Category: Bananarama

November 29, 2011

The Fun Boy Three with Bananarama – It Ain’t What You Do…. (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

“It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)” is a calypso song written by jazz musicians Melvin “Sy” Oliver and James “Trummy” Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald.

The jazz tune was transformed into a pop song with ska elements in 1982. With the title slightly altered to “It Ain’t What You Do….”, it was included on Fun Boy Three’s debut self-titled album, but it was not available on a Bananarama album until 1988’s Greatest Hits Collection.

Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three owned a copy of Bananarama’s previous single “Aie a Mwana” and after seeing an article about the trio in The Face he decided he wanted them to sing background vocals on this song, solely based on the fact that he liked their look. “It Ain’t What You Do….” became a big hit in the UK, climbing to number four in the UK singles chart. The success of this single also prompted Bananarama to return the favour and have Fun Boy Three sing on their next single “Really Saying Something”.

SIDE A:
It Ain’t What You Do….(Extended Version) 5:50
Written-By – S. Oliver*, J. Young*

SIDE B:
The “Funrama” Theme (Extended Version) 5:58
Written-By – Golding*, Staples*, Hall*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	It Ain’t What You Do	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play	#19

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Chrysalis – CDS 2570
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Producer – Dave Jordan, Fun Boy Three, The*

NOTES:
Mastered at Allen Zentz L.A., Calif.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

November 28, 2011

Bananarama – Cheers Then (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

REQUEST

“Cheers Then” is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It appears on their 1983 debut album Deep Sea Skiving and was released as its third single. The song was the first Bananarama single to be written by group members Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward and also their first ballad release.

Coming off three consecutive top-ten hits, “Cheers Then” peaked at a disappointing number forty-five in the UK singles chart. Fahey said in a 1986 interview about this song, “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 bought us down to reality a bit.”

Even with its relatively low sales, the song is regarded by critics as one of Bananarama’s best recordings . The group’s fortunes would rebound, however, with their UK follow-up single, a cover version of Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”.

The B-side, “Girl About Town,” has been issued on CD for the first time on the 2007 UK reissue of Deep Sea Skiving as one of five bonus tracks. However the version used is a slightly longer version (3:31) with an additional 4 bars just before the instrumental break (roughly 1:45 – 1:59).

The music video was a recreation of the musical film The Sound of Music. Filmed in Salzburg, the girls re-enact many of the scenes from the film, including the step-jumping scene for “Do-Re-Mi” and running in the hills, and the gazebo scene. It was directed by Keef for Keefco.

SIDE A:
Cheers Then (Extended Version) 5:19

SIDE B:
Girl About Town (Extended Version) 5:39

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: London Records – NANX 3
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Artwork By [Cover Design] – Peter Barrett
Performer – Keren*, Sarah*, Siobhan*
Photography [Faces] – Bay Hippisley
Photography [Wall] – Nobbly Neil Matthews
Producer – Barry Blue
Written-By – Bananarama

NOTES:
Produced for Bluey Tunes Ltd.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

June 20, 2011

Bananarama – I Can’t Help It (Remix) (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

REQUEST

“I Can’t Help It” is a song written and recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It is included on their fourth studio album Wow! and was released as its third single except in the U.S., where it was the album’s second single (following “I Heard a Rumour”) and Australia, where it was the album’s fourth single (after “I Want You Back”). The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio.

The song is a disco-influenced pop tune similar to many hits produced by SAW during this time period

The single peaked at number twenty in the UK singles chart, #27 on the Australian ARIA chart (where it was released in August 1988 after I Want You Back), and just missed the top-forty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. A hit in nightclubs, “I Can’t Help It” climbed to number seven on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart.

This is the final Bananarama single to feature Siobhan Fahey, who announced her departure shortly after its release.

The photos on the record sleeve were taken by famous American photographer Herb Ritts. The record sleeves for “I Can’t Help It” and “Love in the First Degree” were switched with each other for the UK and North American markets.

The song’s suggestive lyrics and music video further perpetuated Bananarama’s sensual visual image that the group began to incorporate with their previous album True Confessions.

The “I Can’t Help It” video featured muscle men dancing, colourful backdrops, and Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward in a milk bath filled with fruit and naked men. Siobhan Fahey, heavily pregnant at the time, also appears but was only shown on camera from the shoulders up. Music video directed by Andy Morahan.

SIDE A:
I Can’t Help It (The “Hammond” Version Excursion) 6:32

SIDE B:
Esctacy (Wild Style) 5:35

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	I Can’t Help It	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#47
1988	I Can’t Help It	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music\Club Play	#7

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: London Records
Catalog#: NANXR 15
Format: Vinyl, 12″
Country: UK
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Design [Sleeve Designed – Assisted] – Andrew Biscomb
Design [Sleeve Designed] – Peter Barrett (3)
Producer – Stock/Aitken/Waterman*
Remix – Pete Hammond

NOTES:
Special versions from the LP “WOW”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 20
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

June 13, 2011

Bananarama – More Than Physical (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

REQUEST

“More Than Physical” is a song written and performed by English girl group Bananarama. It was one of two tracks on the group’s True Confessions album produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio instead of Jolley & Swain. The album version of the track is different from the single.

In order to capitalize on the number-one success of previous single “Venus” (the other True Confessions track produced by SAW), “More Than Physical” was given a Hi-NRG-influenced make-over to sound similar to the dance-oriented chart-topper.

Even with heavy exposure on MTV, “More Than Physical” did not duplicate the success of “Venus”, stalling at number forty-one on the UK singles chart and number seventy-three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was a top-forty success in Australia, where it peaked at number twenty-eight in the ARIA chart. Its biggest success was in nightclubs, and “More Than Physical” became a top-five hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart.

“More Than Physical” was featured in the 1986 British film Rita, Sue and Bob Too starring Michelle Holmes and Siobhan Finneran. The song is featured in the scene where the girls are babysitting for Bob and Michelle, and they dance around the living room while the video to “More Than Physical” plays on the television.

The bassline of the track is derivative of the 70’s disco hit “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by A Taste Of Honey.

The remixed single version’s music video further capitalized on Bananarama’s new glamorous and sexy visual image by including several well-muscled, topless men in a montage of shots of the group members. Some of the shots were made with colored filters, and are juxtaposed with tightly cropped shots of body parts or movements in slow motion.

SIDE A:
More Than Physical (Muscle Mix) 10:00
Remix – Ian Levine

SIDE B:
More Than Physical (Garage Mix) 8:45
More Than Physical (Dub) 4:58

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Mint (Generic)

CHARTS:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	More Than Physical	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#73
1986	More Than Physical	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music\Club Play	#5

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: London Records
Catalog#: PRO 4601
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Synth-pop
Credits: Producer – Stock/Aitken/Waterman*
Written-By – Woodward*, Dallin*, Fahey*, Stock/Aitken/Waterman*

NOTES:
Promotional Not For Sale
Produced for P.W.L. Productions
Original version on the London album #422 828 013-1 R-1 “True Confesssions”

Find The 12″ on DISCOGS

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi