Retro Spins: Bananarama - Deep Sea Skiving

 

Bananarama had so many hits in the 80's that they actually hold the Guinness Book of World Records title for highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. The trio of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward, formed Bananarama in 1980. However, this was anything but immediately successful. In fact, Dallin and Woodward were taking up residency in a local YWCA, on the verge of being homeless when Sex Pistols drummer, Paul Cook, allowed them to take residency in the band's formal rehearsal room.

The girls would often provide backing vocals for punk band such as The Monochrome Set, The Professionals, Subway Sect, Iggy Pop, Department S, The Nipple Erectors, and The Jam. It was during this time that they recorded their first demo track, Aie a Mwana. The song turned into a minor underground hit, and would ultimately lead to them signing with London Records.

They released their first album, Deep Sea Skiving in March of 1983, and with it began the success. The album reached number seven on the charts, and spawned four hit singles, Really Saying Something, Shy Boy, Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, and Cheers then. This led to the group heading to the USA, where they made appearances on American Band Stand, and Solid Gold, eventually finding success with their 1984 hit, Cruel Summer.

However, before we get to that point in history, we have to pause and actually set out to accomplish today's Retro Spin, their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving.

Truth be told, I picked up this album because I was more so interested in owning it for being their debut, and not necessarily because I wanted the record. In fact, beyond the hits, and what I've listened to in prior Retro Spins, I don't honestly know all that much from the girls.

What I've noticed as of late 2021, is that my ears have matured a bit while listening to discs. By this, I mean that I find myself more so enjoying an eclectic range of 80's music tunes. It's difficult to explain why, but let me try. You know how people say, The Motown Sound? Well, it's kind of like that. 80's albums have that sound to me, and my ears immediately pick it up, and flock to it. It's to the point that I think I may need to go back and listen to everything I so harshly criticized during my earlier posts to see if there are gems I missed.

It's this sound where this particular album took hold of me. It's new to me, but it's familiar, and as such, it's easy to enjoy. I honestly didn't hear anything I hated. In fact, I had to limit myself before I ended up grabbing the entire thing for my shuffle list. It's no surprise Deep Sea Skiving paved the way for Bananarama. It's seriously that good.

Of course, from there, the whole world was already hip to this fact, and Bananarama continued to release hit after hit with their self titled 1984 album, 1986's True Confessions, and 1987's Wow! Unfortunately, success doesn't always equate to happiness, and that's where member, Siobhan Fahey, found herself. Unhappy with her friends, fighting, and finally deciding to leave it behind.

Fahey was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan for the group's follow up album, Pop Life (1991). However, this would be short lived. Life would take hard hits at O'Sullivan, who left the band after a series of bad circumstances, and depression which resulted from them.

The two remaining members of Bananarama pressed forward, releasing albums through 2019, and would reunite with Fahey for a brief stint of sell out tours between 2017 and 2018. It appears that the group remains as popular now as they were in the 80's.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
February 11, 1984

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
February 11, 1989

Retro Spins: Bananarama - True Confessions

 

Bananarama strikes me as what the Spice Girls would have sounded like if they were an 80's band. There's no real "lead" singer. Instead, they all sing at the same time, just different pitches, while throwing in their own distinct sounds and what not. It makes for unique songs, but not necessarily good ones.

True Confessions, the song and the album, starts with a fantastic drum beat, which being a drummer myself, hooked me right away. I was really into it until the girls themselves started singing. From there, I dipped out pretty quick.

Between ballads and fairly bland and generic synth tracks, I really found myself uninterested in the album. All of this by track number three. With the exception of Venus, which wouldn't make its way around until track six, I'd never heard any of the songs on this album, and at this point I really wasn't excited for it. However, I suppose it would be fair to say I never really fancied myself a Bananarama fan to begin with, so it's not like they had that going for them to begin with. In other words, the bar was already pretty low in terms of expectations.

Things didn't get better with the song, Dance With A Stranger, which sounded like something you would hear at a cocktail lounge, or if instrumental, in an elevator. I was starting to realize quickly why I didn't hear much from the group in the 80's beyond their handful of hits. Had I not been working while listening to the album, I probably would have started skipping through the tracks.

That's not to say the album was a total loss. I did hear tracks that were okay. However, here in lied the problem. As I said, they were just okay. Not catchy. Not memorable. Not something I necessarily wanted to hear again. Overall, it was just decent 80's music. I suppose in the long run, there's not much more you can ask for. Sure, it's great when you get excited about a song and want to hear it over and over again. But, at the same time, at least it wasn't annoying and terrible.

I don't see myself venturing out any further in the realm of Bananarama. I have their three albums which encompass their few hits, and I think that's going to be good enough for me.

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Retro Spins: Bananarama - Bananarama

I was never a fan of Bananarama in the 80's. Not even of the highly popular Cruel Summer, which appeared in one of my favorite childhood movies, The Karate Kid. However, as the years have passed, I've come to find myself appreciating not only their hits - Which for me constitutes as three songs; Cruel Summer, Venus and I Heard A Rumour. I'm sure there are more, but I don't know them.

Which brings me to today's Retro Spin. 1984's self titled album from the trio, Bananarama.

Depending on the version you purchase, you'll either get nine tracks (UK) or ten (US). Purchase wise, I got the UK edition, because for the life of me I couldn't find the original US version. Not only that, but I had to order it from a UK seller to boot. Okay, that part probably makes sense. In general, first pressings of 80's Bananarama albums seems a little difficult to come by - With the exception of 1987's Wow!.

As I fired up the album, I was treated to the sounds of Cruel Summer, which set a nice tone for where things would be going. The album doesn't deliver what I would constitute as "bad" songs. However, it also doesn't deliver much in the wow factor either. The biggest problem I have with it, overall, is that it's quite honestly forgettable. Even as I sit here listening to it, I couldn't tell you much about any of the tracks beyond the "hits", Cruel Summer and Robert De Niro's Waiting. Mind you, I don't even like the latter track.

I'm disappointed in how little the album offers, especially considering the amount of effort I put into finding it. Not to mention the sixteen days it took to get it in the mail. I do have two other albums from Bananarama which I'll get around to, but at this point, I'm ready to move onto something else in hopes of getting a little more bang for my buck. This album did not impress.

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