Two tracks on Deep Sea Skiving, "Really Saying Something" and "Aie a Mwana", were drawn from previously recorded singles. After hearing the Imagination song "Body Talk" (1981) and being impressed by its "slinky" sound, Bananarama sought to work with the song's producers, Jolley & Swain.[6] On their first meeting with the group at Red Bus Studios in Marylebone, Jolley & Swain presented Bananarama with a song in the vein of Motowngirl groups called "Big Red Motorbike", which after being rewritten at the behest of the group, who disliked its lyrics, would become "Shy Boy".[6] Bananarama recorded two more tracks, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Boy Trouble", with Jolley & Swain producing,[7] and recorded the rest of the album at Utopia Studios in Primrose Hill with producer Barry Blue.[6]Siobhan Fahey attributed the change in producers to the group's desire to record more of their own compositions, explaining, "[Jolley & Swain] wanted us to do their songs, not ours. They wanted a 1980s version of the old girl groups, disembodied voices. They didn't see us as voices with ideas."[8]Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward nonetheless acknowledged Jolley & Swain's role in helping the group hone their songwriting and arrangement skills,[6][3] and the duo would be brought back as producers for Bananarama's next two studio albums, Bananarama (1984) and True Confessions (1986).
Writing about Deep Sea Skiving in 1983, Los Angeles Times critic Terry Atkinson said that Bananarama "mix the old Motown/Spector 'girl group' approach with the modern African rhythms and new-wave effervescence that were popularized, in part, by the female-led Bow Wow Wow."[1]Stereogum's Robbie Daw later wrote that the album "stood out as a synth-pop and 1960s girl group hybrid",[2] while Classic Pop's Mark Lindores described its sound as "falling somewhere between the Slits and the Supremes" and noted that Bananarama "blended the notion of the classic girl groups of the 60s and the DIY ethos of the punk scene that spawned them".[9]
Release
The album's front cover depicts Bananarama swimming with fish underwater, wearing black tunics they had sewn themselves.[6] The inner sleeve of the vinyl release contains numerous photos of the group, several of them in childhood.
As part of a reissue series covering Bananarama's first six studio albums, Deep Sea Skiving was re-released on CD on 19 March 2007 by Rhino Records with several bonus tracks.[10] The six albums were reissued again by Edsel Records on 28 October 2013, each as a double-CD set with an accompanying DVD.[11] The London label reissued the albums on CD on 20 July 2018, and on coloured vinyl and cassette on 30 November 2018.[12]
Writing for Rolling Stone, Chris Connelly praised Deep Sea Skiving as sounding "like a great party" even without overt "conviction" or "soul", and commented, "Bananarama aren't the type to sing 'Come See About Me': they're hot stuff, they know it, and if you don't, that's your problem."[18] Observing "a lot of promise here", Record Mirror's Jim Reid highlighted Bananarama's "charm and vivacity" and complimented their self-penned songs, while suggesting that their craft would improve over time through "extensive live work and a more considered stab at songwriting".[17] Beverley Hillier of Smash Hits, however, said that "their identity is totally overshadowed by that of the different producers and songwriters... while their vocals are dull and monotonous."[19]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Stewart Mason deemed Deep Sea Skiving "Bananarama's finest album by far, and an underappreciated pop gem of its era", writing that the group "were unashamedly poppy, but they had enough artistic credibility to create a debut album that, barring a couple of small missteps, actually works as an album instead of a collection of singles with some filler."[13]Record Collector's Rob Hughes described it as an album of "mischievous post-punk pop" which "scrambled preconceived ideas of what an all-girl band could be: post-punks with a pop vision and strong DIY aesthetic."[3]
The version of "Give Us Back Our Cheap Fares" used is the extended version.
The version of "Girl About Town" used is a slightly longer version, with an additional four bars just before the instrumental break (roughly 1:45–1:59), than the original vinyl 7" version (3:10).
2013 deluxe edition CD/DVD reissue – Disc one bonus tracks
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