Bananarama "Cruel Summer" C/D

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opinions?

― startrekman, Monday, 9 May 2005 01:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

― Zed Szetlian (Finn MacCool), Monday, 9 May 2005 01:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Very very C.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 May 2005 01:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

the video was filmed in my neighborhood, so obviously CLASSIC

― cindy margolis holocaust (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 9 May 2005 01:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic, alongside several other earlier 'rama tracks. Particularly so for the dominance of three voices in unison over yer namby pamby 'harmonies.' :P

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Monday, 9 May 2005 01:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

This is among their good moments. No doubt about that. Even though Steve Jolley & Tony Swain are probably the main ones to praise for that....

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 9 May 2005 01:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

Just heard this on the radio last night and was reminded of how incredibly classic it is.

― Oblivious Lad. (Oblivious Lad), Monday, 9 May 2005 01:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic, without a doubt. Annie's "Me Plus One" reminds me a bit of it.

― daavid (daavid), Monday, 9 May 2005 02:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

C is the Heavenly option

― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Monday, 9 May 2005 02:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, classic.

― ffirehorse (firehorse), Monday, 9 May 2005 02:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

classic!

― tricky (disco stu), Monday, 9 May 2005 02:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

Someone will say dud, but it won't be me. Classic!

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 9 May 2005 02:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic as long as you don't think about the lyrics too much. You can make a drinking game of "spot the cliche!" "It's too hot to handle, so I've got to get up and go."

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 9 May 2005 03:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

I just remember something really lazy about this song.. it must have been the video. The band just calmly shuffled along to the song, like "yeah, it's a cruel summer... aw man, the sun just up there, but it isn't like, you know, doin' it for me as much as before".. I kinda dig it for that reason.

I liked "Venus" more. It was actually better than the original, IMHO. (only because "Venus" was the Shocking Blue's worst song)

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 9 May 2005 03:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah!! Heard this song not too long ago in a large department store and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Nice blast from the past.

― The Silent Disco of Glastonbury (Bimble...), Monday, 9 May 2005 05:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

dud

― meanybeanyfofeany, Monday, 9 May 2005 05:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

i keed, i keed. classic!

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Monday, 9 May 2005 05:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic. "You're not the only one ..."

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Monday, 9 May 2005 12:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic and sexy to boot.

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Monday, 9 May 2005 12:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic, although I may prefer "Robert De Niro's Waiting."

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

classic, and it's on the Karate Kid soundtrack!

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

I absolutely love this song to little pieces. It's got a permanent spot on my work mix.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

I like the xylophone (or was it a marimba?) hook.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

That said, I always wished Bananarama's vocals had more personality. Sadly, they don't. Karen was a hottie of the highest order, though.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

This seems to evoke those weeks in May right before high school ended for summer vacation: emotions as parched as the air. It's true that the 'rama have better songs ("Trick of the Night," "Robert De Niro's Waiting"), but no other track puts their affectlessness to such affecting use.

And, yeah, it was used perfectly in "The Karate Kid."

Remember Ace of Base's remake in '97?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

their affectlessness to such affecting use.

Hahahaha...brilliantly put.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

I never quite figured out which one was one which. One married the annoying Dave Stewart- half of the Eurhythmics and guitar-wielding annoyance of the documentary Deep Blues, one sort of looked like Jessica Lange with streaks in her hair and then, much like the bald fatman position in the films of the Three Stooges, there was a third member who seemed to change from album to album but didn't look quite distinct enough in the photos to differentiate.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Karen, far left, married him out of Wham that wasn't George Michale. Siobhan, far right, married Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

Thanks. And who's the mystery girl in the middle? I wanna know.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

You better tell me.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sarah was shagging Youth Martin all through the period he was producing them.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

That being Martin "Pig Youth" Glover of KILLING JOKE to you, mate.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

This being him.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

Oh, I just remember him from the 4 Be 2s.

/sarcasm

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

He looks quite a catch.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 9 May 2005 14:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

When you're in rock and roll, or you're French or you're Swedish, looks aren't everything.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 14:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

Catchy pop ditty that I associate with the year of our lord nineteen hundred and eighty... four maybe?

I like the bass line. Big-ass synth bass, I think.

Classic for nostalgia, certainly, but if I heard it for the first time today I might shelve it with the most disposable of Casey Kasemiana.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

One of the many songs that made 1984, like, the best year ever.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:38 (8 years ago) Permalink

Actually, it was possibly one of the songs that said to me "it's 1984. Give up on any music except Hip-Hop." Sadly, I listened to that voice. It's taken me 20 years to realize:

Classic!

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Classic, although I may prefer 'Robert De Niro's Waiting'."

I'm with you there buddy!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 9 May 2005 16:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

> It's true that the 'rama have better songs ("Trick of the Night," "Robert De Niro's Waiting")

I've always thought that Trick of the Night is a sadder and wiser rewrite of Cruel Summer - it has the same claustrophobic urban setting, but the adolescent posturing of the first song is gone, replaced by a more genuine and affecting sense of adult disillusionment:

Oh, they could tear you apart with their bare-faced lies
Can't disguise all the hurt you're feeling inside...

― Palomino (Palomino), Monday, 9 May 2005 17:59 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sadly, they don't. Karen was a hottie of the highest order, though.
Much as I hate to agree with Dave Stewart on anything, I always thought Siobhan was the Bad Bananarama Jama.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 18:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, "Trick of the Night" is genius (and it wasn't a hit here). For all their lack of personality they sure knew how to project winsome melancholy, which is what TOTN and Summer do - the melancholy of rich party girls with no dates on a Friday night, sorta like a PG-rated "Less Than Zero" scenario.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 9 May 2005 19:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

One of the many songs that made 1984, like, the best year ever.

You mean, it made you hate 1983 so much you were relieved when 1984 was finally there? :-)

I liked "Robert De Niro's Waiting" (which, as opposed to "Cruel Summer", is from 1984) better at the time, but today, the best Bananarama track ever is a fight between "Cruel Summer" and "Trick Of The Night".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 9 May 2005 20:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

Their best song! Definitely C.

― Seb (Seb), Monday, 9 May 2005 20:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

My all-time favorite Bananarama song, hands down. I have to point out though, as cute as those girls were, their video proved that overalls looked bad on EVERYONE. I like how they tried, and failed, to cram in some weird Smokey & The Bandit type storyline to the video.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 00:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

i ike the drums on "cruel summer"
keren was hot.
"i can't help "it was their sauciest video
"wow"was their best album.
keren married andrew from wham.

― keren, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 09:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

Things of note about Bananarama/"Cruel Summer":

The Jolley and Swain backing track which could equally have been used for a song by Imagination; yet the artful artlessness of Bananarama's delivery acts as an effective counterpoint to the camp slickness of Imagination (great though the latter were).

The darkness which deepened Bananarama's work - the hecticity of the song's rhythm working to underline, rather than undermine, the slow-motion (bereaved?) musings of the lyric.

The fact that nine months later (!) they followed it up with one of the best, and scariest, Trojan horse pop records ever - "Robert De Niro's Waiting," superficially a jolly-sounding canter but actually a song about a rape victim scared of venturing out of her bedroom ("A walk in the park can become a bad dream").

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 09:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

I am still kind of keen on "Trick Of The Night", the last Bananarama single to be written and produced by Jolley/Swain rather than Stock/Aitken/Waterman. A wonderful and certainly "dark" ballad with a great tune.

That being said, their later work was always among the best stuff that S/A/W put out. That and Mel & Kim.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 12:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

What's a better album: "True Confessions" or "Wow"?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 12:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 5 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

You are a misguided dud, for it is one of their most melodic as well as danceable hits. No doubt you are bobbing your head around to meat rack rock like "Beverly Hills" by Veezer.

― Comstock Carabinieri (nostudium), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 05:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

"I Heard A Rumour" was for me the apex of their work with SAW. Not as big a hit as some of the others, but it should have been: there's a pep and vivacity running through the record which sounds as though they really pulled out all the stops to make it work

I'd rather pick "Love In The First Degree", which is the best attempt at retaining the charm of their pre-S/A/W era.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 09:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

"I Heard A Rumour" was Waterman's own personal favourite of the records he made with them, though "Love In The First Degree" was a much bigger hit.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 09:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

Well, personally, I don't care much about what Waterman would like, as most of what he came up with was rubbish :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 09:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

Well, personally, Geir, I don't care much about what you would like, as most of what you come up with is rubbish. I was simply trying to be polite and civil. But obviously politeness and civility mean nothing to you, so I'll go back to being Itchy and you be Scratchy. OK? Now where did I put that cleaver?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 10:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

"I Heard A Rumour" was the 'rama's biggest hit in America, charting at number four. But "Cruel Summer" is more famous.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 12:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

I went to a house party for NYE this year where it was pretty much non-stop dancehall and grime all night, and terrific fun - and at midnight, they dropped THIS SONG and it was so perfect.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 12:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

"I Heard A Rumour" was for me the apex of their work with SAW.

For me, it's gotta be "Love, Truth & Honesty", which has this beautifully sad Motown thing going on. In fact, I'm on the hunt for a B'rama best-of mostly just for that one tune.

Well, personally, I don't care much about what Waterman would like, as most of what he came up with was rubbish :-)

DRIVE-BY GEIR'ING!!!

(But seriously, Geir, how the fuck can you of all people not like SAW? Are you just being willfully inscrutable???)

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 19:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

But seriously, Geir, how the fuck can you of all people not like SAW?

Did they ever perform their own songs?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 19:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

You know very well that they were a writing and production team.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 19:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Roadblock" by Stock, Aitken and Waterman - #13 in July 1987.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 05:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

You know very well that they were a writing and production team.

I don't accept the idea of a "writing and production team". The entire idea was almost completely gone by the mid 80s, at least in the UK, and S/A/W were the ones who brought it back.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

Holland, Dozier, and Holland are weeping tonight because Geir thinks they are hacks.

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

HDH didn't exactly do much in the '80s, did they?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

Well, no, but they are nevertheless not accepted, still, by Geir.

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

Given that he clearly specified "by the mid-'80s" and "in the UK," that is, if you'll pardon my saying so, irrelevant.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

Holland/Dozier/Holland were Americans, and USA is so corporate that outside songwriters have always been usuaul. In the UK, The Beatles introduced the idea that the artist/band write his/their own songs, and this continued until the late 80s, with S/A/W putting an end to it.

Stock/Aitken/Waterman were great producers, sonically, but I don't accept the idea of a UK act having outside songwriters.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

Cliff Richard to thread

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sorry, UK.. you guys have to keep it real, I'm afraid. *whistles*

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

What does that mean, "keep it real"?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

Cliff Richard had about 2-3 sizeable hits from 1963 until "We Don't Talk Anymore". And he was never musically respected anyway.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

Do you accept the idea that six million Jews were killed by the Nazis in the Second World War?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

And of course, The Beatles never did covers.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

"I don't accept the idea of a UK act having outside songwriters."

Um...Dusty Springfield?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 12 May 2005 10:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Beatles were the ones who stopped doing covers. They changed the way things were supposed to be, and there was no reason to change it back.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:06 (8 years ago) Permalink

I think the name "Dusty Springfield" was mentioned recently on this thread.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

Commandant Geir, enforcing the way things are supposed to be on the pop charts.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

Dusty Springfield was a nobody. She was just a voice and nothing else.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

She was an empty vessel, through which God delivered songs of joy and pain.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

It wasn't God who did. It was various American songwriters.

She was an American product all through. There was nothing truly British about her. And she doesn't belong in this context at all.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

You are a Norwegian product all through. There is nothing truly British about you. And you don't belong in this message board at all.

Oh yes, and you are a nobody. You are just an annoying, fat, bald, lonely Norwegian and nothing else.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 12:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

i realize that the answer is probably no, but did anyone ever hear Exotica or Ultra Violet? I bought the "Every Shade Of Blue" single when it came out, but not the Ultra Violet album. I only ever saw it as a pricey import and i couldn't justify the money. the last album i bought was the disco one with the "More, More, More" cover on it (actually it was a double album with one disc of hits and megamixes). But I never played that one that much. Not like I played Pop Life. I really liked Pop Life, and I definitely felt like i was in the minority there. "Cruel Summer" is great, there is no denying, but i wonder if it would even make my top ten! i might even prefer "Ghost" and "Give Us Back Our Cheap Fares" to "Cruel Summer". And I LOVE "Cruel Summer". I have a double 7 inch of a song -and i can't even remember what the hell it is! love in the first degree, maybe?- anyway, one one side of the single is the swain/jolley version and on the other side is the SAW version! it's great for the ultimate compare & contrast test.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 12 May 2005 12:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

no, it must have been trick of the night. shit, i knew i was gonna kill this thread with my overboard fandom. me and the japanese. all alone with our post-WOW love.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 12 May 2005 13:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

I remember "Trick Of The Night" did have a so-called "Number One Version" (probably named after Princess' "Say I'm Your Number One") on the b-side, so, yes, it was that one.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 22:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

Karen? She was great in the "Feed The World" vid, with her just-got-outta-bed hair and scruffy sweatshirt and all.
Unfortunatly I'm too drunk to remember the name of that 80s BBC programme where Chris Searle (sp?) had to make a vid for "Trick of the Light", which was eventually rejected by record company and they made something else.

― David Merryweather (DavidM), Thursday, 12 May 2005 23:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

Awww, Scott Seward, you're a fangeek about Bananarama? Aw. I like you even more now.

Anyway -- "Cruel Summer" is undeniably CLASSIC. Catchy and fun as hell. And those HARMONIES -- they're so low-key, but so RIGHT ON! Those voices, they go down the aural canal like sweet honey going down one's throat. And the Chic-esque funky music backing those voices -- divine.

Damn. I have to hear this song now!

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 13 May 2005 00:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

Is this the song that plays in Karate Kid after he's had the shit beaten out of him and he's riding around on his bmx w/ sunglasses?

Yes, and therefore classic.

― Vanessa Mae, Friday, 13 May 2005 09:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

Dusty Springfield was a nobody. She was just a voice and nothing else.
-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), May 12th, 2005.

Geir, do you like sports at all? Appreciating singing is like appreciating sports. You appreciate someone's skill as well as their natural capacities. Dusty Springfield was great.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

The only skill that counts is music is the songwriting one (and when I say songwriting, I do not mean lyrics).

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

even Nitzer Ebb, on the quiet...

STORYTIME. (Never heard of this connection before and insist on knowing more.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

"The only person in baseball history with skills that *count* was Abner Doubleday."

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

THE COUNT!

(Bela Lugosi's dead...)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

Pop music isn't sport. Pop music is supposed to be art.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

― elwisty (elwisty), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yes. And Dusty sang great songs.

(xxxpost to Geir)

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

At least some of the songs Tom Dowd chose for Dusty were great. But they weren't hers (and not Tom Dowd's either)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

Geir, you should have started an "I Love Songwriting" board!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

When Dusty Springfield died the world of music and showbusiness paid fulsome tribute to her talents and achievements.

When Geir Hongro dies, on the other hand, the only way anyone will ever know is when they have to break the door down because the neighbours have been complaining of the smell for the past 18 months.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 16 May 2005 05:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

7 years pass...

as much as i HATE indie versions of pop songs, this is really great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQgMRxOYGQ

― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 17:29 (9 months ago) Permalink

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