Keren! Sarah! Siobahn! Yes, it's Bananarama!
My tenuous 'friend to the stars' claim this week is that I went to same secondary school as Keren Woodward and Sarah Dallin. Ignore the fact that they are nine years older than me and therefore long gone by the time I rocked up in my pristine school uniform, wet behind the ears and in for an education in more ways than one.
When I started there, Bananarama were already having hits. Mr. Wagner, the white haired, tweed-jacketed Science teacher who had beehives at home and had a sideline in selling jars of the sweet stuff to kids, would particularly enjoy sharing an occasional reminisce of when Keren and Sarah sat in his Biology class, causing mischief no doubt.
Local connection aside, it wasn't Keren or Sarah but Siobahn Fahey that I was going to marry when I properly grew up. I loathed Dave Stewart of Eurythmics when the two got married in the late 1980s. Bananarama were cool, but Siobahn was the coolest in my opinion. And the strange additional attraction of not knowing at the time how to pronounce her name. I was obviously a little distracted when the band were introduced in the numerous kids' TV show "interviews" that they participated in....
Anyhoo, here's a 10-song, 45-minute bounce through the Bananarama back catalogue. I've intentionally focused on their first five years, avoiding the Stock Aitken Waterman years and the time when Siobahn left and was briefly replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan. Poor Jacquie, she didn't deserve the shit she got... There are some moments of greatness in those later years, to be honest. However, it was the first half of the 1980s when I really liked Bananarama, even if as a proto-indie/Goth/electronic music fan I had to begrudgingly admit that to myself let alone others.
A smattering of covers, including their first single Aie A Mwana, a surprisingly faithful recreation of the the 1975 song by afrobeat/funk/soul/disco outfit Black Blood. It took another couple of covers with Fun Boy Three before Bananarama had a hit, but they replicated the magic with a further cover of Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye), which beat Steam's original UK chart placing of #9 by giving the girls another Top 5 smash.
The third cover was tucked away on the soundtrack to the 1982 film Party Party, starring Billy from EastEnders and Caroline Quentin. The fact that it's a cover of Sex Pistols is perhaps less surprising than it may seem, as Paul Cook co-produced their debut single.
The rest of the selection spans a couple more of Bananarama's 10 Top 10 singles, 12" versions, album cuts and a B-side, all of which highlight the trio's pop songwriting chops.
Boy Trouble seemed like an appropriate starter and, similarly, the closing song couldn't be anything other than Cheers Then. I was taken about to see that the latter only managed a peak of #45 in the week of my 12th birthday back in 1982. Not Christmassy enough, clearly, but if pushed I may say that it's my favourite Bananarama song.
1) Boy Trouble (Album Version) (1983)
2) Aie A Mwana (Extended Version) (Cover of Black Blood) (1981)
3) Shy Boy (Extended Version) (1982)
4) Cruel Summer (Album Version) (1984)
5) The Wild Life (Single Mix) (1984)
6) Na Na Hey Hey Na (Dub) Hey (Cover of 'Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)' by Steam) (1983)
7) No Feelings (Album Version) (Cover of Sex Pistols) (1982)
8) Scarlett (Extended Version) (1986)
9) True Confessions (Razormaid Mix) (1986)
10) Cheers Then (Extended Version) (1982)
1981: Aie A Mwana EP: 2
1982: Cheers Then EP: 10
1982: Party Party OST: 7
1982: Shy Boy EP: 3
1983: Deep Sea Skiving: 1
1983: Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) EP: 6
1984: Cruel Summer: 4
1984: The Wild Life EP: 5
1986: More Than Physical EP: 8
1986: Razormaid Chapter 10.5: 9
(with apologies for any Elvis Costello fans expecting a post celebrating the compilation that I shamelessly ripped the title from)
Siobhan was my favourite too.She was also at one point romantically involved with Bobby Bluebell and co-wrote Young at Heart
ReplyDeleteThanks, CC. I didn't know that at the time as I was a bit late to getting the Deep Sea Skiving album and hearing the 'Nanas version. Am I right in thinking the album came out slightly before so The Bluebells' single is technically a cover?
DeleteBelatedly discovering Bobby Bluebell's romantic involvement with Siobhan was a good thing for Mr. Hodgens as it meant my teenage jealously and wrath was reserved for Dave Stewart!
I saw that the B's book was on kindle for 99p and bought it specifically to see which school they went to (t'internet was strangely undefinitive) and to see what they had to say about their school years. They don't mention the name of the school in the book (come on B's - waste my 99p why don't you?) and most of the first couple of chapters was dedicated to the need to escape Bristol and its environs.. The book wasn't a bad read - 2 things I got from it was Sarah is a bit more talented than she gets credit for and secondly they are bonded so tight that i'm not surprised Siobhan wanted to jump ship..
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mike. For once, Iffypedia can be relied on. Keren and Sarah went to Rodway Secondary School, although the year I started it had merged with the nearby boys' school to become Mangotsfield School https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangotsfield_School
DeleteI only got halfway through before a house move and a change of school. Growing up in a similar part of town, I can totally empathise with their "need to escape Bristol and its environs". I came to appreciate it much more in later years and undoubtedly had much less success in a sustained "escape"!
Can you please donate my 99p consultancy fee to a charity of your choice? ;-)
DeleteAnother vote for Siobhan here.
ReplyDeleteDuly noted, Adam
DeleteNo 'Really Saying Something'?
ReplyDeleteIt was a tough call, Ernie. In the end, I made a conscious decision to leave out Bananarama's involvement with Fun Boy Three, Band Aid and Lananeeneenoonoo. I know the latter exclusion will be particularly controversial and will lose me a truckload of my Singapore bot fanbase as a result. So be it.
Delete