Bananarama Vinyl Record Albums

Bananarama is a British girl group that found worldwide fame with their melodic pop songs. The group was founded in London in 1981 by friends Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward, and Sarah Dallin (Woodward and Dallin were friends since age 13). In 1988 they got into the Guinness Book of World Records as the United Kingdom's best selling girl group ever (but currently best selling girl group ever is a British group Spice Girls). In the same year (1988) Siobhan Fahey left the group after marrying Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and they added Jacquie O'Sullivan instead. Back in 1981 Bananarama's members were living above the rehearsal room which was used by former Sex Pistols's members Steve Jones and Paul Cook. With their help, Bananarama recorded their first demo "Aie a Mwana" (cover of song by "Black Blood", sung in Swahili). The demo was heard at Demon Records, who offered the girls their first deal. The song was an underground hit and the girls were subsequently signed by London Records (they were on this label until 1993). Bananarama had early support from ex-Specials member Terry Hall, who invited them to duet with his new vocal group Fun Boy Three on the track "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)." In 1983 the song hit the top 5 in the UK and gave the girls their first significant mainstream success. Fun Boy Three then guested on Bananarama's song "Really Saying Something" later that year. Bananarama experienced their greatest success during the period from 1984 to 1989. Their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving (1983), contained two hit singles "Really Saying Something" (#5 UK) and "Shy Boy" (#4 UK). The next album, Bananarama (1984), contained hit singles "Cruel Summer" (1983) and "Robert De Niro's Waiting" (1984). "Cruel Summer" was included in the movie The Karate Kid. It was covered by Swedish band Ace of Base and was a worldwide hit all over again in 1998. In 1986 they began to be produced by UK pop producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman, which resulted in the international number one hit "Venus" (a remake of Shocking Blue's number one hit from 1970), whose dance enticing beats typified the "SAW" approach to pop production. They appeared on the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?". In fact they are the only artists to appear on both the original Band Aid and the Band Aid II version. "I Heard A Rumour", from the WOW! album, was a hit in 1987, as was "Love In The First Degree", but the late 80s brought a resurgence of boy bands, and interest in girl bands waned a bit. A few minor hits proved to be a last hurrah, and few comeback tours during the late 1980s. In 1991 Jacquie O'Sullivan left the band and in 1993 they returned with a new album called Please Yourself. In 1995 they released album Ultra Violet. In 1998 Dallin and Woodward recorded track "Waterloo" (cover of ABBA's song) together with Fahey for A Song For Eurotrash (Eurovision tribute) on Channel 4. In the 2001 they released an album Exotica in France with the cover of George Michael's "Careless Whisper". The next year in UK they released a greatest hits album The Very Best of Bananarama. In 2002 they recorded the song "Love, Leave, Forget" for Sky TV's show Is Harry On The Boat?. In 2002 Bananarama's members (including Siobhan Fahey as special guest) celebrated their 20th Anniversary at "London Astoria" in London. 3,000 people participated in this event. As of 2002, Bananarama has sold 40 million albums worldwide. Currently Bananarama consists of two members: Dallin and Woodward. Bananarama attempted a comeback in the British charts in 2005. "Move In My Direction", released in July, hit the charts at number 14, making this song the group's 26th Top 40 hit, and their first Top 20 hit since their 1989 hit single "Help".