“Bananarama” are a British pop rock/dance band. The group was formed in September 1980 by three teenagers, three childhood friends: Siobhan Fahey, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward. Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, who had been friends since the age of four, moved from Bristol to London and met Siobhan Fahey. Dallin and Fahey studied journalism at the "London College of Fashion" (University of Arts) while Keren immediately began working for the "BBC" in Portland Place. In 1981, the newly formed trio moved in above the rehearsal space of Steve Jones and Paul Cook, guitarist and drummer for the Sex Pistols respectively. With their contribution, the Band recorded the first demo, "Aie a Mwana", a cover of Black Blood, and sent it to the record label "Demon Records". The song became a hit in clubs and discos, and the group got a contract with "Decca" (later "London Records"). The name "Bananarama" is the result of the merger between "The Banana Splits Show" (a US show for children) and "Pyjamarama" (a song by Roxy Music). In 1983 the first album, "Deep Sea Skiving", was released, which was a great success and reached the seventh position in the British Top Ten. The album contained the singles “Really Saying Something” and “Shy Boy” number 5 and number 4 respectively in the UK chart. The following self-titled album, Bananarama, from 1984, was even more successful than the first and was promoted all over the world, coming out in different editions. Thanks to the single "Cruel Summer", the "Bananarama" achieved great success also in the United States. In that year, the band featured on the single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", sung by "Band Aid" (Ethiopia famine relief fundraising group). "Bananarama" was the only group to appearing on both the original 1984 Band Aid and 1989 Band Aid II. 1986 saw the release of their third album True Confessions and the lead single Venus (cover of the "Shocking Blue" from 1969), the band won the Canadian "Juno Award" for international single of the year. In the wake of the success of "Venus", “Bananarama” started working on the album “Wow! “. In June 1988, "Wow" topped the Australian Albums Chart. The single "I Heard a Rumor" (UK #14, US #4) was their best performing international hit from this album. "Love in the First Degree" (UK #3) was instead one of their biggest hits in the UK and in 1988 was nominated for best single at the "Brit Award". After the success of "Wow!", just during the launch of "Love in the First Degree", Siobhan Fahey who in the meantime had married Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, abandoned the training to found a new band: the "Shakespears Sister". Siobhan Fahey left not without first collecting the coveted award which saw 'Bananarama' enter the 'Guinness Book of World Records' as the most successful girl band of all time (a record they still hold). In his place came Jacquie O'Sullivan, whose choice was also approved by the outgoing member as a friend of many years. On October 29, 2020, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward released their autobiography, titled “Really Saying Something”.
Album
1983 - DEEP SEA SKIWING
1984 - BANANARAMA
1986 - TRUE CONFESSION
1987 - WOW !
1988 - HOT ROCKS - THE BANANARAMA STORY
1991 - POP LIFE
1993 - PLEASE YOURSELF
1995 - I FOUND LOVE
1995 - ULTRA VIOLET
2001 - EXOTICA
2005 - DRAMA
2009 - VIVA
2019 - IN STEREO
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