It's nearly impossible to believe that Bananarama are about to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut single, "Aie A Mwana".It was three decades ago, three, disheveled street urchins walked into the studio with two members of the Sex Pistols and started a journey of international chart success. But, in these days of digital downloads and file sharing, who needs another bloody compilation?
Well, ver Rams have put something together that have their fans drooling. "30 Years Of Bananarama" is a two disc collection with a bit of a twist.
Firstly, can we just mention how yawnsome the title of the collection is. It leaves us a bit cold? But I suppose it does what it says on the tin.
That aside, the collection features one disc of singles. Not such a mind blowing concept. All the usual suspects make their appearances. However, the second disc, a DVD, is where the magic lives. This is not any ordinary DVD. It features EVERY music video Sarah and Keren have committed to celluloid. Huzzah!
For once, a label and a group get it right. I'm delighted that the videos for two of my favorite 'Nana hits will finally appear on DVD. I'm sure you're dying to know what they are. Here's the reveal...
Bananarama get a bit political with "Rough Justice".
The ladies go baggy and reference The Rolling Stones on "Only Your Love", the lead single from "Pop Life", the only album that featured Jacquie O'Sullivan and the last one with ver Rams as a trio. I still run around and smash things when I this one surfaces on my iPod.
Interestingly, neither "Rough Justice" nor "Only Your Love" made big splashes on the charts. The tracklisting for "30 Years Of Bananarama" DVD features the following music videos.
1. Really Saying Something
2. Shy Boy
3. Cheers Then
4. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
5. Cruel Summer
6. Robert De Niro's Waiting
7. Rough Justice
8. Hotline To Heaven
9. The Wild Life
10. Do Not Disturb
11. Venus
12. More Than Physical
13. A Trick Of The Night
14. I Heard A Rumour
15. Love In The First Degree
16. I Can't Help It
17. I Want You Back
18. Love Truth & Honesty
19. Nathan Jones
20. Help
21. Only Your Love
22. Preacher Man
23. Long Train Running
24. Tripping On Your Love
25. Movin' On
26. Last Thing On My Mind
27. More More More
28. Every Shade Of Blue
29. Take Me To Your Heart
30. Move In My Direction
31. Look On The Floor
32. Love Comes
33. Love Don't Live Here
34. Venus (12" Version)
35. I Can't Help It (12" Version)
That's a whopping THIRTY FIVE videos. Kudos to Sarah and Keren for getting it right. Now, let's hope they've used the highest quality sources when compiling this.
"30 Years Of Bananarama" will hit the "shops" on July 9.
¡Mamacita! At'sa good news! This saves us from committing our large Bananarama ßeta/ laserdisc collection to DVD. And hey, I only have through the GH Collection on laser [or ßeta as in the case of "And That's Not All]. I love it when labels do it right [nay - perfect] and save me hours of work! Hooray! The last 'Nans I heard were the Pop Life singles I bought. After "Wow!" I stayed only with singles until the batteries ran out on my fandom. I really love these CD premium DVD packages. Great value for money! The 'Nan's had immense charm that all but washed out by the time of "True Confessions" for me. But that first album - perfection!
ReplyDeletep.s. Oh so right about "Rough Justice!" A lovely classic! The 12" mix is sumptuous for a song about "the troubles."
ReplyDeleteI am so getting this, and not just because how great the music is, but talk about a visual time capsule of fashion history and pop culture as well. The early stuff is especially incredible to revisit, while the later songs hold up really well.
ReplyDeleteHopefully other artists like Marc Almond, who created several amazing videos in and out of Soft Cell, and many of which have never been committed to DVD, will start doing this. His problem always seemed to be that it was too expensive to license the music from all the labels he had recorded with to make any kind of economic sense out of selling a collection like this, but he could do what Bananarama have done and compile only the 15 or so best songs on a CD and license all the videos for a DVD companion, which seemingly appears to be a bit cheaper than the audio rights from the look of it. How else can 35 videos make it to this particular DVD? I think it's what the fans want and WILL pay for. Jawdroppingly good!
I have just ordered my - signed - copy. Whoop!
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