Bananarama are 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.
Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. In 1979, they released their breakthrough album We Are Family, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and included the 1979 US top-10 singles "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "We Are Family". "We Are Family" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Jacquie O'Sullivan is an English singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group Bananarama from 1988 until 1991, replacing Siobhan Fahey, who left in early 1988. The line-up with O'Sullivan had UK top five hits with "I Want You Back" (1988) and a cover of The Beatles' "Help!" (1989), recorded with comedy duo French and Saunders for the charity Comic Relief. In 1989, O'Sullivan joined the group on their first world tour. Prior to Bananarama, O'Sullivan was the lead singer of the band Shillelagh Sisters.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of popular British and Irish musical acts. It was recorded in a single day at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, in November 1984.
Marcella Levy, known professionally as Marcy Levy and Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut studio album Marcella in 1982. She joined Shakespears Sister in 1988 with ex-Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey. Their first two studio albums, Sacred Heart (1989), and Hormonally Yours (1992), both reached the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Detroit sang the lead vocals on their biggest hit, "Stay", which spent eight consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1992. Detroit left the band in 1993 and had a UK top 20 hit with "I Believe" in 1994. She formed the Marcy Levy Band in 2002, and finished third in the 2010 ITV series Popstar to Operastar.
The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group who formed in Blackpool in 1974 as the Nolan Sisters, before changing their name in 1980. From 1979 to 1982, the group had a run of hits, including "I'm in the Mood for Dancing", "Gotta Pull Myself Together", "Who's Gonna Rock You", "Attention to Me" and "Chemistry". They are one of the world's biggest selling girl groups. They were particularly successful in Japan, becoming the first European act to win the Tokyo Music Festival with "Sexy Music" in 1981, and won a Japan Record Award in 1991.
"Careless Whisper" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!'s second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of Make It Big, the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael or solely to George Michael.
Pure Cult is the first of several greatest hits compilations by the British rock band The Cult, released in 1993. The title of the original release was Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners while the 2000 reissue was titled Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995.
"My Guy" is a 1964 hit single by American singer Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's rejection of a sexual advance and affirmation of her fidelity to her boyfriend, who is her ideal and with whom she is happy, despite his ordinary physique and looks.
"Jump (For My Love)" is an electropop song by American girl group the Pointer Sisters, released on April 11, 1984, as the third single from their tenth studio album, Break Out (1983). The song hit the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and Dance charts, and it was the best-selling American dance single of 1984, sold as a trio of songs including "I Need You" and "Automatic". The song features June Pointer on lead vocals and scored global chart success.
The following is the complete discography of English pop band Thompson Twins.
"Who's That Girl?" is a song by British pop duo Eurythmics. It was written by band members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart.
"We Are Family" is a song recorded by American vocal group Sister Sledge. Composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, they both offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released in April 1979 as a single from the album of the same name (1979) and began to gain club and radio play, eventually becoming the group's signature song.
A shillelagh is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore.
The Shillelagh Sisters were a British female group composed of Jacquie O'Sullivan (vocals), Lynder Halpin, Patricia "Trisha" O'Flynn (saxophone) and Maria "Mitzi" Ryan (drums). Their music style was a mixture of rockabilly and punk rock, influenced by Halpin and O'Sullivan's boyfriends, who were, respectively, Boz Boorer (guitarist) and Phil Bloomberg (bassist), both of the rockabilly group The Polecats.
Belle and the Devotions were a British pop group, ostensibly a group named after the singer Kit Rolfe. Under this name, she released the singles "Where Did Love Go Wrong?" and "Got to Let You Know" in 1983.
"Automatic" is a song recorded by American vocal group the Pointer Sisters for their tenth studio album Break Out (1983). The song was released by the Planet label on January 13, 1984 as the second single from the album. It was written by Brock Walsh and Mark Goldenberg.
The discography of the English rock band the Sisters of Mercy consists of three studio albums, two compilation albums, two extended plays (EPs), and sixteen singles. The Sisters of Mercy were formed in Leeds in 1980 by Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx (guitar) and released their debut single, "The Damage Done", the same year on their own independent record label, Merciful Release. In early 1981, Craig Adams (bass) joined the band and they started to use a drum machine, which was christened Doktor Avalanche. Ben Gunn joined the band as a second guitarist by the end of 1981 and this line-up recorded four more singles and two EPs during 1982 and 1983. Guitarist Wayne Hussey replaced Gunn in early 1984 and, after building up their live reputation, The Sisters signed with WEA, who distribute the band's releases on Merciful Release in the United Kingdom and on Elektra Records in the United States. The band's next single, 1984's "Body and Soul", became their first charting effort in the UK when it reached number 46. Three more singles were released before the band reached number 14 on the UK Albums Chart with their debut album, First and Last and Always, which was released in March 1985. Following the album's release, Marx left the band, before the rest of the group disbanded in mid-1985.
Shakespears Sister is an alternative pop and rock musical duo that was formed in 1988 by Irish singer-songwriter Siobhan Fahey, a former member of Bananarama. Shakespears Sister was initially a solo act but became a duo by 1989, with the addition of American musician Marcella Detroit. Together they released two top-ten albums and a string of top-forty hits, including the 1992 single "Stay", which remained at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for eight weeks. Detroit was let go from the band in 1993, leaving Fahey as the sole member again, until the latter ended the project in 1996. After working under her own name for some years, Fahey revived the Shakespears Sister moniker in 2009. In 2019, Fahey and Detroit reunited as Shakespears Sister for a tour and released the singles "All the Queen's Horses" and "When She Finds You", and the EP Ride Again.
The Shillelagh branch line was a branch line of some 16.5 miles (26.6 km) to Shillelagh, County Wicklow opened by the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) in 1865. It joined the Dublin–Rosslare railway line at Woodenbridge halt.
