As an avid Bananarama fan I was thrilled to hear that their twelfth studio album, Masquerade, was scheduled for release in July this year to coincide with the band's 40th anniversary celebrations. The band came together as a trio - Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward - in 1980. However, their first major mainstream hit was in 1982 when their collaboration with vocal group Fun Boy Three, It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It), made it into the top 5 on the UK chart.
Their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving (a play on "diving" and "skiving" - British slang for avoiding work), was a big success in the UK. The trio had their first real success in the US with the 1984 hit, Cruel Summer, which appeared on their self-titled sophomore album. Subsequent albums in the 80s were True Confessions (regarded as a turning point in their career with the mega hit, Venus, and their first collaboration with Stock Aitken Waterman) and the Europop-influenced Wow! (which features two of their other iconic singles, Love In The First Degree and I Heard A Rumour).
Fun fact: at the end of the 80s the group entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the all-female group with the most UK chart entries in history - a record that they still claim. Siobhan then left the group in 1988 and was briefly replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991. They only released one album as a new trio, Pop Life, which featured a range of influences from reggae to acid house and received rave reviews from critics.
Since then Sara and Keren have remained as a duo, releasing the albums Please Yourself (1993); Ultra Violet (1995) - interestingly, none of the singles from this album were released in Britain; Exotica (2001) - a limited release that included a cover of George Michael's Careless Whisper; Drama (2005); Viva (2009) and In Stereo (2019).
Masquerade was written during the initial Covid lockdown and its lyrical themes were influenced by ongoing discussions about contemporary social issues. Sara has said: “When I was in lockdown, there were a lot of conversations happening to do with inclusivity, diversity and gender and racial equality. And that kind of led to this idea of ‘masquerade’: how you present yourself in different ways depending on the situation, but really, you just want people to live how they want to live." The album is pop perfection from beginning to end and possibly my favourite album of theirs .
In honour of the release of Masquerade and the 40th anniversary of the launch of their auspicious career, I have narrowed down my top three songs from each of their albums (an aside: my personal collection includes all of the albums except for the super rare Exotica which I am still trying to track down). I'd say it is a pretty good sampler for anyone not familiar with their music:
Deep Sea Skiving (1983)
Shy Boy
Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)
Cheers Then
Bananarama (1984)
Cruel Summer
Robert De Niro's Waiting
Rough Justice
True Confessions (1986)
Venus
True Confessions
Ready Or Not
Wow! (1987)
Love In The First Degree
I Heart A Rumour
I Want You Back
Pop Life (1991)
Preacher Man
Long Train Running
Ain't No Cure
Please Yourself (1993)
Movin' On
More, More, More
Only Time Will Tell
Ultra Violet (1995)
Every Shade Of Blue
Prove Your Love
You've Really Got Something
Exotica (2001)
Careless Whisper
I Heard A Rumour
Cruel Summer
Drama (2005)
Move In My Direction
Look On The Floor (Hypnotic Tango)
Lovebite
Viva (2009)
Love Don't Live Here
Runner
Sound Of Silence
In Stereo (2019)
Love In Stereo
I'm On Fire
Stuff Like That
Masquerade (2022)
Favourite
Running With The Night
Masquerade
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