatest hits show because we never did one before. We won't have any new material but there will be a couple of surprise album tracks thrown in.

"We might take a couple of songs in a different direction but people still want to recognize songs from the opening bars. It's the soundtrack to their lives."

Spandau Ballet play The O2 from October 20-22. For tickets visit theo2.co.uk.