Bananarama

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #164 : BANANARAMA

Bananarama? You seem bemused. You shouldn’t be. There’s a myriad of reasons why they are more than worthy of an ICA:-

– Formed in 1981 and still going strong today

– Terry Hall loved ‘em

– Siobhan Fahey

– Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the all-female group with most chart entries in the world

– Wrote a seemingly fun-filled song about an Oscar-winning actor which turned out had a really dark meaning

– Have championed the LGBT community from the outset

– Keren Woodward

– Along with Pete Burns/Dead or Alive, they made Stock, Aitken and Waterman bearable for a short time

– John Peel loved at least one of their songs

– Said song was sung in Swahili and did more for raising the profile of world music than any po-faced festival organised by Peter Gabriel

– the other one

– They got The Bluebells a #1 hit

– There’s enough songs to merit a first-class ICA

A few things worth remembering before launching into the ICA on a song-by-song basis. The trio of Keren Woodward, Siobhan Fahey and Sara Dallin had befriended one another as fashion students in the late 70s and their preferred listening and hang-outs centred around the post-punk scene in London where they were friendly with the likes of The Monochrome Set, Department S, Shane McGowan, Paul Weller and a couple of ex-Sex Pistols.

Malcolm McLaren was also an admirer and indeed, hatched a plan to alter their image and make much more of their looks and femininity, which was a complete no-no as far as the girls, two of whom were still in their teens, weree concerned. They wanted to get success the old fashioned way through gigs and good song writing….and they did.

One of their biggest fans is DJ MLC – a dear friend of mine and Jacques (indeed it was MLC who first coined the name ‘Those Charming Men’ for us).  I asked him to do the blog the honour of a Bananarama ICA.  He said yes, but only on the conditions that it was a remix effort and that I wouldn’t alter a word of his prose.  I haven’t……..so without any further delay, I’m putting you in the very capable hands of DJ MLC.

I was delighted to be asked by Those Charming Men to provide a remixed version of the Banarama compilation. Writing I’m not so good at, but ask me to twiddle knobs and whip out a 12” then I’ve plenty experience.

I was big in the 80s and the Bananas come from the era when I was in giving it proper large. Sure, weddings was really my thing, but I could often be seen doing the odd gay club back in the day. Boy, the things I saw on those nights. I’ve turned a few moustaches I can tell you. As a straight hunk of manhood it was hard to know what they wanted, how to satisfy at times, but I worked up a sweat to keep them happy and more often than not was relieved by the end of the night.

Balance these girls on my decks, turn them on, give them a scratch now and then, sometimes rub them up the wrong way, sandwich them between Donna and Divine – then those lads would give me their all on the floor. I’m not ashamed to say that I could keep them up all night. They couldn’t get enough and neither could I.

One awkward night I saw Barry from my work. Topless and wearing baby oil – he’d never seen me like that before. He was pretty discreet about the whole affair, especially after I gave him some Tainted Love near the end of the night. Sadly I don’t DJ now, except in my head. Dorothy in Accounts saw to that. The only baby oil I see now is that left over from when Dom and Deb were kids. These days when I’m “in the house” I’m actually in the house. I’m happy, sure. But I do miss my late nights with the boys.

So, boys AND girls, hands in the air like you just don’t care, poppers up your nose, fit a couple of coloured bulbs in the living room lights and get your kids to flick them on and off, put some leather around your loins if you must. But, most importantly, dance motherfunkers dance…

Side A

Shy Boy (US Extended Version)
Nathan Jones (Psycho Mix)
Don’t Step on My Groove
Love In The First Degree (Jailers Mix)
Aie a Mwana (Extended Version)

Side B

Really Saying Something (Solasso Mix Version)
I Heard A Rumour (Miami Remix)
Robert De Niro’s Waiting (Remix 2000)
Cruel Summer (89 Swingbeat Dub)
Venus (Marc Almond HiNRG Showgirl Remix)

Oh and in case you were thinking that it’s an urban myth about the #1 hit, this song was composed by Bobby Bluebell and Siobhan Fahey.

mp3 : The Bluebells – Young At Heart

Hopefully today’s posting has brought a bit of fun back into the blog.

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

HALF TIMES SCORES…AND A DECISION

Not sure how many of you are here to catch the half-time scores but instead want to hear the outcome of the deliberations on the possible expulsion of The Smiths. I’ll come to that in due course….but there’s four crucial ties being played against this backdrop…..

Lightning Seeds 16 v Saint Etienne 13
Pulp 18 v Pavement 6
Wire(2) 14 v Butcher Boy 12
Orange Juice 19 v The Wedding Present 9

Lightning Seeds exploded from the blocks and took a 9-1 lead, but then there was the mother of all comebacks as Saint Etienne went 11-10 ahead before the Scouser(s) got another six goals in a row.  Saint Etienne are fighting back again and there’s much to play for in what has been the most  topsy-turvy tie in the entire tourney.

The other possible historic comeback is in the Wire v Butcher Boy contest with the Scots really clawing their way  into things having been 10-2 behind early on.

I can’t thank enough all of you who offered thoughts, views and opinions on the frontman’s outburst and my intention to now remove The Smiths from the ICA World Cup. It became very clear, very quickly, that whatever decision was taken, it couldn’t please everyone. Some of you thought expulsion was fine, others were completely against the idea. There were suggestions of using instrumentals so that the singer alone was excluded which, although tempting, would have resulted in songs being included despite never having been on any ICA.

In the end, the decision I’ve taken is a bit of a fudge and may only, depending on how the voting goes, lead to a different dilemma further down the road.

The song which had come out for use by The Smiths was, aptly, Bigmouth Strikes Again. The song which will be aired in one of this coming weekend’s ties will be Bigmouth Strikes Again….as performed live by Johnny Marr. You’ll have to wait and see who he’s up against to decide whether he progresses…..

Turning to some stuff from the terraces for your half time entertainment….

I have no idea how the hell the fans of FC Koln adopted this monstrosity of a tune as their anthem!

I just can’t bring myself to post Runrig on the blog….so in honour of the Koln fans taking something bad and turning it into something good, here’s something from a hero of mine.

mp3 : Paul Haig – Something Good (10 inch mix)

Remember….if you haven’t voted yet this week, you have until 10pm on Friday.

JC

 

Blur

BONUS POST : NEVER CLEVER

I’ve not been very good with the whole blogging thing in recent weeks….especially keeping up with the wonderful comments left behind here after each post…..and I’ve not visited many old friends for far too long. Not sure when things will get back to normal, but I’ve a couple of hours tonight to catch-up on a few things with T(n)VV.

Delighted to see some love for Popscene and it’s b-sides. I’m a big fan of Blur…they are an act I’ve long wanted to do an ICA on but there’s too much to choose from. I have had an e-mail offer for an ICA from a regular reader which I’ve accepted so there’s something to look forward to.

The Robster said this earlier today….

Popscene was not the hit the band or label thought/hoped it would be. They were gutted. It was planned for the second album, along with the follow-up single Never Clever, but when Popscene bombed, they scrapped plans for Never Clever’s release. After the second album was rejected by the label (who wanted it to include some “hits”), the band decided Popscene should left off altogether in a bit of a strop. “We thought if you bastards didn’t want it then [when put out as a single], then you’re not getting it now.” Since then they’ve held true to that outlook and never released it again, despite many believing it to be one of their finest moments. Never Clever remains an obscurity…

That may well be the case….but it hasn’t stopped me all that often before.

mp3 : Blur – Never Clever

Enjoy. It’s a belter of a tune.

JC

 

 

Blur

HEY, HEY, COME OUT TONIGHT

Back in 1992, I bought a 12” single from a clearance/bargain bin in a record shop in Edinburgh for 99p. It was by Blur, and at the time all that I knew about them, as I was going through a phase of not buying music papers or magazines, was that I had quite enjoyed There’s No Other Way, their hit single from a few months previously.

The single I purchased that day was called Popscene.

Years pass, and this bit of vinyl has now become a lot more valuable. While it did reach No.32 in the charts, it was a record that was deleted shortly afterwards, never to appear again. It wasn’t included on the 1993 LP Modern Life Is Rubbish, nor was it included on the CD of the Greatest Hits package that Blur released in 2000. Bizarrely enough, it did appear on the Greatest Hits DVD, and it was played live on the Greatest Hits tour when the set-list consisted of all the singles played in the sequence they were released.

Incidentally, I was at the Edinburgh gig of that tour which was the opening night of the Corn Exchange venue. It was a strange one – aside from hating the layout and acoustic of that venue (a view I hold to this very day), it was odd knowing precisely which song the band was going to launch into next. It took away all of the anticipation of wondering about what may or may not be on the set-list that night.

But back to Popscene.

I’ve no idea why the band have made it so difficult to get a copy of this record. Perhaps it’s their way of rewarding all the long-term fans who were around prior to the success of ‘Modern Life’ and the phenomena that was Parklife. If I did want to flog it, I could ask for £20-£25 as a minimum…not a huge amount of money but not bad for something out of the bargain bin.

As for the song itself, I think it’s one of the band’s best. It was more frantic and less poppy than the stuff that had featured on the debut album and was an indication of the sort of sounds that would come out on the next LP, which I still reckon was one of the best released in the 1990s.

mp3 : Blur – Popscene

Three tracks were on the b-side, all of which are well worth a listen:-

mp3 : Blur – I’m Fine
mp3 : Blur – Mace
mp3 : Blur – Garden Central

I’m Fine could fit on either of the band’s first two albums in that it is sort of baggy sounding in places but it’s hinting also at the more classic pop material that would appear on Modern Life Is Rubbish.

Mace is perhaps let down a little bit by a less than stellar vocal – it’s almost as if the band has come up with a slightly out-of-kilter tune that Damon Albarn at that point in his career wasn’t entirely comfortable with….but once the hits eventually came, he would prove to have no such problems. It’s a song that wouldn’t have felt out of place on 13 a few years later.

Garden Central is a real curio….clocking in at the best part of six minutes in length. It’s an instrumental and very much displays the talents of Graham Coxon. It’s the sort of tune that I’ve long thought coule be taken and mixed to within an inch of its life to make a great dance number.

Maybe Blur weren’t as lauded as the likes of Suede or Oasis for the quality of their b-sides, but there’s no doubting they were always willing to offer something a wee bit different.

And I’m just saying….if anyone fancies it….there hasn’t yet been a Blur ICA (I don’t expect Drew to make the offer mind you……)

JC

 

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

OH, I JUST DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN

So there I am wandering along the street with, as is regular, the i-pod on shuffle. The best part of 35,000 songs are on it so it can often be years since I last heard what comes through the headphones. Like with this:-

mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Accidents Will Happen

If I was to sit down and thoughtfully list all my favourite EC songs, then this might get a place maybe around the 30s or 40s; not that I don’t like it, but it has never been one that I thought was truly outstanding, mainly as I never took to the way it faded away at the end…..the ‘I know, I know’ refrain annoyed me somewhat back in the day. And listening again while I was walking, I realised it still does…..but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that the opening two and half minutes are rather splendid in that spiteful, new wave sneer that he was so food at when he first burst onto the scene.

It climbed only as far as #29 in the UK charts on its release in 1979, indicating perhaps that it was one that didn’t appeal all that much beyond the immediate fan base.

It came with two b-sides that both come in at around two minutes in length and which, the best part of 40 years on, remain very enjoyable listens, and also highlight how difficult it was to pigeon-hole this most talented of performers:-

mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Talking In The Dark
mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Wednesday Week

JC

Kinks

A RE-POST TO BUY MORE TIME (2)

I’ve made up my mind on the next Sunday series, but it’s one that will take a fair bit of time and effort that I can’t afford just now and so I’m putting it off till after the conclusion of the ICA World Cup.  In the meantime, Sundays will be used to host some old posts rescued from what remains of the vaults of the original Vinyl Villain blog before the bastards at Google pulled it down without warning.

This dates from 1 October 2009.

NOT BAD FOR AN AULD FELLA…

In my late teens I was never really one for looking back at bands or singers of days of yore. As far as I was concerned, the music of today (whether that be 1979, 80, 81 or whenever) was all that ever mattered. There’s no way you would ever catch me listening to stuff that my mum and dad liked.

As I matured somewhat in my later years, I realised that it would be a nonsense to maintain such a hardline approach, and now there are some acts from the 60s and early 70s that I have a soft spot for. But not The Beatles. Or Elvis Presley.

This single from late 1982 had a lot to do with it. Sure, I knew that The Kinks were a band name checked by so many of my own rock/pop gods, not least Paul Weller, and while I knew quite a few of their old singles from hearing them played on the radio, I hadn’t ever bought anything by the band.

My purchase of Come Dancing wasn’t taken lightly. It was a single that I had initially dismissed on the first couple of hearings, but then its catchiness just embedded itself in my brain and I found myself singing it out loud, even when it wasn’t being played on the radio. But could I bring myself to own something from a band that had enjoyed their first hit when I was crawling around wearing little more than a nappy? Of course I could…..

mp3 : The Kinks – Come Dancing
mp3 : The Kinks – Noise

This was the band’s nineteenth single to hit the UK Top 20, but their first in over a decade.

Back in 1982 I was genuinely amazed that a band formed in 1964 was having hits so many years later and I reckoned there was no way any of today’s stars will go on that long. I mean it was still another 18 years to the new century and that was a lifetime away….bands like New Order, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen just wouldn’t have that staying power.

I got that one a bit wrong didn’t I?

JC

ICA WORLD CUP

BONUS SERIES : THE ICA WORLD CUP : ROUND 3 (Part 3)

It’s been a strange week with the ICA World Cup.

Four superb ties from last Saturday have been somewhat overshadowed by the midweek row over the potential exclusion of The Smiths after the latest interview given by Morrissey in which he, again, uttered words and espoused theories that were truly offensive to most folk.

I have, genuinely, appreciated the various forms of feedback from everyone which has certainly got me thinking about what to do next. It’s no surprise at all to see so many different suggestions being offered up and I’ll continue to take counsel over the next few days and say something when I the post the next again set of half-time updates in a few days time.

Returning again to last week’s match-ups. There was widespread support for all eight sides, albeit none of the games were nail-biters in the end. There’s certainly a lot of quality going to be on display among the final 16…….

New Order 28 v The Fall 14
Talking Heads 15 v The Housemartins 26
The Velvet Underground 17 v The Clash 22
The Jesus and Mary Chain 25 v The The 16

This week’s match-ups were scheduled to be penned by jimdoes, but one of them would have featured The Smiths and so they have all been held over till next week while the matches originally scheduled for next week have been hurriedly rearranged!

Lightning Seeds v Saint Etienne

A tie for the pop purists. And the two songs which have emerged from the selection process will undoubtedly attract votes. The home side has crept quietly under the radar to this point in the competition with Broudie’s Boys seeing off Gemma Ray and Big Audio Dynamite without too much fuss. Cracknell’s Crackers on the other hand, having eased past The Sugarplastic in Round 1, found themselves in a bruising and epic battle against The Cramps last time out. Will the efforts involved have tired them out or toughened them up for this assignment.

The Life of Riley (from Sense, 1992) v Hobart Paving (single version, 1993)

Pulp v Pavement

“I’ll have a P please Bob!’ as the tittering teenagers taking part in the quiz show Blockbusters were so fond of uttering when host Bob Holness asked for their choice of letter.

This is the latest of the many intriguing contests this intriguing competition has thrown up over the first three rounds. Both teams have delivered genuinely brilliant records over the years alongside material that was designed to test the patience and capacities of their more casual fans but to the great delight of the ultras. This could be a whitewash either way or turn out to be very close. It’s almost totally predicatable that both sides have gone with songs that aren’t among their best known, seemingly keeping their powders dry for whatever challenges lie ahead. The original author of the Pulp ICA described today’s song as bleak but rewarding; the original author of the Pavement ICA described today’s song as ‘a bit psychedelic…..like elephants charging’.  The original author of both ICAs was Tim Badger.

The Fear (from This Is Hardcore, 1998) v Texas Never Whispers (from Watery Domestic EP, 1992)

Wire(2) v Butcher Boy

I think you’d have got good odds on both these sides making it to the last 32. It will be quietly satisfying that one of these very fine but unheralded acts will march proudly into the final 16 when so many giants will have been toppled.

Wire, having seen off two English pop acts from different decades – Supergrass and The Higsons – are relying on a typical two minute burst of manic pop thrills to get through against their Scottish opponents this time round. Butcher Boy, conquerors of The Magnetic Fields and Martin Stephenson, are probably more renowned for lush arrangements around heartfelt ballads but take to this field with something a bit more conventional that has possibly the best organ solo that you’ll hear in this or any other round not to mention the best use of a cello on any song outside of Monkey Gone To Heaven.

Two People In A Room (from 154, 1979) v You’re Only Crying For Yourself (from React or Die, 2009)

Orange Juice v The Wedding Present

The competition is meant to be about the merits of the two songs on offer. I’m wondering if the inclusion of a live version by one of these stellar acts will have a bearing on the outcome. Either way, I’m not going to be alone in being delighted for the winner and distraught for the loser.

Felicity (single, 1982) v My Favourite Dress (live) (recorded at Sound City Leeds in 1996)

Just a pity that the coins and dice didn’t give us the cover version of Felicity by TWP……………..

Votes must be cast by Friday 27 April at 10pm.

Happy Listening.

JC