Pop Life | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 13 May 1991 | |||
Recorded | July 1989 – May 1990 | |||
Genre | Hi-NRG [1] | |||
Label | London | |||
Producer | ||||
Bananarama chronology | ||||
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Singles from Pop Life | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | link |
Entertainment Weekly | A [2] |
NME | 4/10 [3] |
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 (they produced only two songs on the album: “Ain’t No Cure” and “Heartless”) as most of Pop Life was produced by Youth (real name Martin Glover). English singer Zoë provided backing vocals on "Long Train Running". This would be the last album by Bananarama as a trio.
After Bananarama's first world tour in 1989, they started recording their fifth album with producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW), but were dissatisfied with the results of those sessions, thinking the majority of those songs of sub-par quality, although "Ain't No Cure" and "Heartless" were eventually included on the album. [4] They started looking for other producers, first working with David Z with whom the group recorded "Some Boys", but felt it was not the direction they wanted to follow and the song remained unreleased until 2013. They then worked with Steve Jolley who, along with Tony Swain, had produced the group's first three records. A song co-written by him, "Is Your Love Strong Enough" ended up on the album, while another remains unreleased. They settled with Youth, who had been Sara Dallin's boyfriend years before and whom the group knew well, to produce the majority of the album.
The album was a departure from Bananarama's previous albums as it incorporates a much more diverse range of musical genres, including flamenco guitar (a cover of the Doobie Brothers song "Long Train Running" featuring Alma de Noche, a pseudonym for the Gipsy Kings), retro-rock ("Only Your Love", "Outta Sight"), acid house ("Tripping on Your Love"), reggae ("What Colour R the Skies Where U Live?"), experimental club ("Megalomaniac"), and their hallmark Euro disco sound ("Preacher Man", "Ain't No Cure").
The band completely re-recorded the SAW track "Ain't No Cure" with Youth in a more subdued style to fit in better with the other tracks on the album. A furious response from SAW ultimately saw the band relent, however, and include the original SAW version on the album. [4] The song was re-recorded by SAW produced girl group Delage in 1991, although it was not released until 1997. [5]
Upon its release, Pop Life received positive reviews from critics. Chuck Eddy from Entertainment Weekly gave it an A, writing, "The album, while energetic, is far moodier than anything they’ve ever done. The Gipsy Kings, those techno-flamenco gods, help engineer the Doobie Brothers’ ”Long Train Running” into a scary locomotive blues. Other tracks venture deep into the dark tunnel of dreamland: Pulses from an alternate universe underline fizzy computerized harmonies; sleepy voices trying hard to wake up ask ”What color are the skies where you live?” ”Megalomaniac” is a wild bopper about running away, not from something, just running. Two other songs even have heavy psychedelic guitars. We usually visit Bananaramaland to escape our problems, but this album takes us to an eerier place than we’d ever expect." [2]
Commercially, the album reached number 42 in the United Kingdom, [6] number 37 in Sweden, [7] and number 146 in Australia. [8] Four mid-charting singles were issued from the album, and following the release of "Tripping on Your Love", O'Sullivan left the group, leaving members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward to continue as a duo.
CD
LP and Cassette
Side A
Side B
2007 CD re-issue plus bonus tracks
2013 Deluxe Edition 2CD/DVD re-issue
Disc 1
Disc 2
DVD
Chart (1991) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [8] | 146 |
European Albums ( Music & Media ) [9] | 81 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [10] | 8 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [11] | 53 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [7] | 37 |
UK Albums (OCC) [6] | 42 |
Bananarama are a British-Irish girl 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 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).
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.
"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.
Drama is the ninth studio album by English musical duo Bananarama, released on 14 November 2005 by A&G Records. It features eleven newly recorded tracks, along with a remix of their 1986 single "Venus" and a 2005 remix of their 1982 single "Really Saying Something", an underground bootleg club hit produced by Solasso.
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.
Ultra Violet is the seventh studio album released by English group Bananarama. Originally released under the title of I Found Love on 21 August 1995 only in Japan, the album was renamed as Ultra Violet and released on 2 February 1996 in Australia and some markets in Europe, such as Portugal and Spain. At the time of the original release, the album wasn't sold in the UK, the group's home market. Ultra Violet was eventually released in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2020. This also marked the first time the album was made available on vinyl as it was previously only available on compact disc and cassette.
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 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.
"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 28 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.
"Only Your Love" is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama, released as the first single from the group's fifth studio album, Pop Life (1991). The song was issued ten months prior to the release of the album. The Pop Life album marked Bananarama's break from their relationship with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production trio. "Only Your Love" was co-written and produced by Youth. The album version of the song was remixed for its single release.
"Preacher Man" is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It appears on the group's fifth studio album, Pop Life (1991), and was released as the album's second single. The track was co-written and produced by Youth with additional production and remix by Shep Pettibone.
"Tripping on Your Love" is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It appears on the group's fifth studio album, Pop Life (1991), and was released as the album's fourth single in the UK and the first single in the United States. The track was co-written and produced by Youth. This is the last single released featuring member Jacquie O'Sullivan and the group as a trio.
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.
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