| Bananarama |
Bananarama:
Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward on the cover of their 2005 album Drama.
|
| Background information |
| Origin |
 London, England |
| Genre(s) |
New
Wave, Pop,
Synthpop,
Dance |
| Years active |
1981-present |
| Label(s) |
London Records (1981-1993)
ZYX Records (1994-1996)
M6 Interactions (2000)
A&G
Productions (2004-2006) |
| Website |
http://www.bananarama.co.uk/ |
| Members |
Keren
Woodward
Sara
Dallin |
| Former members |
Siobhan
Fahey (1981-1988)
Jacquie O'Sullivan (1988-1991) |
Bananarama are an English/Irish girl group
who have had success with pop and new
wave songs
since 1982. The group have had ten Top 10 singles in the UK
singles chart to date, as well as three U.S. Top 10 hits, one of which
hit number one. Some of their biggest international hits include "Cruel
Summer", "Venus", "Love in the First Degree"
and "I Heard a Rumour". They are known
for their unique vocal
style which features all members singing the same notes in unison (rather
than three-part harmonies).
Lead vocals and background vocals were recorded in this way, and much
of Bananarama's early material was recorded with all three members at
the same microphone at the same time.
|
Contents
- 1 Career
- 1.1 Early
years
- 1.2 Debut
and follow-up albums
- 1.3 True
Confessions
- 1.4 Wow!
to Pop Life
- 1.5 As
a duo
- 2 Future
plans
- 3 Trivia
- 4 Discography
- 5 Tours
- 6 See
also
- 7 External
links
|
Career
Early years
The group was founded in London in 1981 by friends Siobhan
Fahey, Sara Dallin, and Keren
Woodward. Dallin and Woodward had been friends since the age
of 4. In 1981, Bananarama's members were living above the rehearsal
room which was used by former Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul
Cook. With their help, Bananarama recorded their first demo "Aie a
Mwana" (a cover of a song by Black Blood, sung in Swahili).
The demo was heard at Demon Records, who offered the girls
their first deal. The song was an underground hit and the girls were
subsequently signed by Decca (later London
Records). They remained on this label until 1993. Bananarama's previous
experience in a recording studio was as background vocalists on the Department S b-side
"Solid Gold Easy Action", a T. Rex cover in early 1981.
UK fashion magazine The
Face featured an article on Bananarama after
their first single, and it caught the attention of ex-Specials
member Terry Hall, who
invited them to collaborate with his new vocal group Fun
Boy Three on the track "T'ain't
What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)". In 1983, the song hit the
Top 5 in the UK and gave the girls their first significant mainstream
success. Fun Boy Three then guested on Bananarama's song "Really Saying Something"
later that year.
Dallin and Woodward are also featured as backing vocals on two
songs on Family Album (1986, produced by John
Lydon). These songs were live recordings, and are (according
to the album's cover notes) the first public performance by Bananarama.
Debut and follow-up albums
Bananarama experienced their greatest success during the
period from 1984 to 1989. Their first three albums were primarily
produced and co-written with Jolley & Swain.
Their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving
(1983) contained several hit singles — "Really Saying Something" (#5
UK) and "Shy
Boy" (#4 UK) — and included a cover version of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss
Him Goodbye" (#5 UK).
The next album, Bananarama
(1984) was a more serious and socially conscious effort. The songs
tackled heavier topics: "Robert DeNiro's Waiting" is
about teenage girls who react to disillusionment in real relationships
by retreating into the illusion of celebrity-obsession; "Hot
Line to Heaven" is a stand against the drugs-are-cool culture; and "Rough
Justice" dealt with social apathy. The album contained the hit single "Cruel
Summer" (1983), which was included in the movie The
Karate Kid. The trio also recorded the single "The
Wild Life" for a 1984 American film of the same name.
Their music videos from this period often
contained a feminist
or self-empowerment stance, such as learning how to box in order to
scare off neighbourhood bullies ("Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye").
Bananarama were one of the few female groups featured on the Band
Aid single "Do They Know It's
Christmas?", and were the only artists to appear on both the original
1984 Band Aid and
the 1989 Band Aid II
versions. They did not, however, participate in 2004's Band Aid
20 twentieth anniversary version.
True Confessions
In 1986, some of the group's production duties on the album True Confessions
were taken up by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW).
This move resulted in the international number one hit "Venus"
(a remake of Shocking Blue's number one hit from 1970). The
dance-oriented beats on the song typified the SAW approach to pop
production. Bananarama were said to have been put in contact with SAW
after hearing and expressing a fondness for "You Spin Me Round
(Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive.
The music video for "Venus" received heavy
airplay on MTV
in the U.S. It featured the group in various costumes including a devil, a French
temptress, a vampire
and a Greek goddess. The video marked a pivotal shift towards a more
glamorous and sexual image that contrasted with the tomboyish style of
their earlier work. It was also the start of their use of male boy-toys
as backup dancers that would become a hallmark of their videos. This
visual iconography and Hi-NRG-influenced sound drew heavily from gay
culture and accordingly attracted a gay fan-base. Shortly after,
Siobhan Fahey herself came out as bisexual.
Wow! to Pop
Life
WOW!
was released internationally in March 1988.
In the wake of the success of "Venus", all production and
co-writing responsibilities for their next album, 1987's Wow!,
were transferred from Jolley & Swain to SAW. Consequently, the
group's sound also morphed from rock-influenced and New
Wave pop to dance-oriented, bubblegum Europop.
"I Heard a Rumour" was their
strongest performing international hit from this album. "Love in the First Degree"
was one of their biggest UK hits, and the disco-oriented "I
Can't Help It" (which boasted a semi-controversial video featuring the
group in a milk bath filled with fruit and half-naked men) was a minor
hit.
By the time the third single from Wow! was
released in early 1988, Fahey — who had married Eurythmics'
Dave
Stewart — left the group. She would later resurface as the
front runner of the pop duo Shakespears Sister with
Marcella
Detroit.
In Fahey's absence, Jacquie O'Sullivan
(formerly of the Shillelagh Sisters) joined the
ranks. The single "I Want You Back"
was re-recorded with O'Sullivan, as was the The
Supremes cover "Nathan Jones" which was released
as a single from their 1988 retrospective compilation Greatest
Hits Collection. At the same time, Bananarama
entered the Guinness Book of
World Records as the all-female group who have
the most chart entries in history, a record they still hold.
As as a fund-raising charity single for Comic
Relief in 1989, Bananarama recorded a cover of the Beatles' song "Help!"
with Lananeeneenoonoo, a mock girl group created by British female
comedy duo French & Saunders with
fellow comedienne Kathy Burke. 1989 also saw the band's
first world tour, which hit North America, east Asia and the UK.
Bananarama's 1991 album Pop
Life saw the group working with a variety of
producers including Youth, Shep
Pettibone, and Steve Jolley of Jolley & Swain.
They also incorporated a wider range of musical genres including reggae, flamenco
guitar, and acid
house. After the release of the fourth and final single from the album,
however, O'Sullivan left the band to form the short-lived Slippery Feet.
As a duo
In 1993, Dallin and Woodward returned as a duo with a new
album called Please Yourself,
which also marked the return of production duties back to the remaining
members of SAW, Stock and Waterman. Ironically, though the lead single
was titled "Movin' On", the album
was a regression to their previous Eurodisco sound as illustrated by
their cover of Andrea True Connection's "More,
More, More". It was to be their last album on London Records.
Their next offering was 1995's Ultra Violet
(titled I Found Love in Japan) on a new label. The
album and its two singles "Every Shade of Blue" and "Take
Me To Your Heart" were only released in some European countries, North
America, Japan and Australia, and not in their home country.
In 1998, Dallin and Woodward recorded the track "Waterloo"
(a cover of the classic ABBA
song) together with Fahey for the Eurovision celebration A
Song For Eurotrash
on Channel
4. In 2001, they released the album Exotica.
Collaborators included Pascal Caubet and Dallin's partner Bassey
Walker. The album also included Latin and R&B influenced dance
songs, as well as reinterpreted versions of their earlier hits. Only
two promotional singles would be released from the album: one of those
was a cover of George Michael's ballad "Careless
Whisper" (which was cowritten by Woodward's partner — and Michael's ex-Wham!-bandmate
— Andrew Ridgeley.
As of 2002, Bananarama had sold 40 million albums worldwide.
That year, they released another greatest hits album, The Very Best of
Bananarama, in the UK. They also recorded the
song "Love, Leave, Forget" for Sky TV's show Is Harry On The Boat?
as well as the song "U R My Baby" for a German disco project. That same
year, Bananarama (with Siobhan Fahey as special guest) celebrated their
20th anniversary at the London Astoria in London. 3,000
people participated in this event.
With 80's retro in vogue, Bananarama attempted a comeback in
the British charts in 2005. Solasso
remixed their early hit "Really Saying Something" and re-released it as
a single. "Move in My Direction", released
in July, hit the charts at #14, making this song the group's 24th Top
40 UK hit, and their first Top 20 hit since their 1991 single "Preacher
Man". Follow-up single "Look on the Floor
(Hypnotic Tango)", however, peaked at a relatively disappointing #26
and the Drama
album flopped at #169. In June 2006 the group's contract with
A&G Productions expired and was not renewed.
Nevertheless, in the same year, the duo's fortunes were
reversed. Drama was released in the U.S. on May 16 and after a
fourteen year absence, Bananarama was back on Billboard's Hot
Dance Club Play and the Hot Dance Airplay charts with an
import version of "Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)". "Look on the
Floor" became their first U.S. hit since 1992, when they scored with "Tripping
on Your Love". "Move In My Direction" was released as a second single
in the U.S.
Summer 2006 saw the Warner
Bros. Records release of The Twelve Inches of
Bananarama, a compilation of twelve remixes on
CD for the first time. The collection features the rare George
Michael remix of "Tripping on Your Love", among others.
On March
19, 2007,
Bananarama's first six studio albums were reissued by Rhino
Records on CD with bonus material, including alternative versions,
remixes and B-sides. On May 7 2007 another best-of collection titled Greatest Hits and
More More More was released by Warner
Bros. Records.
Future plans
In February 2007, Bananarama's official website announced that
the band were back in the studio recording new material. A cover
version of a French song that was popular in the 1980s has been
recorded, although the title has not yet been released. Bananarama are
also contributing vocals as guest artists on the song "Ultra Violet" by
new dance act Block Rocker, a teaming up of
producers/remixers Digital Dog and Ashiva.
The project is expected to be released in the summer.
Trivia
- The band are listed as 189th most successful
chart act of all time in the UK by the Guinness Book of British Hit
Singles and Albums.
- "Banana" referenced the tropical style of
their demo single "Aie a Mwana" (sung in Swahili), while
"rama" winked at the Roxy Music song "Pyjamarama".
- Almost all of their albums feature a minimum
of one cover song.
- In 1983, Bananarama appeared in the Eurythmics
video for "Who's That
Girl?". The video also featured Jacquie O'Sullivan, who would replace
Fahey in the band six years later.
- "Venus" was featured on an episode of Beavis
and Butthead in which the duo watched the video
and came to the conclusion that "if these chicks married GWAR, they'd have the
coolest kids ever".
- After her departure, Jacquie O'Sullivan
revealed that her membership in the band was purely a business contract
and she had no say in creative decisions.
- Dallin and Woodward made a cameo appearance in
Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Success"
video.
- In an interview with CBC TV's Good
Rockin' Tonite during promotions for Pop
Life, Woodward revealed that SAW called them the most
"awkward act" they had ever worked with. Woodward clarified that this
was meant, and taken, as a compliment as the girls were insistent on
being active and equal in the song-creation process.
- Famous artists who have remixed or produced
Bananarama songs include George Michael, Marc
Almond of Soft Cell, and Daryl Hall
of Hall
& Oates.
- Acts who have covered or sampled Bananarama
songs include Ace of Base, Blestenation, Swedish
electronica artist Sophie Rimheden, and Steps.
- In the novella Darlinghurst Heroes
(1998, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada) by Québécois literary and visual artist André
Martin, the narrator attends a party in Sydney, Australia thrown to celebrate a visit from
Bananarama.
- In 2005, Dallin and Woodward revealed in an
interview that one of Shakespears Sister's biggest hits "You're
History" was written about them.
- Dallin and Woodward once beat up Peter
Cunnah of D:Ream
after he insulted them at an industry event. Dallin grabbed his face
and pushed him to the ground, whilst Woodward kicked his legs as he
fell down.
- Their very successful single "Venus" is now
featured around the world as the theme song for Venus razors.
Discography
For a complete list of Bananarama albums
and singles, see Bananarama discography.
Tours
- 1989 (March) World Tour
- 1997 Australian tour
- 1999 UK tour with Culture
Club
See also
- Best selling
music artists — World's top-selling music artists chart.
- List
of popular music performers
- List
of number-one hits (United States)
- List
of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List
of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
- List
of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
External links
| v • d • e Bananarama |
Sara Dallin | Keren
Woodward
Siobhan
Fahey | Jacquie O'Sullivan |
| Discography |
Studio albums: Deep
Sea Skiving | Bananarama
| True Confessions
| Wow! | Pop
Life | Please
Yourself | Ultra Violet / I
Found Love | Exotica
| Drama
Compilations: Greatest
Hits Collection | Greatest Remixes
Collection | Bunch
of Hits | Master Series
| The Essentials
| The Very Best of
Bananarama | Venus
and Other Hits | Really
Saying Something: The Platinum Collection | The Twelve Inches of
Bananarama | Greatest Hits and
More More More
Singles: Aie a Mwana | T'ain't
What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) | Really Saying
Something | Shy
Boy | Cheers
Then | He's Got Tact | Na Na Hey Hey Kiss
Him Goodbye | Cruel Summer | Robert DeNiro's Waiting | Rough
Justice | King of the Jungle | Hot
Line to Heaven | The Wild Life | Do
Not Disturb | Venus | More
Than Physical | A Trick of the Night | Set on You
| I Heard a Rumour | Love in the First Degree | I
Can't Help It | I Want You Back | The Bananarama Mega-Mix | Love, Truth and Honesty | Nathan
Jones | Help!
| Cruel
Summer '89 | Megarama '89 | Only
Your Love | Preacher Man | Long
Train Running | Tripping on Your Love | Movin' On | Last
Thing on My Mind | More, More, More | I
Found Love | Every Shade of Blue | Take
Me to Your Heart | Careless Whisper | If
| Really Saying
Something (Solasso Remix) | Move in My Direction | Look on the Floor
(Hypnotic Tango) |
| Related
articles |
| Jolley & Swain | Stock
Aitken Waterman |
