FEATURE:
Second Spin
Bananarama – Bananarama
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THOUGH some prefer the debut…
from Bananarama, Deep Sea Skiving, I am a bigger fan of their second album. Their debut of 1983 is an accomplished and broad album that is satisfying and has more than its share of terrific cuts – including Really Saying Something, and Young at Heart (later covered by The Bluebells). I think Bananarama is a more confident album and, at a time when Madonna was starting out and Amy Grant was developing as an artist, the British alternative to those American mainstream stars showed great originality and consistency on their second album. Released in 1984, the album peaked at number-sixteen on the U.K. album chart, also reaching the U.S. top-forty album chart. I think people see groups like Bananarama as a bit of a guilty pleasure, but Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward are incredible singers and they blend together wonderfully. Writing alongside producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain – who worked with them on their debut -, and I think the collaboration is great. Bananarama achieved their first big U.S. success with Cruel Summer; Hot Line to Heaven, Robert De Niro’s Waiting…, and Rough Justice are great tracks. It is an album that got some positive reviews upon its release, but I don’t think that is gets enough praise when it comes to the great albums of the 1980s.
Although there is a lot of fun and terrific Pop, Bananarama tackled societal injustices towards children, poverty and starvation on Rough Justice, and I think there was a move from a lot of Pop artists of the 1980s to mix in heavier themes alongside songs of love and relationships. This gives Bananarama more weight and variability, and the group sound as captivating and meaningful when singing about something quite weighty as they do when delivering something sugary. I think Bananarama warrants some fresh listening and focus. In their review of 2018, this is what AllMusic had to say:
“For their second album, Bananarama underwent a telling change in persona, from the flyaway-haired, overall-clad everygirls of Deep Sea Skiving into a sleeker and glammier look. Similarly, the album has a much more polished feel than the occasionally scattershot debut, which is not always a good thing; sticking with Tony Swain and Steve Jolley to produce the whole thing (the duo had shared production duties with three others on the debut), Bananarama traded their early tropical-tinged playfulness and ironic overtones for a more commercial sound that scored well on the charts (the terrific opener "Cruel Summer" was a worldwide hit, and several other tracks were U.K. hits) but was less unique than before. What's most unusual about Bananarama is the content of the songs. Lyrically, the album is surprisingly serious, with topics ranging from sectarian violence in Ireland ("Rough Justice") to domestic violence ("King of the Jungle") to drug use ("Hot Line to Heaven"), none of which are in keeping with the trio's frothy image.
Indeed, under the singalong chorus, the album's best track, "Robert de Niro's Waiting," turns out to be the traumatized musings of a teenage rape victim, set to an improbably dreamy, carefree melody. Even comparatively light songs like "State I'm In" and "Dream Baby" have an oddly paranoid tone to them. Of course, the detour into mature themes didn't last long, as the group's next album introduced the chart-bound frivolity of Stock-Aitken-Waterman into the picture, but Bananarama in an intriguing and often excellent side trip. Important discographical curiosity: original U.S. copies of Bananarama included an extended seven-minute take of "Hot Line to Heaven." After the fall 1984 release of the single "The Wild Life" (the theme to Cameron Crowe's second movie), U.S. copies of Bananarama were altered to include the new single at the start of side two, followed by the superior single edit of "Hot Line to Heaven”.
I think one gets the impression that a lot of Bananarama’s songs are quite lightweight and cliché, but they can disguise something quite explicit and moving around a big chorus and polished production. That is not a bad thing; it is just the fact people misinterpret their work and write them off. I think Bananarama is one of the boldest and most striking Pop albums of 1984 and, as Madonna was putting out a more daring and broader album than her 1983 debut (with Like a Virgin), I think it is interesting that there is this parallel to Bananarama. I think a lot of critics in 1984 felt that Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward sounded a bit threadbare and sighing, rather than imbuing their words with power, personality and edge. I have never thought Bananarama lightweight or lacking edge; I think their vocal style is perfect for their music and they give full focus to every song. If you have not heard Bananarama or have avoided them in the past, then I would recommend their eponymous album; it is most definitely…
WORTH spending some time with.