I Was youtubing Bananarama. Robert de N, Cruel Summer....... It still had a certain appeal to me. Being in my thirties and therefore unknowing to whoever packaged/developed them.....anyone out there kind enough to enlighten me? And more importantly...what did you think of them JK?

I was never a fan but my friend Steve Levine produced many of their hits. They sound better today than they did back then. Nice girls though.

Saw them recently at the Ascot "Here and Now" 80s concert on 11th August. There is only Sarah and Keren left, but they still look hot at 50. They come across as though they're having a great time and can't believe how lucky they are.

They started out by guesting on a track by the Fun Boy Three called "It Ain't what you do do, it's the way that you do it" Then they had their own first single "Really Saying Something" in 1982, with Fun Boy Three guesting. Another Cover version. They were very much brought to peoples attention by Terry Hall and the fun boy three. Initially there were 3 members Sarah Dahlin, Keren Woodward, and Siobhan Fahey. Cruel Summer is still a great track and was the first hit that they wrote themselves.

I've always liked them, not great singers, but great pop songs and a great attitude. They never had to use sex appeal to sell records, usually dressing in old boots, baggy trousers, and Dungarees. Their best studio album is called "Deep Sea Skiving" and contains a version of the Bluebells hit "Young at Heart", which was co-written by Siobhan Fahey and so appeared on both the Bluebells and Banarama's albums. They were the biggest selling girl group ever, up until the spice girls came onto the scene.

Google is your friend.

Why did they always sound like they were singing in a public loo?

robbiex wrote:
They never had to use sex appeal to sell records, usually dressing in old boots, baggy trousers, and Dungarees.

That was their sex appeal! Midge Ure directed "Cruel Summer" (I think).


And this is sexy as hell:

That was their sex appeal! Midge Ure directed "Cruel Summer" (I think).


[/quote]

It was Shy Boy that Midge Ure directed.

The 'Nana's appeal (like the Human League girls) was always that they looked like shopgirls on a Saturday night razzle having the time of their lives, rather than untouchable goddesses...

My favourite period of theirs was when they were produced by Swain & Jolley (Cruel Summer, Robert De Niro's Waiting etc.), who also produced Spandau Ballet, Imagination & Alison Moyet around that time before they fell off the radar. That said, Bananarama's best song, Cheers Then, came before that, yet wasn't a hit, and sadly tends to be left off their compilations. I wasn't a fan of their SAW years, though I like SAW's work in general...

PS Sorry to correct you Robbie, but they were already going before The Fun Boy Three "adopted" them, though debut single Aie A Mwana admittedly didn't cause much of a splash.