Bananarama
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Bananarama are an English girl group who found worldwide fame with their melodic pop and new wave songs. They have placed ten singles in the top-ten of the UK singles chart to date, as well as three U.S. top-ten hits, one of which hit number one. 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 are recorded this way; many of Bananarama's early material was recorded with all three members at the same microphone.
Career
The group was founded in London in 1981 by friends Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward, and Sara Dallin, Woodward and Dallin having been friends since the age of 13. 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 London Records. They remained on this label until 1993.Bananarama had early support from ex-Specials member Terry Hall, who invited them to duet 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 five 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.
Also in 1983, Bananarama appeared in the Eurythmics video for "Who's That Girl?".
Bananarama experienced their greatest success during the period from 1984 to 1989. Their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving (1983) contained two hit singles — "Really Saying Something" (#5 UK) and "Shy Boy" (#4 UK). The next album, Bananarama (1984), contained hit singles "Cruel Summer" (1983) and "Robert De Niro's Waiting" (1984). "Cruel Summer" was included in the movie The Karate Kid. It was later covered by Swedish band Ace of Base and was a worldwide hit again in 1998.
The group were among the artists 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.
In 1986 the group's production duties were taken up by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), which resulted in the international number-one hit "Venus" (a remake of Shocking Blue's number-one hit from 1970), whose dance-oriented beats typified the SAW approach to pop production. It has been said that Bananarama were put into 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 and was later seen again 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".
"I Heard a Rumour", from the Wow! album, was a hit in 1987, as was "Love in the First Degree", but the late 80s brought a resurgence of boy bands, and interest in girl groups waned. The group had a few minor hits and occasional tours as the decade progressed. In 1988 they entered Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful all-female group in history, a record they still hold. In the same year Fahey left the group after marrying Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and Jacquie O'Sullivan joined in her stead.
In 1991 O'Sullivan left the band, but in 1993 Woodward and Dallin returned as a duo with a new album called Please Yourself, followed by 1995's Ultra Violet. In 1998 Dallin and Woodward recorded the track "Waterloo" (a cover of the classic ABBA song) together with Fahey for Eurovision parody A Song For Eurotrash on Channel 4. In 2001 they released the album Exotica in France with the cover of George Michael's "Careless Whisper". The next year in the UK they released a greatest hits album The Very Best of Bananarama. In 2002 they recorded the song "Love, Leave, Forget" for Sky TV's show Is Harry On The Boat? and the song "U R My Baby" for a German disco project. That year Bananarama (including Siobhan Fahey as special guest) celebrated their twentieth anniversary at the London Astoria in London. 3,000 people participated in this event.
As of 2002, Bananarama had sold forty million albums worldwide but only two members were left, Dallin and Woodward.
Bananarama attempted a comeback in the British charts in 2005. "Move in My Direction", released in July, hit the charts at number fourteen, making this song the group's twenty-sixth top-forty UK hit, and their first top-twenty hit since their 1991 single "Preacher Man". Follow-up single "Look on the Floor", however, peaked at a relatively disppointing number twenty-six 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 2006, 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".
Discography
U.S. Top data: for singles from the Billboard Hot 100, for albums from the Billboard 200; UK Top data for singles and albums from UK Singles Chart.Albums
| Year | Album | UK | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Deep Sea Skiving | 7 | 63 |
| 1984 | Bananarama | 16 | 30 |
| 1986 | True Confessions | 46 | 15 |
| 1987 | Wow! | 26 | 44 |
| 1989 | Greatest Hits Collection | 3 | 151 |
| 1989 | Greatest Remixes Collection (Asia only) | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 1991 | Pop Life | 42 | align="center" valign="top" |
| 1993 | Please Yourself | 46 | align="center" valign="top" |
| 1994 | Bunch of Hits | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 1995 | Ultra Violet / I Found Love | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 1999 | Master Series | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 2001 | Exotica | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 2002 | The Essentials | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 2002 | The Very Best of Bananarama | 43 | align="center" valign="top" |
| 2003 | Venus and Other Hits | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 2005 | Really Saying Something: The Platinum Collection | align="center" valign="top" | |
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| 2005 | Drama | 169 | align="center" valign="top" |
Singles
| Year | Song | UK | U.S. | U.S. Dance | AUS | NZ | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Aie a Mwana" | 92 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| 66 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
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| Deep Sea Skiving | |||||||
| 1981 | "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" (as The Fun Boy Three with Bananarama) | 4 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| 49 | 55 | 37 | - | ||||
| 1982 | "Really Saying Something" (as Bananarama and Fun Boy Three) | 5 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| 16 | 74 | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Deep Sea Skiving | |||||||
| 1982 | "Shy Boy" | 4 | 83 | 14 | 2 | 5 | Deep Sea Skiving |
| 1982 | "Cheers Then" | 45 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| Deep Sea Skiving | |||||||
| 1983 | "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" | 5 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| 14 | 38 | 29 | Deep Sea Skiving | ||||
| 1984 | "Robert DeNiro's Waiting" | 3 | 95 | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 40 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
| Bananarama | |||||||
| 1984 | "Cruel Summer" | 8 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 32 | Bananarama |
| 1984 | "Rough Justice" | 23 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 1984 | "King of the Jungle" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| 1984 | "Hot Line to Heaven" | 58 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 1984 | "The Wild Life" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| 70 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
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| 1985 | "Do Not Disturb" | 31 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| True Confessions | |||||||
| 1986 | "Venus" | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | True Confessions |
| 1986 | "More Than Physical" | 41 | 73 | 5 | 28 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| True Confessions | |||||||
| 1987 | "A Trick of the Night" | 32 | 76 | 39 | 99 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| True Confessions | |||||||
| 1987 | "I Heard a Rumour" | 14 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 8 | Wow! |
| 1987 | "Love in the First Degree" | 3 | 48 | 10 | 5 | 11 | Wow! |
| 1987 | "I Can't Help It" | 20 | 47 | 7 | 20 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Wow! | |||||||
| 1988 | "I Want You Back" | 5 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 3 | 10 | Wow! | |||||
| 1988 | "Love, Truth and Honesty" | 23 | 89 | 26 | 33 | 20 | Greatest Hits Collection |
| 1988 | "Nathan Jones" | 15 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 61 | 22 | Greatest Hits Collection | |||||
| 1989 | "Help!" (with Lananeeneenoonoo) | 3 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 25 | 35 | Greatest Hits Collection | |||||
| 1989 | "Cruel Summer '89" | 19 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 1989 | "Megarama '89" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| 1990 | "Only Your Love" | 27 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 51 | 49 | Pop Life | |||||
| 1991 | "Preacher Man" | 20 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| Pop Life | |||||||
| 1991 | "Long Train Running" | 30 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| Pop Life | |||||||
| 1991 | "Tripping on Your Love" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| 14 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
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| Pop Life | |||||||
| 1992 | "Movin' On" | 24 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| Please Yourself | |||||||
| 1992 | "Last Thing on My Mind" | 71 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 1993 | "More More More" | 24 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 1995 | "I Found Love" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| Ultra Violet | |||||||
| 1995 | "Every Shade of Blue" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| 99 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
| Ultra Violet | |||||||
| 1996 | "Take Me to Your Heart" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| Ultra Violet | |||||||
| 2001 | "Careless Whisper" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| Exotica | |||||||
| 2001 | "If" | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| 2005 | "Really Saying Something (Solasso remix)" (as Solasso v Bananarama) | align="center" valign="top" | |||||
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| 2005 | "Move in My Direction" | 14 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
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| 41 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
| Drama | |||||||
| 2005 | "Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)" 1 | 26 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| 2 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||||
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| Drama | |||||||
- 1 currently active in U.S. dance chart
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 girl groups
- 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
- [Bananarama:UK] - Fan site.
- [] at MusicBrainz - Bananarama's discography.
- [bananarama.co.uk] - Bananarama's website.
- [StockAitkenWaterman.com] - Info and interviews.
- [Geocities.Com] - Fan site on geocities.com, includes album description and interviews.
- [Geocities.Com] - Fan site with info and lyrics.
- [inet-1.com] - Bananarama's chart info.
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