Bananarama/Lananeeneenoonoo 'Help!'

Chart Peak: 3
YouTube (Warning: contains shirtless Roland Rivron)

'Help!' was originally No.1 for the Beatles in Augst 1965 when Bananarama/Lananeeneenoonoo were only very little girls... This new version raced to No. 12 after only one week of release in mid-February 1989.

Possibly the most difficult-to-spell artist credit in the entire history of the Now albums, and the second track in a row with an exclamation mark in the title. It is of course also the second Sixties cover out of four tracks so far - as Mick Fleetwood mentioned at the Brits, that era was very prominent in the culture at the time.

This was the third official Comic Relief single, though the first released to coincide with an actual Red Nose Day event (a couple of weeks early in fact, but it was in the chart at the right time). Like the previous efforts by Cliff Richard and the Young Ones and Mel And Kim, it takes the form of a parody cover version that teams a game-for-a-laugh pop star and comedians; in this case French & Saunders and Kathy Burke reprise their parody of "The Bananas" which they debuted on their Christmas Special a few weeks earlier, bringing in the real group to play along. I presume it's only coincidence that Burke, a guest star rather than a regular member of the duo, gets to shadow the least-remembered Nana, Jacquie O'Sullivan.

Apart from a somewhat half-hearted Stock/Aitken/Waterman production, this track shares its main flaw with many of the early Comic Relief tracks - it's really more a soundtrack to a sketch than a record in its own right. It's quite funny to watch them lark about in the video, impersonating the original group and also impersonating the skiing scenes from the original Beatles movie (which are actually associated with 'Ticket To Ride' but close enough) - alas it loses too much in sound only. It's not got enough jokes to be consistently funny but there are too many for it to work as a straight cover version. Obviously, full credit to everyone for agreeing to do it, but it doesn't sound so good these days.

It does mean, though, that both Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke can claim to have appeared on more Now albums than Whitney Houston or the Manic Street Preachers. I don't know if they ever have claimed that, but I would.

Bananarama also appear on: Now 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15
Available on: 30 Years Of Bananarama (The Very Best Of) (Deluxe) [+video]

Bananarama 'Trick Of The Night'

Chart Peak: 32

YouTube

Charted at No. 64 on 10th February, had reached No. 32 by 24th February.

Another near-miss Stock Aitken Waterman connection here. The hitmaking trio, who had of course already produced the Nanas' US chart-topping version of 'Venus', were called in to remix this track to appeal to UK buyers. A video was even made for their mix by the journalist Paul Heiney, as part of the forgotten TV series In At The Deep End where presenters were called upon to learn and practice new skills quickly (you can hear part of his voice over in that clip), the sort of thing that would nowadays be called a reality show. I watched that week's episode and it would have been one of the few times I heard the song since even with that publicity it failed to become much of a hit for them. That's presumably why they went further down the SAW route after this. It makes Side 3 a bit of a parade of forgotten numbers.

It's actually Swain and Jolley's original production of 'A Trick Of The Night' (as it's called on the single cover) that features here, which is probably for the best though both sound pretty dated 26 years later. One of the group's more serious songs, it's written as warning to a young man who runs off to the big city and ends up becoming a rentboy - thus the double meaning of the word "trick" (and maybe of the lyric "take it the wrong way" as well), although if this stuff is already happening to him it might be a bit late for warnings? It was hardly explicit enough to prevent airplay but perhaps the downbeat mood was not what people wanted from a band who'd made their name with sillier material (and did, after all, have an extremely silly name). I quite like it now, but I wouldn't claim it's a great lost hit. It's better than many of their bigger hits though.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14 (with Lananeeneenoonoo), 15
Available on: 30 Years Of Bananarama (The Very Best Of)

Bananarama 'Robert De Niro's Waiting'

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

I can understand that they wouldn't have been able to afford the actual Robert De Niro for the video, but maybe they could have tried to get somebody who looked vaguely like him if they were going to do that idea. But then again, maybe they should have used some pizzas that look like they'd actually been delivered, and weren't little individual ones that they'd bought from Bejam. There again, the second Bananarama-related track in a row (and the second in three to involve Swain and Jolley) is somewhat about unreality. Their early songs mostly seem to be about the desire to glam up and escape the gloominess of early-80s Britain. Perhaps this is why they seemed to lose it a bit musically the more successful they became. At this point they were still fun though, and this is possibly their best single. They even try to do some harmonies.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 (with Lananeeneenoonoo), 15
Available on: Bananarama (Platinum Re-Issue)

Bananarama 'Venus'

Chart Peak: 8

YouTube

Originally a No. 8 hit for the Dutch group Shocking Blue in February 1970, Bananarama had also reached No. 8 with their version by 8th July 1986.

Third cover version in a row there (fourth if you count 'My Favourite Waste Of Time') and for the third side of the album in a row, there's a US Number One by a British act who've never topped the UK chart. Indeed this was by no means the biggest hit for the 'Nanas over here but it's still pivotal in their career as their first of many collaborations with Stock/Aitken/Waterman. It's not an entirely typical SAW production, not least because the band came to them; they were already stars and hadn't been groomed for stardom by SAW, and nor were they signed to Pete Waterman's label so they probably had more power over stylistic decisions.

The other difference is of course that this is a cover of already well-known source material (although I hadn't heard the original at the time, and SAW records often appealed to a very yound audience who wouldn't have either) and it wisely retains the most distinctive feature of the original hit, that guitar riff. It's layered onto a track that was apparently meant to sound like Dead Or Alive and is in some ways more energetic than the original, but somehow seems to lose something else. Perhaps it's the deadpan earnestness of the original vocal that beats the barely-even-one-dimensional singing here. But you know, this does the job it was designed to do I guess.

I presume it's because I've been trying to think myself back into the past for this blog, but hearing this track again has reminded me of a limerick round on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue which might have been around this time. Somebody was given the opening line "A Roman centurion called Nicodemus", and rhymed it with "Had a dirty great enormous passsion for Venus". I can't remember all of it but the closing line was "Derek Jameson said 'Do they mean us?'" It really does seem like a long time ago.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 (with Lananeeneenoonoo), 15
Available on: Smash Hits 1986

Bananarama 'I Want You Back'

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

Funnily enough, when I bought Now 12 I couldn't remember a thing about this song except that it wasn't the Jackson Five one - the sleevenote doesn't feel the need to mention the difference here, unlike the Aswad case earlier, but perhaps that's because a remix of the Jacksons' track was in the charts at the same time as this.

Either way, once I played the record I recognised it instantly. This was (as I'd also forgotten) the first single to feature Jackie O'Sullivan, although the original album version featured the original band. This being deep into the SAW era, though, it doesn't seem to matter all that much who's singing, even if the Nanas seemed to have more creative input than most of their charges and indeed co-wrote the song. Mostly, it seems to be one of those songs that piles on a whole batch of mediocre choruses instead of one really strong one, leading to a rather bitty effect. It passes the time I suppose, but it's not really surprising that I don't seem to be the only one who's forgotten it.

Also appearing on: 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14 (with Lananeeneenoonoo), 15
Available on: The Very Best of Bananarama

Bananarama 'Love In The First Degree'

Chart Peak: 3

YouTube

Connections ahoy! The flipside of this single, 'Mr Sleaze' (credited to Stock Aitken Waterman) samples the laughter from the original version of 'Wipeout'. What was it you were saying about samples, Pete Waterman?

Anyway, whether the other side helped or hindered it, this was apparently the biggest-selling Bananarama single in the UK and aside from their contributions to charity ensembles, they never charted higher. Of course, they differ from most SAW acts in that they were already established, if struggling, when they called in the star producers, and weren't groomed by them for stardom; possibly for this reason they appeared to have more say in the sound of their records than some of the acts who were signed to the PWL label. By 1987 I was already aware that these records were something you weren't supposed to like, but I have a vague idea that I did enjoy at least this one, despite myself. For a long time in my teens and early adulthood I wouldn't have gone near it, but I'm more tolerant now. It's a decent tune, and winningly daft, although the production isn't to my taste and it's got to be said that the vocal performance is a bit lame. Still, reassuring that they can't keep a straight face in that video either.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 (with Lananeeneenoonoo), 15
Available on: The Greatest Hits and More More More