In its eulogy for Tie Rack, BBC News compared the chain and rival Sock Shop with some New Romantic heavyweights.

This sort of thing doesn't go unnoticed:

So Spandau are Sock Shop and Duran Tie Rack. White towelling, in that case. http://t.co/1RmegHahiv

— Gary Kemp (@garyjkemp) November 21, 2013

Peter Capaldi once supported Spandau Ballet on tour - he was a stand-up; they were desperate to avoid giving the impression they were part of the rock machine by doing something as "industry" as having a band blow them off stage ("support them").

Shapers Of The 80s has the full story, but it was Gary Kemp's passion for Clare Grogan that put Capaldi in the right place to get the gig:

Kemp, himself then 22, recalls vaguely how Capaldi came to his attention at the age of 23: “It was through Gerry MacElhone who managed Altered Images. Maybe he played me a tape, or something.” Clearly he had other more important things on his mind at the time. The point was Grogan had starred in Forsyth’s 1981 cinema smash, Gregory’s Girl, and Spandau’s Diamond tour launched in March 1982 with three dates in Scotland and Capaldi live onstage as the warm-up.

Capaldi reckons that it was that slot which got him the role in Local Hero. And that set Capaldi on the road to the TARDIS.

Clare Grogan is at the centre of everything.

[Sidenote: Both Grogan and Capaldi played parents in Skins, closing the circle.]

There's something charming about the Ivors, which come towards the end of the awards season and sometimes seem like a summary of all the other awards that have been given out thus far. Here are this year's totally unsurprising winners:

Album Award: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

PRS for Most Performed Work: Adele – Rolling In The Deep

Best Song Musically and Lyrically: Ed Sheeran – The A Team

Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award: Take That

Best Contemporary Song: Lana Del Rey – Video Games

Original Film Score: Alex Heffes -The First Grader

Original Television Score: Martin Phipps – The Shadow Line

Songwriter Of The Year: Adele

Ivors Jazz Award: Stan Tracey

Ivors Inspiration Award: Siouxsie Sioux

Music Special International Award: Jimmy Webb

Outstanding Song Collection Award: Gary Kemp

Lifetime Achievement: Mark Knopfler

The prize for Gary Kemp does give me an excuse to mention the Guardian's piece on how the Spands wrote True, and the surprising detail that... well, it was written by Gary Kemp mainly to try and get off with Clare Grogan:

I met her on Top of the Pops and, at one point, travelled up to Scotland to have tea with her and her mum and dad. Although my feelings were unrequited and the relationship was platonic, it was enough to trigger a song, True, which became the name of our 1983 album, too.

True is about how difficult it is to be honest when you're trying to write a love song to someone. Hence: "Why do I find it hard to write the next line?" The lyrics are full of coded messages to Clare.

This kind of puts True on a par with my second year math exercise book. Although I didn't have a saxaphone solo in that.

Unusually for a 'pop star signs up to write autobiography' story, the person signing on this time has actually lived enough of a life to make it worthwhile. Gary Kemp has probably timed his deal with Harper Collins right in terms of generating the largest payday, but I can't help wishing he'd been producing his book before the not-entirely-convincing 'we're a big happy family' Spandau reunion.

Let's hope that cheese anecdote makes the final volume.

And it's not going to be called True, either. That would have been obvious and...

John Elliot, popular culture editor at Fourth Estate, acquired world all-language rights to I Know This Much

...oh.

Did... did the BBC Ten O'Clock News really carry the news of the Spandau reunion?

They bloody did. Spandau Ballet. I mean, I know you can't spend forever showing photos of the damage to Fred Goodwin's car, but the getting back together of the Spands surely only merits flagship news coverage if you happen to be broadcasting exclusively to Steve Norman's house?

Still, it's good to see that Spandau Ballet have got so poor they're having to pretend to like each other again ("it's good to see that the Spandau boys have put their difference behind them") and will get out to do the job of playing the three songs everyone likes and some others to fill out the time:

Gary Kemp, the group's songwriter and guitarist, explained: "This is my other family really and I just missed them for the last 20 years.

"I wanted to get together just to have a chat about all those great experiences we had. To be able to make some new experiences is a really great opportunity and that's what we plan to do."

Actually, Gary, one of them is also your actual family, isn't he? But I take your point.

Yes, yes, the one they relied on to write the words did just make that clunky "it's all about the experiences we experienced, and now experience tells me that we should experience some unexperienced experiences" statement.

But here's Martin, again with the family metaphors:

Kemp's bassist brother Martin - also known to EastEnders fans as club owner Steve Owen - added: "Families go through terrible times sometimes and they argue.

"But in the end we've got back together - which is the main thing."

Yes, yes, family. All this talk of family might be more touching if it wasn't coming from the pair who played the Krays, who were brothers for whom family had a distinct and slightly chilling overtone.

Still, nice to get the family back together, isn't it, Tony? Tony? Sorry, can't hear you through those gritted teeth - could you speak up?

Hadley said they had buried the hatchet after "the realisation that time is a great healer".

"We all realised how powerful the band were, the songs, and what we did as a band in the '80s," he said.

"We first met in the pub, had a few beers, the stories came up and the anecdotes and we just realised that we're great mates."

... the realisation coming just about the same time as the barman said "come on lads, time to settle the slate before I serve you any more."