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!

[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

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

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

[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.

[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.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia sa 16th March.

All hail the Doobies

[koganbot]

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

[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).

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.

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: Heard A Rumour / Love In The First Degree

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

That would be wicked! Cheers KT!

JEBUS the SAW wiki sa: "The three can be considered to be the most successful songwriting and producing partnership of all time, scoring over 200 top 40 UK hits in the mid '80s to early '90s."

BIGGER THAN ELVIS!

Re: VENUS

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

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

Re: Heard A Rumour / Love In The First Degree

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I have IN MY BAG TONIGHT the 2CD collection "The Hit Factory" which covers their oeuvre nicely (though with rather too many shonky W acts fom the post-SA days, it does have Steps though, lovely Steps)

ALSO

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing the video to Venus on TOTP and being SHOCKED at their saucy outfits.

Re: SAW canon

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I knew a very serious SAW fan who ran a fanzine entirely dedicated to tracklists from European CD single releases (and suchlike).

He also made me a double-cassette compilation of Manics B Sides.

Re: Heard A Rumour / Love In The First Degree

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

What I might do to reduce the chaff is Top 10 hits only?

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Well the other one out of Shakey's Sis used to be a backing singer for Eric Clapton. Fact!

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Oh and Siobhan Fahey (the one you were on about) was married to the bloke out of the Eurhythmnics for ages.

BARNETS

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Blimey. Didn't they have AMAZING hair?

Re: Heard A Rumour / Love In The First Degree

[sbp.livejournal.com]

The production irritated me at the time, never mind dated horribly. But I noticed a general "too much production on all popsongs" from about 1985 onwards. Phear my 16 year old self.