30 Years of Bananarama - CD & (at last!) DVD

[bichard]

The melody and lyrics are just gorgeous on Is She Good To You though. It's a wonderful song!

[Alcazarized]

Inspired by all this discussion of 'Please Yourself', I've just checked it out on iTunes and Youtube. It's not as bad as I had thought, going on the singles. I may have to add it to my collection - I've got all the others. The B-side 'Treat Me Right' sounds very familiar - is it a sample, or was it sampled by someone else? I just can't quite place it.

[letuinmybackdoor]

It was released about the same time as Opus III's 'It's a fine day' whoI'm sure were a PWL signed act (though not produced by, I think). S/A/W often did 'copycat' versions of dance tracks. Kylie's 'Let's get to it' is virtually a whole album of such copycat tracks. 'Treat me right'sounds like a potential follow up to 'It's a fine day', very different to the rest of 'Please yourself'. Nice though.

[brave2012]

I really liked Bananarama but how many rehashed greatest hits packages is too much? I mean really!

[tom71]

I really liked Bananarama but how many rehashed greatest hits packages is too much? I mean really!

This release is all about the DVD (which is amazing in it's near completeness and something I've wanted forever). Another Greatest Hits without the DVD is much less exciting.

[sometimesxtc]

It was released about the same time as Opus III's 'It's a fine day' whoI'm sure were a PWL signed act (though not produced by, I think). S/A/W often did 'copycat' versions of dance tracks. Kylie's 'Let's get to it' is virtually a whole album of such copycat tracks. 'Treat me right'sounds like a potential follow up to 'It's a fine day', very different to the rest of 'Please yourself'. Nice though.

I can't believe how much, in 2012, i love Let's Get To It. I always had it pegged as a bit of a bust after Rhythm of Love, but I'm finding myself listening to it all the time. Right Here, Right Now and Live and Learn are a great pair and Finer Feelings sounds as sexy as ever. Sorry, OTT and I'm probably over-caffeinated, but just seeing the title made me burst a bit.

[Alcazarized]

It was released about the same time as Opus III's 'It's a fine day' whoI'm sure were a PWL signed act (though not produced by, I think). S/A/W often did 'copycat' versions of dance tracks. Kylie's 'Let's get to it' is virtually a whole album of such copycat tracks. 'Treat me right'sounds like a potential follow up to 'It's a fine day', very different to the rest of 'Please yourself'. Nice though.

So it is - thank you. I knew I'd heard it somewhere before. I have the Opus III track on the Pete Waterman best-of CD from 1999, and my understanding is that it was released via PWL but not produced by them, but without checking the sleeve I am not 100% on that.

[Farnaby]

I love Please Yourself.

Treat Me Right is in my Bananarama top 5.

[idratherjack]

Pop Life and Please Yourself are my favourite 'rama albums. I think if you combined the singles and the best of the album tracks (What Colour R The Skies Where You Live, Is Your Love Strong Enough, Ain't No Cure, Is She Good To You, Only Time Will Tell and Give It All Up For Love) you would have pretty much the perfect pop album.

[letuinmybackdoor]

What about 'Heartless'? Fab track.

[phoenix123]

Just received "Love Comes" CD single in post. Wasn't aware it contained "Cruel Summer 09". It's...... different.

I prefer the 89 version anyway so what do I know....

[little ern]

Just received an e-mail from Zavvi cancelling my order for the 30 Years of Bananarama CD/DVD due to them being no longer available from their suppliers and have tried to get stock from elsewhere but with no luck.

[Alcazarized]

What about 'Heartless'? Fab track.

Heartless is good but the demo version is much better than the album mix...

[Auntie Beryl]

Zavvi are shit, I've found.

Got mine on order from Sainsbury's.

[letuinmybackdoor]

Youtube mentions an unreleased 1989 album 'Nothing lasts forever' anyone know anything about it?

[anfunny2003]

Seeing as they apparently didn't have time to re-record Cruel Summer [89] or make a video for it in June 1989, and were touring that year [March - June], I find it hard to imagine there's a whole unreleased album. But after June 1989 and until they started recording Pop Life in September 1990, they were pretty much publically inactive, I guess, so maybe they did record stuff which was abandoned. Just ask Jacquie on Twitter, she's quite interactive and candid about her 'nana days. 'Nothing Lasts Forever' is a stupid title for a first album with a new member though. Really?!

[Lady Agnes Holland]

I think you're right, they may have removed or at least lowered her vocals.

I doubt it, they said in the linear notes for the 1988 Greatest Hits, that pre S/A/W they used to record all their vocals together (at once) standing around one microphone.

It was only from the S/A/W era (forwards) with Youth etc, that they recorded their vocals separately in vocal booth's.

As a previous poster has said, the apparent new line that appeared in the '89 mix of Cruel Summer, was taken from an old (1983) mix featuring Siobhan, so it is highly unlikely that they would be able to (or even bother) to separate Siobhan's vocal stem (post production) from an analogue vocal recording of all three original members, from six years earlier.

I also seriously doubt this would even have been possible (from a technical perspective), to separate and filter out, a vocal digitally (from an analogue stem) as far back as 1989.

In 2012, (maybe) provided the trio acapella exists . . but not in '89.

[anfunny2003]

Actually, you're referring to the liner note which accompanies Shy Boy in The Greatest Hits Collection booklet. After recording Shy Boy, they started recording in seperate booths. The reason for this was Siobhan liked beef and onion sandwiches at the time and her breath stank, so Keren insisted they have their own mics for future recordings. That would suggest everything post-Shy Boy was recorded seperately. Recording studios have been equipt with multi-track recording for decades now and that's the basis of mixing in general, the ability to increase/reduce the level of, or remove, a vocal, instrument or effect, so it was certainly do-able in 1989. You just take the original multi-track and remove one track (ie. Siobhan's vocal). But yes, if they sang together on one mic, then it would be difficult, surely impossible, to scrub Siobhan off. Regardless, the record is pretty rubbish for me and sounds vastly inferior to the original. It only made 19 in the singles chart, too, which was pretty crap and quite justified.

[topopMAC1]

This is only £6.99 at Sainsburys at the moment!

[letuinmybackdoor]

Yay! thanks for letting us know, Bargainarama!

[Fish Finger]

My signed copy is on its way! Fingers crossed for Saturday delivery.

[topopMAC1]

Yay! thanks for letting us know, Bargainarama!

You're welcome! My copy was dispatched at lunchtime, can't wait to get it!

[Fish Finger]

Mine's arrived already! Cannot wait to watch the DVD.

[thewayitusedtobe]

My copy arrived today from HMV, didn't know it was going to be signed! Nice :-)

[anfunny2003]

Got mine, decent effort all round. The videos look really crisp (except Shy Boy - but that's always looked terrible). I have already gasped at their beauty circa Robert De Niro's Waiting.... I'm very happy with it. Nice to see the retro birds and fish on the packaging and menus.

EDIT: DVD issues... Minor wobble during Do Not Disturb; the first bar of Trick Of The Night is clipped off; Every Shade Of Blue and Take Me To Your Heart are awful quality... like, ripped from YouTube quality.