User:EncicloCharlie
Hi, I'm a Wikipedian since November 15, 2007.
I'm a Bananarama fan since I was younger. My Nana favourite single is "Venus".
Bananarama is a British female group of pop music.
The band was founded in 1981 by Keren Woodward, Sarah Dallin and Siobhan Fahey. They took this name from one of their favourite Roxy Music's song called "Pyjamarama". Before Bananarama got together Keren had a job at the BBC and Sarah and Siobhan were studying fashion journalism. They met in a London nightclub and shared a flat before forming a group.
In early 1988 Siobhan decided to leave the group to form Shakespears Sister. Keren and Sarah enlisted the services of an old pal, Jacquie O'Sullivan, for their first World Tour. By this time, Bananarama were massive. They was the all-female group who had most chart entries in history, 9 Top UK Singles Chart and 3 US Top 10 Hits, being honoured in "The Guinnes Book of World Records" as The Most Successful British All-girl Group Ever. So they released their retrospective compilation "The Greatest Hits Collection", which was a huge success on Britain, peaking at 3, and remained on UK Albums Chart for 37 weeks.
With the 80's back in vogue, the time was right for a Bananarama revival. In 2002 London Records repackaged their Greatest Hits into a Very Best Of collection.
| Single | Album | Date | Performed by | Written by | Produced by | Top UK Chart |
Weeks on UK Chart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dallin/Fahey/Woodward |
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Dallin/Fahey/Woodward |
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Dallin/Fahey/Woodward |
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Stock/Aitken/Waterman |
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Stock/Aitken/Waterman |
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Lananeeneenoonoo |
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The Fun Boy Three |
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Dallin/Fahey/Woodward |
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Dallin/Fahey/Woodward |
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The Way That You Do It)" |
with Bananarama |
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(Kiss Him Goodbye)" |
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Dallin/Fahey/Woodward |
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John Martin and Sara |
"Greatest Hits"
| "EncicloCharlie" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "White Train" |
"Venus" (1986)
Bananarama's first collaboration with producers Stock, Aitken, and Waterman, and also their first number one in the USA.
The song was originally recorded by Dutch rock group Shocking Blue in 1970, and was updated for the 80's. Bananarama had done this cover from the beginning, when the girls were starting out.
The single was promoted by a rather camp video (directed by Peter Care) and a catchy dance routine. The video marks a pivotal shift towards a more glamourous and sexual image: the girls are presented in various costumes (she-devil, vampires, Grecian goddesses...), and it's also start of the use of male boy-toys dancers which would become a hallmark of their videos. This turns the girls into gay icons the world over.
"Venus" is Bananarama's biggest hit, topping the charts in many countries.
| Charts | Debut date | Weeks | Chart positions | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | ||||
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
| "EncicloCharlie" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Clean Cut Boy" |
"I Heard A Rumour" (1987)
The girls think this is the best they've written with Stock/ Aitken/ Waterman. It's also Pete Waterman and many group fans favourite Bananarama song.
The music video (directed by Andy Morahan) presents group members are seen emulating various film starts, projected on screens behind them. At one point the girls, dressed in French can-can, bend over to moon the camara and expose the letters W O W (a reference to their album tittle) on their rears.
| Charts | Debut date | Weeks | Chart positions | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | ||||
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
| "EncicloCharlie" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Mr. Sleaze" |
"Love In The First Degree" (1987)
The band's best selling single ever in the UK. The success is party due to the B-side "Mr. Sleaze" being heavily played by English radio stallions.
They got so over the top with the video for this single, directed by Andy Morahan. The girls perfoming the song in a jail cell, as several boy dancers perform around them in their little uniforms.
| Charts | Debut date | Weeks | Chart positions | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | ||||
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
| "EncicloCharlie" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Ecstasy" |
"I Can't Help It" (1987)
Stock/ Aitken/ Waterman have such a brilliant attitude to making pop records and here is a fine example.
The music video was directed by Andy Morahan. Most people would think that writhing around with four men in a milk bath with fruit would be very erotic, so Sarah and Keren featured in a milk bath filled with fruit an naked men. Siobhan, extremely pregnat by this time, was only shown on camera from the shoulders up.
The photos on the record sleeve were taken by Herb Ritts. The sleeves for "I Can't Help It" and "Love In The First Degree" were switched with each other for the UK and USA markets.
| Charts | Debut date | Weeks | Chart positions | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | ||||
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
| "EncicloCharlie" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Amnesia" |
"I Want You Back" (1988)
Siobhan decided to leave the group in 1988. Sarah and Keren had seen this coming for some time and had already lined up a possible replacement: Jacquie O'Sullivan.
Before releasing "I Want You Back" -a track from the "WOW!" album- as a single the vocals were re-recorded with Jacquie.
| Charts | Debut date | Weeks | Chart positions | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart |