Bananarama is a British pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 32 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Siobhan Maire Fahey is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the British/Irish girl group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the US number one hit single "Venus". She later formed the Brit Award- and Ivor Novello Award-winning musical act Shakespears Sister, who had a UK number one hit with the 1992 single "Stay". Fahey joined the other original members of Bananarama for a 2017 UK tour, and, in 2018, a North America and Europe tour.
Deep Sea Skiving is the debut studio album by British vocal group Bananarama, released on 7 March 1983 by London Records. The album peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Wow! is the fourth studio album by English group Bananarama, released on 4 September 1987 by London Records. The album was entirely produced and co-written with the Stock Aitken Waterman production trio. Tensions between group member Siobhan Fahey and Stock, Aitken and Waterman regarding songwriting input and lyrical content prompted Fahey's departure from Bananarama five months after its release. The album reached number 26 on the UK Albums Chart and number 44 on the US Billboard 200, while peaking at number one in Australia. The album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 3 February 1988.
The Greatest Hits Collection is a compilation album released by Bananarama which features their single releases and greatest hits. It was issued by London Records in 1988, eight months after the departure of group member Siobhan Fahey. The track listing differed between versions released in the United States and Canada, as well as those released throughout Europe and other territories.
Please Yourself is the sixth studio album by English pop act Bananarama. It was released on 29 March 1993 by London Records, the group's last release under the label. It is also the first album from Bananarama as a duo – with original members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward continuing after the departure of Jacquie O'Sullivan in 1991. Please Yourself also reunites Bananarama with two-thirds of the Stock Aitken Waterman production team. Musician Gary Miller was brought in to do keyboards and guitar and would be Bananarama's next collaborator on their following album Ultra Violet. The concept of the album was first suggested by Pete Waterman as 'ABBA-Banana', a record that would feature pop songs in the style of ABBA, but updated for the 1990s. Ultimately, however, much of the album ended up incorporating a ‘90s Euro-disco sound with only “Movin’ On” and “Last Thing On My Mind” utilising an ABBA-esque influence.
Bunch of Hits is a greatest hits album by English group Bananarama, released on 13 March 1993 by Spectrum Music. It contains many of the same tracks found on the 1989 hits set Greatest Hits Collection, plus several album tracks. Bananarama's two biggest singles are absent: "Cruel Summer" and "Venus". It also includes two B-sides available for the first time on CD, "Scarlett" and "Ghost". This album was not released by the group's record label London Records. The album was released with different artwork and titles in other countries, such as Pop Giants, Collection Series, Robert De Niro's Waiting and also saw a re-release with different artwork in the UK in 1998.
The Essentials is one of several greatest hits collections by Bananarama. This compilation was only released in the US by Rhino Records' Essentials series. Within the same year, WEA issued The Very Best of Bananarama to mark the group's twentieth anniversary.
The Very Best of Bananarama is a greatest hits album by English group Bananarama, released on 15 October 2001 by Warner Strategic Marketing and London Records. It was released to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary, including their singles released from 1981 to 1993. The album reached number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.
Really Saying Something: The Platinum Collection is one of several greatest hits collections by British girl group Bananarama, released in 2005. It was the second hits package released by Warner Music Group, the parent company of Bananarama's label London Records.
English group Bananarama have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, 16 compilation albums, two extended plays, 51 singles and four video albums.
"Aie a Mwana" is a song originally written by the French-Belgian writing and production team of Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger.
"He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' is a soul song written by Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Edward Holland, Jr. in 1964. The song is notable in both a 1964 version by American Motown girl group the Velvelettes, and a 1982 hit version by British girl group Bananarama.
"Megarama '89" is a megamix of songs by English girl group Bananarama. It was released as a single in 1989 in Germany, Japan and France. The French single differs from the version released in Germany and Japan.
Master Series is a greatest hits compilation by English group Bananarama. It was released in 1996 and contained a mixture of Bananarama singles and album tracks. It includes material from 1983-1993. First released in 1996 in continental Europe and Brazil, it saw a re-release in 1998 in Germany and France with different artwork on both. The European and Brazilian versions differ in that the European release includes the single mix of "Movin' On", whereas the Brazilian release has the album version. For collectors, Master Series also includes for the first time on a Bananarama album the UK single version of "More Than Physical", an edit of the song True Confessions which was used in the film PI: Private Investigations, and a non-segued album track "Dream Baby" from Bananarama.
The Twelve Inches of Bananarama is a compilation album by English girl group Bananarama, released on 2 October 2006 by Warner Bros. Records. The collection contains twelve remixes of Bananarama songs, spanning the years 1982 to 1991, many of which are appearing on compact disc for the first time. The photo on the album cover features group members Sara Dallin, Jacquie O'Sullivan and Keren Woodward from the Pop Life album era, c. 1991.
The Greatest Remixes Collection is a compilation of Bananarama remixes released exclusively in Southeast Asia in 1990. At the time of the release, the only mix that had not been issued on CD was the Miami Mix of "I Heard a Rumour", although none of the mixes had ever been compiled on a Bananarama album. Subsequently some of the mixes have been available on easier to find Bananarama albums, such as The Very Best of Bananarama double CD or The Twelve Inches of Bananarama. The album has become very rare and expensive.
And That's Not All... is a Bananarama videos compilation from 1984, which features the music videos that were to the singles from the Deep Sea Skiving and Bananarama albums. The video also featured two extra tracks, The Wild Life, a non-UK released single was as well as the "Bananarama" album track, "State I'm In", which was slated for a single release but was later cancelled. The video also featured snippets and behind the scenes footage of the girls.
The Greatest Hits Collection is a Bananarama videos compilation released by London Records in 1988, as a companion video to their Greatest Hits album. The video differs slightly from the album—"More Than Physical" is not included on the album; the video to "Love in the First Degree" includes group live performance from 1988 BRIT awards ; and "Mr. Sleaze" is actually the B-side to "Love in the First Degree", and the video includes images from old Bananarama videos, while both songs and videos for either "I Want You Back" and "Love, Truth & Honesty" feature new member Jacquie O'Sullivan. The video for "Nathan Jones" was not included at the time of release.
Sara Elizabeth Dallin is an English singer/songwriter and a founding member of the pop group Bananarama. The group has achieved 28 UK top-50 and 11 US top-100 singles, including a US number one with "Venus" (1986). Other hits include "Cruel Summer" (1983), "I Heard a Rumour" (1987) and "Love in the First Degree" (1987). Dallin and bandmate Keren Woodward are the only performers to appear on both the 1984 and 1989 Band Aid versions of "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Bananarama have sold over 30 million records and entered the Guinness Book of World Records for achieving most UK chart entries by an all-female group, a record they still hold.
