The Barricades (Latvian: Barikādes) were a series of confrontations between Latvia and forces loyal to the Soviet Union in January 1991 which took place mainly in Riga. The events are named for the popular effort of building and protecting barricades from 13 January until about 27 January. Latvia, which had declared restoration of independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier, anticipated that Soviet Union might attempt to regain control over the country by force. After attacks by the Soviet OMON on Riga in early January, the government called on people to build barricades for protection of possible targets (mainly in the capital city of Riga and nearby Ulbroka, as well as Kuldīga and Liepāja). Six people were killed in further attacks, several were wounded in shootings or beaten by OMON. Most victims were shot during the Soviet attack on the Latvian Ministry of the Interior on January 20. One other person died in a building accident reinforcing the barricades. Casualties among Soviet loyalists are considered likely, but the exact number remains unknown. A total of 15,611 people have registered as having been participants of the Barricades.

Through the Barricades is a studio album by Spandau Ballet. It was released in November 1986 by Epic Records. The album reached number seven and remained on the UK album chart for 19 weeks. It produced three UK hit singles: "Fight For Ourselves" (#15), "How Many Lies" (#34) and the band's final top ten hit, "Through the Barricades" (#6).

The song lyrics were inspired by love prevailing over the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the death of a member of the crew in the Troubles.

Reception

In a mainly critical review for AllMusic, Dan LeRoy claimed: "Rocking up Spandau Ballet's smooth white-boy soul, Through the Barricades manages to avoid utter disaster via the tuneful creations of songwriter/guitarist Gary Kemp." LeRoy argued "the production and mix prove the undoing of this effort. Most of the tunes demand guitar and drum bombast; instead, the riff-rocking Cross the Line and Fight for Ourselves, in particular, are undercut by the polite-sounding rhythm section." However, he praised the title-track, which he said "became a deserved hit."

"Through the Barricades" is the title track of Spandau Ballet's 1986 album Through the Barricades. Released as a single, "Through the Barricades" entered the UK singles chart on 1 November 1986 and became the band's tenth and final top ten single, peaking at number six and spending a total of ten weeks on the chart.

The song, which is in the form of an acoustic ballad, has been described by AllMusic as "the best song by far" on its album.

Tony Hadley performed the song as part of his three-song set in the final of ITV reality show Reborn in the USA in 2003, which saw him win the public vote against Michelle Gayle.

Accepting his award for Outstanding Song Collection at the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards, songwriter Gary Kemp singled the song out as a particular favourite of his, stating: "'Through the Barricades' is one I'm really close to".

Charts

References

Dave Stewart may refer to:

Music

Sport

Other

See also

Dave Stewart is an nine-time Eisner Award winning colorist working in the comics industry. He is known for his work at Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, as well as colouring Tim Sale's art in Heroes.

Bibliography

Comics work (colours unless specified) includes:

Dark Horse Comics

DC Comics

Image Comics

David Stewart is an award-winning freelance bass trombonist, and music teacher based in London.

Biography

David Stewart was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and studied with Peter Gane at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra.

He was the winner of the 1983 Shell/LSO brass competition and has been a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and London Philharmonic Orchestra (1998–2005). He also performs with London Brass.

Often seen in the commercial and recording world, Stewart has worked with Quincy Jones, Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs, John Surman and Natalie Cole. His film credits include Lord of the Rings (complete), the last five James Bond films, The Golden Compass, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Stewart has played in The Sound of Music in London's West End since it opened in November 2006.

He has also played for many others including Robbie Williams, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Joni Mitchell, S Club 7 and S Club Juniors.