Bananarama are a British and Irish pop group, formed as a trio in 1980 by 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 30 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
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).
"Cruel Summer" is a song by Anglo-Irish girl group Bananarama. It was written by Bananarama and Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, and produced by Jolley and Swain. Released in 1983, it was initially a stand-alone single but was subsequently included on their self-titled second album a year later. The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, and after its inclusion in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, it reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, initially released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the song topped the charts in nine countries.
Steven Nicholas Jolley and Tony Swain were a successful songwriting and record production duo in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1980s, producing some of the top artists and songs of the era.
Bananarama is the second studio album by British group Bananarama. Released in 1984, the album peaked at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart, reached the US top 40 albums chart, and was certified Silver by the BPI.
True Confessions is the third studio album by British group Bananarama. It was released on 14 July 1986 by London Records. The majority of the album was produced by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, with the exception of "Venus" and "More Than Physical". The latter, given a garage remix for its single version, was Bananarama's first songwriting collaboration with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production team.
"Nathan Jones" is a song by American girl group the Supremes from their twenty-third studio album, Touch (1971). It was released on April 15, 1971, as the album's lead single. Produced by Frank Wilson and written by Kathy Wakefield and Leonard Caston, "Nathan Jones" was one of eight top-40 entries the Supremes recorded after its original frontwoman, Diana Ross, left the group for a solo career.
Exotica is the eighth studio album released by the British female vocal duo Bananarama. The album was released only in France by the independent label M6 Interactions.
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. Along with hits, several album tracks were included here. Curiously absent are Bananarama's two biggest singles, "Cruel Summer" and "Venus". It also included 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.
"Shy Boy" is a 1982 song recorded by English girl group Bananarama which was written and produced by the production team of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain and marked the first in a long line of studio collaborations between them and Bananarama. Released in the summer of 1982, "Shy Boy" became the third consecutive single by Bananarama to hit the top-five, reaching number four in the UK Singles Chart. It also was a success in Australia, where it reached number two, becoming their first top 40 hit in that country. Top-ten success also followed in New Zealand and Canada. "Shy Boy" charted well on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart and was the first of Bananarama's singles to dent the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 83. The song was known as "Shy Boy " in the USA.
"Robert De Niro's Waiting..." is a song written by Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward, Steve Jolley, and Tony Swain, recorded for English girl group Bananarama's self-titled second album. Produced by Jolley & Swain, it was released as the album's second single on 20 February 1984. It namechecks American actor Robert De Niro. The single is one of the group's strongest-performing releases, peaking at number three in the UK Singles Chart. It made a brief appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 95. Billboard ranked the song at number 74 on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".
"Rough Justice" is a song by English girl group Bananarama. It was co-written by group members Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward and the writing-production duo Jolley & Swain who also produced the song. The song was released in May 1984 as the third single from their self-titled second album.
"Do Not Disturb" is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It was written and produced by the production duo of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. Originally released as a stand-alone single in 1985, the track was later added to Bananarama's third album True Confessions, which was issued by London Records a year later. "Do Not Disturb" was released in the UK, Australia, Germany, and Japan but only charted in the UK.
"More Than Physical" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their third studio album, True Confessions (1986). It was released on 11 August 1986 as the album's third single. It was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. A reworked version of the song was released as the single version.
"A Trick of the Night" is a mid-tempo ballad recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It was written and produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain and released as the final single from Bananarama's album True Confessions.
"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.
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.
30 Years of Bananarama is a CD/DVD retrospective of British girl group Bananarama's musical career from 1981 through 2009. This compilation album was issued by Rhino Records on 9 July 2012 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the group. The album entered the UK album chart on 16 July at number 62.
