United kingdom Daily news: Tony Hadley: Frank Sinatra is my inspiration. I love his music, but more that that, I find inspiration from his life

Tony Hadley: Frank Sinatra is my inspiration. I love his music, but more that that, I find inspiration from his life

By Tony Hadley

PUBLISHED: 16:53 EST, 6 July 2012 | UPDATED: 16:53 EST, 6 July 2012

We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions â€" and only accept THE definitive answer. This week: Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley

The prized possession you value above all othersâ€¦

My baby grand Yamaha piano. My wife Ali bought it for my 50th birthday, in 2010. It cost Â£10,000 so it was incredibly generous.

Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet says Frank Sinatra is his inspiration

The unqualified regret you wish you could amendâ€¦

I was too trusting when I was younger, especially of certain people in the music business.

The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictionsâ€¦

Iâ€™d have breakfast with all the family [Tony has five children: Thomas, 28, Toni, 26, Mack, 21, Zara, five, and five-month-old Genevieve] at Blues restaurant in Camps Bay, Cape Town. Iâ€™d then float over the Earth in space before landing back at my home in Buckinghamshire for a roast-rib-of-beef lunch with my family and friends. Then Ali and I would get the deckchairs out at a villa we love in Sardinia and have a gin and tonic or two in peace. Iâ€™d end the day with tapas and rosÃ© wine at Ramonâ€™s in northern Majorca.

The temptation you wish you could resistâ€¦

A kebab at 3am when Iâ€™m travelling back from a show. I love them but I have to watch my weight. Iâ€™m 16-and-a-half stone at the moment. His most cherished moment is playing the Albert Hall with Spandau in 1983

His most cherished moment is playing the Albert Hall with Spandau in 1983

The book that holds an everlasting resonanceâ€¦

When I was eight I discovered The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe by C S Lewis and it made me fall in love with reading.

The priority activity if you were the Invisible Man for a dayâ€¦

Iâ€™d visit Area 51 [the secretive US air force base in Nevada] and find out if weâ€™ve been visited by aliens.

The pet hate that makes your hackles rise...

I loathe litterbugs and Iâ€™m pretty vocal if I see someone do it.

The film you can watch time and time againâ€¦

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because it has everything â€" great music, magical scenery, a rags-to-riches story and a car that can fly!

Breakfast with family in Cape Town is the perfect scenario for Tony

The person who has influenced you mostâ€¦

Frank Sinatra. I love his music, but more than that, I find inspiration from his life. He hit rock bottom, yet he dusted himself down.

The figure from history for whom youâ€™d most like to buy a pie and a pintâ€¦

William the Conqueror. Iâ€™d love to know what motivated him to invade England and what vision he had.

The piece of wisdom you would pass on to a childâ€¦

Be open-minded so you can always see the other side of the coin.

The unlikely interest that engages your curiosityâ€¦

Logging! We moved into a new house last summer with two acres of land and quite a few trees, which I maintain. I bought a chain saw, a helmet and special leggings and boots. Iâ€™m a scary sight in all the kit.

The treasured item you lost and wish you could have againâ€¦

An orange plastic Beatles guitar I had when I was five. It got lost a long the way and I wish Iâ€™d looked after it.

A baby grand Yamaha piano is his most cherished posession

The unending quest that drives you onâ€¦

To succeed. I admire people who are content, but I need to keep striving.

The poem that touches your soulâ€¦

In Flanders Fields by the Canadian Major John McCrae. Itâ€™s poignant and distils the horror of the First World War.

The misapprehension about yourself you wish you could eraseâ€¦

People expect me to be up myself because of all those moody Spandau Ballet publicity photos. But Iâ€™m really friendly.

The event that altered the course of your life and characterâ€¦

Signing the Spandau record deal with Chrysalis Records in 1980 when I was 20.

The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with itâ€¦

Iâ€™d break into the vaults underneath the Vatican and root through all the archives.

The song that means most to youâ€¦

Sinatraâ€™s Thatâ€™s Life. It always lifts my spirits and reflects my take on life.

The happiest moment you will cherish foreverâ€¦

Playing the Albert Hall with Spandau in 1983. When I was 17 I had gone there with my mum to watch Frank Sinatra. I managed to get backstage and he spoke to me. I told him that it was my ambition to be a singer. He said, â€˜I hope you succeed, sonâ€™, and shook my hand. I remembered that when I did the sound-check before that gig. I had fulfilled a dream.

The saddest time that shook your worldâ€¦

Also when I was 17, my nan Rose died of stomach cancer. I was absolutely devastated.

The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt youâ€¦

Iâ€™d love to star in a wham-bam Hollywood action movie and get an Oscar.

The philosophy that underpins your lifeâ€¦

Look after your family and friends and be a decent person.

The order of service at your funeralâ€¦

Iâ€™d like people to dress as if theyâ€™re going to a concert, so it wonâ€ ™t be too sombre. I donâ€™t believe in the afterlife, so I donâ€™t want anything too religious, but maybe someone can tell a few anecdotes about my chaotic life. They can play Pretty Vacant by the Sex Pistols during the cremation and Iâ€™d like people to file out to Monty Pythonâ€™s Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.Â

The way you want to be rememberedâ€¦

Here lies a good bloke. And he could sing a bit, too.

The Plugâ€¦ Tony is supporting Cadbury Dairy Milk Postcards campaign as part of its London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsorship. Visit www.cadburypostcards2012.co.uk.