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

[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?

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Take That had a top ten hit in the States (Back For Good) at least!

wasn't Bananarama's 'Venus' on an episode of Beavis & Butthead once? that suggests it enjoyed some, um, penetration.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

They did pretty well in teh dance charts over there. And they had a number 1 with Venus, which only got to #8 in the UK.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

This would have to be Cliff Richard, surely? ("We Don't Talk Anymore" and "Dreamin" went top 10 and he had a handful of other top 40 hits, but still).

Robbie Williams (as awesomewells points out) only ever had one top 40 hit in America. I seem to remember "Millenium" being bigger than it was.

"Cruel Summer" and "Venus" and "I Heard a Rumor" all hit top 10, with "Venus" being a #1.

Status Quo, for sure

[koganbot]

Yeah, what Greg said: Bananarama didn't fill stadiums but they packed a concert hall when I saw them in San Francisco.

The answer to your question would be one of the following:

Girls Aloud
Sugababes
[no hits here so far]

Slade
Status Quo
[one hit apiece]

OK, and Scissors Sisters aren't nearly as big as Bananarama was, and they're from New York, but they've totally failed to penetrate the U.S. charts, which is interesting. (Of course, neither did the Sex Pistols, but they had, you know, an impact.)

But Status Quo would win, in that after "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" they simply didn't exist over here, didn't even get written about in Creem or Hit Parader or any of the metal-leaning fan mags that ran scads and scads about Slade and Suzy Quatro etc. ('nother Murrican who hit the Brits but not the Yanks).