Bananarama are an English 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.
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).
Stock Aitken Waterman are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time by the Guinness World Records, scoring more than 100 UK Top 40 hits and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties. The trio had 13 UK No. 1 singles including three consecutive UK No. 1's and three US No. 1 singles. They also had at least one record in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart every week between March 1986 and October 1990.
"Cruel Summer" is a song by English 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 the group appeared on the BBC's Top of the Pops that summer, and after its inclusion in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, it reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know is the third studio album by English pop band Dead or Alive, released in December 1986 on Epic Records. Continuing their association with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production team, Dead or Alive scored several hit singles from this album, including "Brand New Lover" and "Something in My House". In addition to an image of singer Pete Burns, the cover features one of the game walls at the Château de Raray, where some of the scenes for La Belle et la Bête were filmed. The cover photographer was Bob Carlos Clarke. The phrase "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know" itself comes from a statement by Lady Caroline Lamb describing controversial English literary figure Lord Byron.
"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, 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.
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.
"I Heard a Rumour" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987), and was released on 22 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became a hit in UK where it reached the top 20, but was more successful in North America, where it peaked within the top five.
"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.
Pop Life is the fifth studio album by English group Bananarama, released on 13 May 1991 by London Records. It is the only Bananarama studio album which features singer Jacquie O'Sullivan, who replaced Siobhan Fahey following her departure in 1988. This album marks the end of the group's association with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team as most of Pop Life was produced by Youth. English singer Zoë provided backing vocals on "Long Train Running". This would be the last album by Bananarama as a trio.
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.
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, 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.
"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 eponymous second studio 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".
"More Than Physical" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their third studio album, True Confessions (1986). It was released on 28 July 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.
"Love in the First Degree" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987). It was released on 21 September 1987 as the album's second single, except in the United States, where it was released in 1988 as the third single. The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. It achieved major success in the UK and Australia, and also peaked within the top 20 in many European countries, but, unlike "I Heard a Rumour", it reached only the lower end of the top 50 in the US.
"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 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.
The Video Singles is a music video compilation by Bananarama, released by Channel 5 in 1987, featuring videos which had been made to accompany the four singles taken from the True Confessions album. The "Venus" video is the 7" version, the extended version featuring instead on The Greatest Hits Collection. "A Trick of the Night" is the U.S. version: this song has two different videos, namely the UK black-and-white version, and the U.S. colour version; the UK b/w version was directed by Paul Heiney for the BBC programme, In at the Deep End. Bananarama hated this video. The other two videos included in the collection were for "Do Not Disturb" and "More Than Physical".
