Lots of ladies will grace these pages while in the B section. So, we move from Kate and Cindy to Keren, Siobhan and Sarah. As far as my tastes go, Bananarama only stuck around for a cup of coffee. I'm going to keep this as brief as my fandom because Alex at
We Will Have Salad has been covering much of the relationship between Bananarama and Fun Boy Three, and it probably won't surprise you to note this is the same era I enjoy. I only own one studio album, and it's the first. I still like it enough that I bought it again last year when
'Deep Sea Skiving' was reissued. A tip of the cap to Edsel for assembling one hell of a deluxe edition that includes 24 bonus tracks and a DVD, all housed in a handsome hardcover book. I really bought it for the 12" of "Give Us Back Our Cheap Fares" and the original 1981 Demon 7" of "Aie a Mwana," two pieces of vinyl that have eluded me for decades.
This series is all about the vinyl, however, and I do have a few 12" singles up my sleeve. The first is the only piece of plastic I have beyond 'Deep Sea Skiving,' and just barely at that. The first single from their second album, "Cruel Summer," was a top-10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic, helped here in America by being used in the film 'The Karate Kid' (although omitted from the soundtrack). As a 14 year old, I loved this pop, commercial or not, and the song takes me back to the summer of '84 the moment it comes on, but that proved to be it for me and the gals. These two takes of the Swahili-sung cover "Aie a Mwana" are from the B-side of the "Really Sayin' Something" 12". It's worth noting this is the U.S. release, and the mixes are different from the UK ones. All versions of that one are available on the deluxe edition of 'Deep Sea Skiving.'
"Cruel Summer" (12" Version)
"Summer Dub"
"Aie a Mwana" (U.S. Extended Version)
"Aie a Mwana" (U.S. Dub)
5 comments:
Ahh Siobhan!
CC beat me to it!!!!!
Bop bop shoopy doo wah.
Misfits waiting in the wings. They were enjoyable at the start, vamping when they hit the high times and then a bit self parodying by the time they became a dance club act.
There are a handful of singles that I distinctly remember hearing for the first time, slightly ahead of release, usually played to me by a record company representative. 'Speak Like a Child' by the Style Council is one that sticks out, so too does 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' by Verve and, for some reason, 'Aie A Mwana' is another. I'm not sure why I recall that particular one, though it did become a popular favourite in the shop for a while.
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