“Deep Sea Skiving” is a wonderful studio album debut for the stylish, fun and addictive British vocal group, Bananarama
Click here to purchase Bananarama’s “Deep Sea Skiving (Collector’s Edition)” on Amazon
GROUP: Bananarama
ALBUM: Deep Sea Skiving
DURATION: 20 Songs (1 Hour, 18 Minutes)
RELEASE DATE: March 1983
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- “Shy Boy” – 3:16
- “Doctor Love” – 3:42
- “What a Shambles” – 3:34
- “Really Saying Something” – 2:45
- “Cheers Then” – 3:31
- “Aie a Mwana” – 3:36
- “Young at Heart” – 3:13
- “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)” – 3:30
- “Hey Young London” – 3:55
- “Boy Trouble” – 3:14
- “Wish You Were Here” – 3:41
- “He’s Got Tact” – 2:57
- “Girl About Town” – 3:28
- “Tell Tale Signs” – 3:08
- “No Feelings” – 2:33
- “Aie a Mwana” (Extenderd Version) – 5:45
- “Really Saying Something” (with Fun Boy Three) [Extended Mix] – 5:39
- “Shy Boy” (Extended Version) – 5:50
- “Cheers Then” (Extended Version) – 5:18
- “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)” [Extended Version] – 4:52
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Bananarama, one of the most successful pop groups from London and currently hold the Guinness Book of World Records of most charting singles in the globe for a female band.
In fact, ten of their albums have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, 32 UK top 40 hits and to this very day, their music still is still charting in the UK charts as the group has transitioned in the 2000’s to more dance music. And Bananarama is celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2022.
While Bananarama formed in September 1980 consisting of teenagers/childhood friends Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward who moved from Bristol to London and met up with Sara’s college friend, Siobhan Fahey. The three were followers of punk rock and post-punk of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
In fact, things weren’t going so great for Dallin and Woodward who were living at the YWCA and where about to become homeless, until Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, who was a friend of the girls, offered them a place to live above the Sex Pistols rehearsal room.
The three would perform or were backing vocals for bands such as The Monochrome Set, Iggy Pop, The Professionals, The Jam and more.
The trio would record a demo song for “Aie a Mwana”, a cover song by Black Hood in Swahili. And Demon Records would offer the ladies their first record deal.
In 1982, the group was starting to appear on television thanks to their numerous music collaborations with the group, Fun Boy Three. Now, the collaboration between Fun Boy Three was one of the most popular things to see in 1982 for both groups. Bananarama had three collaborations for their album “Fun Boy Three” in 1982 and these collaborations would help boosten the popularity of the two groups.
By 1983, the group would release their first single, “Aie a Mwana” which reached No., 92 on the UK Charts and the trio were immediately signed by London Records and by 1983, they would release their first studio album titled “Deep Sea Skiving”.
The album was a successful debut at it reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and certified Silver by the BPI.
Now there have been numerous re-releases of “Deep Sea Skiving” since their 1983 release with different tracks. I am currently reviewing the “Collector’s Edition” which has 20 tracks and has much less than the 36 track 2013 Deluxe Edition (2 CD + DVD) which is not available digitally. It’s important to note that not all of the B-sides from the Bananarama singles are not included on this Collector’s Edition album.
But from the original 1983 album, there have been a total of six tracks released as single and the group was able to attain worldwide visibility thanks to their good quality music videos for the time.
The album kicks of with “Shy Boy”, the group’s third single and was written and produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The dance song was successful for the group reaching No. 4 in the UK Single Charts and also reached No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The second pop track “Doctor Love” was written by The Jam/The Style Council’s Paul Weller.
The third synth pop track “What a Shambles” is a catch track written by the trio alongside Terry Sharpe. I actually loved this song when I was younger and would listen to it often on my Walkman.
The fourth track “He Was Really Sayin’ Something” is a collaboration with Fun Boy Three and a cover of The Velvettes 1964 song. As mentioned before, this is one of the few numerous collaborations between the two label groups but the spark interest in Bananarama was thanks to the collaboration with Fun Boy Three for the song “It Ain’t What You Do It’s the Way That You Do It”.
The fifth track “Cheers Then” was written by the trio and was released as the third single in November 1982 before the album’s release. The song is the first ballad by Bananarama but the result was disappointing for the group as the single reached no. 45 on the UK Singles Charts. Siobhan Fahey said of the single, “We started taking our careers seriously after ‘Cheers Then’ bombed. Before then we thought all groups just brought out records and had them go to the top of the charts. It brought us down to reality a bit”. Many years later, the song is now considered as one of the group’s best recordings.
The B-side to “Cheers Then” titled “Girl About Town” is track No. 13 on this Collector’s Edition.
The sixth track is the group’s first single, “Aie a Mwana” originally written by the French-Belgian team Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger in 1971 for the pseudo-Japanese dance album “Le Monde fabuleux des Yamasuki” and was originally recorded in 1975 by Black Blood, an African group recording in Belgium in Swahili.
The trio first heard it in a French disco and the group learned to sing the song phonetically and the song inspired the group’s name as banana coming from the vibe of “Aie a Mawana” and -rama coming as a nod to an early Roxy Music song called “Pjajamarama”.
While the song was released independently through Demon Records, the song failed to reach the UK top 75. But the song is what helped the group get signed to London Records and also caught the attention of Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three who got the group to collaborate with them for their eponymous titled album “Fun Boy Three”.
The seventh track is “Young at Heart” was not released as a single by Bananarama but he song was written by the trio and Fahey’s then-boyfriend, Robert Hodgens of the band, the Bluebells (and also session musician Bobby Valentino, who played the violin for the song). The Bluebells released the song as a single and it charted on the UK Charts, their most successful single.
The eighth track featured is “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)” which charted at No. 5 on the UK Charts. The song is a cover of the 1969 song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer of the then-fictitious band, “Steam”.
The ninth track “Hey Young London” was written by Barry Blue and the trio and produced by Barry Blue. Barry Blue is one of the well-known ’70s artists for songs such as “Dancin’ (on a Saturday Night” and “Do You Wanna Dance” and has written songs and produced songs for many artists.
The tenth track is “Boy Trouble” and second song produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain (who wrote/produced “Shy Boy”).
The final track from the original album was “Wish You Were Here” which was written by the trio and produced by Barry Blue.
In this Collector’s Edition is the 12th track “He’s Got Tact” which was featured on the Japanese release of “Deep Sea Skiving” and was a commercial song for the Honda Tact motor scooter and released as a single in Japan only. The trio was also featured on the Honda commercial in Japan.
The 13th track is “Girl About Town”, as mentioned, the B-side for “Cheers Then” and the 14th track is “Tell Tale Signs” written by the trio.
The 15th track “No Feelings” is a cover of the Sex Pistols song. This is pretty cool nod to the Sex Pistols considering that Sex Pistols drummer John Cook helped members of the group before they became homeless and encouraged them to create the demo for “Aie a Mwana”.
The remainder of the tracks 16-20 are the extended versions of their single tracks “Aie a Mwana”, “Really Saying Something (with Fun Boy Three)”, “Shy Boy”, “Cheers Then” and “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Them Goodbye).
Having grown up with this album, I can tell you that I loved it as a kid and I love it as an adult.
I love the story of how the trio became a group and how the Sex Pistols drummer John Cook helped them and pushed them to send their demos out, the group doing just that and an indie label releasing the song which didn’t do well in the UK charts, but eventually them getting signed with London Records and also gaining the attention of Terry Hall (of Fun Boy Three). For those not familiar with Terry Hall or Fun Boy Three, he was formerly of the ska band The Specials, but he is also known for co-writing the song “Our Lips Are Sealed” with then-girlfriend Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s. Which the song launched The Go-Go’s career, but for Bananarama, the collaboration with Fun Boy Three for their song “It Ain’t What You Do It’s the Way That You Do It”, would get them featured on their music video and also on the music show, “Top of the Pops”.
The dominoes fell down just right for Bananarama and to have numerous songs charting in the top ten for the UK Charts is fantastic but this is still the beginning for the group, who would gain a worldwide following not long after.
But “Deep Sea Skiving” is a wonderful studio album debut for the stylish, fun and addictive British vocal group, Bananarama.
Click here to purchase Bananarama’s “Deep Sea Skiving (Collector’s Edition)” on Amazon
