Bananarama "Cruel Summer" C/D

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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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 12:25 (twenty-one years ago)

true fuckin' confessions

― dave q (listerine), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

C/D: Ace Of Base's cover of "Cruel Summer"?

I say dud.

― Seb (Seb), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

The AoB version was certainly dud. Same about the 1989 remix of the Bananarama song btw.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

"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 (1987 was pretty well SAW's annus mirabilis - Bananarama, Mel and Kim, early Rick Astley, "Roadblock," and even Nitzer Ebb, on the quiet...).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 05:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Even though they were hott, and even though this song was a huge hit when I was a teenager and I loved to dance to it, I must say that it will not make it on to my current playlists because IT'S A DUD.

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

"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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

"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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

"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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 05:17 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:16 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:18 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:26 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

Cliff Richard to thread

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:30 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:31 (twenty-one years ago)

What does that mean, "keep it real"?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:33 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

And of course, The Beatles never did covers.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 12 May 2005 08:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:15 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:32 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:46 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 12 May 2005 11:49 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:23 (twenty-one years ago)

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

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 (twenty-one years ago)

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

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

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 (twenty-one years ago)

seven 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 (thirteen years ago)

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