The Friday Canon: BANANANARAMA

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Woo woo! It's the biggest girl group of the 80s! Siobhan & co have racked up 24 UK Top 40 hits! You get to pick your favourite EIGHT Narner songs. Well go on then!

[Poll #938493]

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Bums, stupid Everyhit, I forgot to add in the other Fun Boy Three stuff. That'll teach me to do polls in a rush.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

OMG! When you click on 'view answers' it pops them up in-line! Hurrah!

I was considering a Comic Relief singles canon but that can wait till nearer Red Nose Day. 'Help' is pretty dire though, French & Saunders & Kathy Burke. I thought it was poor at the time!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Isn't it red nose day today? I swear that bloody event seems to take up more time every year.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

well done web 2.0

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

When you click on 'view answers' it pops them up in-line!

It falls over at 20 votes though :(

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

I love them and so does Mark Kermode!

Full house for Madness (DYS)

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Madness/Suggs: (link (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/316363.html)
=1. House Of Fun
=1. Our House
3. One Step Beyond
4. Baggy Trousers
5. It Must Be Love
6. My Girl
7. Embarrassment
8. Driving In My Car
=9. Michael Caine
=9. Wings Of A Dove
=9. Work Rest And Play EP

1. Cecilia [ft Louchie Lou & Michie One]
2. Camden Town
3. I'm Only Sleeping / Off On Holiday

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

I remember hardly any of these! I also think I have confused 'I heard a rumour' with 'love in the first degree' in my head.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Same here. I'm sure I'd tick more if I could recall them.

At the time I used to confuse them with the Bangles! And when Shakespeares Sister turned up I had NO IDEA that Siobhan had been in the Narners. My Narner nollidge is clearly lacking (see also lack of FACTS above).

[koganbot]

Early returns show "Cruel Summer" lagging way behind "Venus." I ticked 'em both, but this makes no sense to me. "Cruel Summer" is one of the most shimmeringly scary songs ever, while "Venus" is just a good bosh cover.

(Wish I'd had several more ticks.)

Interesting fact: Paul Cook and Steve Jones produced their first track, "Aie a Mwana," which I'd have ticked if it had been on the board. Think in some ways Bananarama are a legacy of punk, the unison melody-singing really being an anyone-can-do-it thing, and the girls bringing that spirit into glitzy fashion sense.

All hail the Doobies

[koganbot]

So far I am the only one to tick anything after 1989.

Re: All hail the Doobies

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I ticked "Look On The Floor (Hypnotic Tango)" because it's the only good thing to come out of the Italo revival really terrific.

Re: All hail the Doobies

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I ticked 'Preacher Man'*. I would have ticked 'Long Train' if a few more ticks had been allowed. I own both of these on 7" vinyl!

*OTOH if Kat had remembered to include "It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It", this may not have got a tick.

Re: All hail the Doobies

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

I think their cover of 'More More More' is EXCELLENT. Better than Rachel Stevens' at least!

Heard A Rumour / Love In The First Degree

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

These are the ultimate SAW tracks pretty much aren't they - a band who did "anybody can do it" well with the great anybody-can-do-it producers.

Both really awesome. I bet "I Want You Back" is too but I can't remember it.

SAW canon!

SAW canon

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It's on the list!

However it will have to wait till a slow werk day as it is non trivial to compile (as opposed to plugging BAND X into everyhit and c+v-ing the results.

Re: Heard A Rumour / Love In The First Degree

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Weirdly enough I think there was a best-of SAW a couple of years ago - if it wasn't a SAW best of then it was a best-of of one of "their" acts - and some of the production has dated absolutely HORRIBLY (even some of those old Kylie tracks are almost impossible to listen to). But Bananarama's stuff (and Dead Or Alive!) still sounds good.

Kat I have a best of the narnerarma I can dig out and LEND if you'd like (same goes for the other "I can't remember"ers on here)

VENUS

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Surely one of the greatest songs ever. I much prefer the Narner version to Shocking Blue's!

Re: VENUS

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

SNAP!
Dude I will hand over the BananaBestOf at Sean's party tomorrow :)

BARNETS

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Blimey. Didn't they have AMAZING hair?

Re: BARNETS

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Bvms. For more pics, just do a google image search innit!

MY GOD they look weird now (http://www.bananarama.co.uk/index_fla.html)!

Re: BARNETS

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, that was my first thought too :)

Re: BARNETS

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

As a matter of fact the one in the middle (Sarah?) looks pretty much like my MUM when she first got her hair bleached! Oh the '80s, so much to answer for...

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

I hardly remember ANY of these, but then again I was barely paying attention to pop music during the Bananarama era and the revival hasn't really rolled round, has it?

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I'm sure this has been commented on/questioned before, but are they about the biggest UK act that completely didn't make in the US? I mean, yes, "Venus" was a worldwide hit, but if you told your average Yank that Bananarama was the biggest UK girl group of the 80s, they would probably just stare dumbly at you.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

I dunno - Take That? Stereophonics? Snow Patrol? Robbie Williams?