How Bananarama went from homeless to chart toppers

1 day ago
6 min read

Bananarama was the most successful female group of the 80s. But I don’t think you know just how unorthodox their rise to fame was.

Now their story starts with Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, two students in London who were definitely not living the glamorous life yet.

They were actually living in a YMCA youth hostel - I bet it was fun to stay there. But the hostel was closing down.

Now anyone who has ever been to London will know that student wages and London rent prices are mostly not compatible, and the pair were struggling to find somewhere that they could actually afford.

This is when they just so happen to run into Paul Cook of Sex Pistols fame at the club Studio 21, who through a twist of fate saved them from potential homelessness.

He offered them a room above the Sex Pistols old rehearsal space in Charing Cross, which they gratefully took. This room still had little doodles drawn by Johnny Rotten of Sid and Nancy - who had both since died - and so Dallin and Woodward added their own names to the mix, perhaps manifesting their own success. Ya know, without the drugs and stabbings.

The girls - both singers - were dipping their toes into the music business at this stage. They provided backing vocals for a range of up and coming bands and started networking. They even provided backing vocals for Cook’s new band with Steve Jones, The Professionals.

And again, it was Cook who urged them to get a group of their own together.

Listen to Sara Dallin talking about their beginning in this interview.

Who knew Bananarama had such a Punk Rock influence, hey?

It was around this time that they met Siobhan Fahey, a fellow student originally from Dunshaughlin, Ireland. They bonded immediately over their fashion, and of course, their love of music.

They started writing songs and performing at gigs put on by their art school friends, even landing a gig as the support act for Iggy Pop at one stage.

They finally got round to recording their first demo, but obviously needed a name. They settled on Bananarama, inspired by Roxy Music’s 1973 single Pyjamarama.

Their first demo was… unorthodox, to say the least, for a British pop band. They did a cover of Black Blood’s Aie A Mwana, even learning Swahili phonetically. A bold choice for sure, but one that paid off.

The track only reached No. 92 in the charts, but Radio 1 DJ John Peel played it on his show, which eventually reached the ears of a certain Terry Hall - ex Specials frontman.

Hall had started a new band called Fun Boy Three, and recruited Bananarama to do vocals for a few of their songs. One of those songs was It Ain’t What You Do, which I’m sure you will recognise.

This was Bananarama’s first top 5 hit, and it was such a big hit that it earned them a record deal with Decca. Fun Boy Three returned the favour, by the way, by appearing on the Bananarama hit Really Saying Something.

Once they signed to Decca, they met the production and song writing team Jolley & Swain. Now these two have a pretty cool back story.

In the 70s, Jolley and Swain were both Brits living in the US and working in the TV industry. They actually met on the set of The Muppet Show in 1975.

So we can already assume they were both entertainment geniuses…

Now, they bonded over the love of music and formed a band called Chaser, but it never really took off. But during that time they discovered that they were pretty bloody good at writing catchy pop tunes.

So, they decided if they weren’t going to be the stars, they would create a band who would be. Jolley and Swain, probably due to their work in sound and television, found they were pretty good at producing music as well as writing it. All they needed now was a band to perform the music.

They began working with a range of artists and making a name for themselves. One of their first clients was Joe Dolan, a singer who had already seen plenty of success in the 60s and 70s and was looking for a new sound going into the 80s.

The duo wrote and produced his hit Maybe Some Day My Love, as well as a few other tracks.

They gained more success with the band Imagination, releasing R&B hit Body Talk. Bananarama had actually heard this song and wanted to work with the duo because of it.

And then, they hit the jackpot by landing the producer role for Spandau Ballet’s True album in 1982. They even cowrote the title track - a tune that we all know, unless you’ve been living under a rock.

So by this point Jolley and Swain had secured their title as production and song writing royalty in the music biz.

When Bananarama became their new project, they made it their mission to help break the band into the mainstream. And they only went and bloody succeeded.

The debut album - Deep Sea Skiving - was positively received by critics. They recognised the fun, post-punk pop sound and loved the fact that it just sounded like a big old party. The album opened with Shy Boy, co written by Jolley and Swain, and this gave them their biggest hit yet.

It really is a fantastic pop album. Just pure fun.

The follow-up was just as good. Self titled this time, the second album contained hits like Cruel Summer (which appeared on a Karate Kid film).

This album also gave us one of their strongest ever singles - Robert De Niro’s Waiting

Bananrama would split with Jolley And Swain shortly after their third album, True Confessions.

The band wanted to do a cover of the song Venus, an early 70s song by Dutch band Shocking Blue.

The production team didn’t think the cover would be a commercial success, so Bananarama looked elsewhere and joined forces with the team Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). Together, they made a dance-pop version of Venus that we all know and love today.

This was the track that performed best in the US, topping the Billboard Top 100. Seeing that success, they stuck exclusively with SAW for their next album, Wow!.

However, this album didn’t do nearly as well as they expected, with critics being pretty harsh about it. It didn’t help that the band didn’t exactly get on with one of their producers, Peter Waterman. Allegedly, he later claimed the band had been difficult to work with. They responded by saying they were never going to be passive in their own music.

To make matters worse, Fahey was starting to become unhappy with the music they were making. She wanted to explore sounds beyond the upbeat pop they were making. She told Top of the Pops in 1992:

“I wanted to write darker stuff and Sara and Keren didn’t.”

Not able to carry on with the creative differences, Fahey quit the band in 1988. She went on to join US singer Marcella Detroit as Shakespears Sister. Their hit Stay was No.1 in the UK for 8 consecutive weeks in 1992.

Meanwhile, Dallin and Woodward carried on as Bananarama. They briefly hired Jacquie O’Sullivan, but she only stayed until 1991. Since then, Dallin and Woodward have carried on as a duo and are still touring as Bananarama to this day.

And although they never quite got back to the level of success they saw in the 80s, it’s hard to overstate just how much of a force this band was in the world of pop - in fact, they hold the Guinness World Record for the most chart entries by an all-female group, with 32 UK Top 50 Singles. That’s pretty good going.

And of course they went on to inspire an entire generation of 90s girl bands

Now did Fahey ever regret leaving? I don’t think so. She did briefly re-join for a reunion around 2017, but didn’t take part in their 2019 album. Obviously she had more success with Shakespears Sister and got to pursue her desire to write darker music. But she certainly recognises the lasting impact Bananarama has had on her career.