Bananarama: The Greatest Hits Collection (West German Pressing) CD Track Listing

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Bananarama The Greatest Hits Collection (West German Pressing) (1988)
The Greatest Hits Collection (West German Pressing)\n\nOriginally Released November 1988 in UK\nOriginally Released June 6, 1989 in USA\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Theoretically, this should be a note-perfect example of commercial '80s pop music at its best. But it isn't. Half of this album is actually pretty great, though -- particularly the early Bananarama hits. The Fun Boy Three-produced "He Was Really Sayin' Something" throws that band's quirky avant-funk underneath the threesome's harmonizing; the cover of "Aie A Mwana" shows off some slightly unexpected Afrobeat chops over a brisk arrangement; while "Shy Boy" takes a more mainstream approach, but without losing its understated sass. The American hits "Robert De Niro's Waiting" and "Cruel Summer" show how the trio could balance chart aspirations with atypical singing or subject matter. When it comes to the multi-national smashes produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman, though, it's not quite a case of the emperor having no clothes as much as a case of SAW being a one-trick pony. The reworking of Shocking Blue's "Venus" was a well-deserved success, taking the off-kilter pop/rock of the original and giving it a sparkling dance undercarriage. "I Heard a Rumour" isn't bad either, with a catchy chorus and a similar synth sheen. Unfortunately, the rest of the SAW-overseen selections do both the band and producers a major disservice, all being pallid and boring revamps of those two songs. If they ever felt defensive about the critical slams they received, the fact remains that at this point in the band's career there wasn't much to shout about. A new version of the Beatles' "Help!" at least provided them with a song that was more distinct than most of the late-'80s hash they received, but it wasn't as compelling a reworking as the others. -- Ned Raggett\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThis collection is great, but..., March 28, 2005 \nBy Ryan A. Rigg\nI love Bananarama and this collection of their biggest hits before \nSiobhan Fahey left the group is excellent. Although they hit the Hot 100 11 times, only 3 of those songs made the Top 40 (Cruel Summer, Venus, and I Heard a Rumour). Those songs plus many of their other hits are included here. However, one thing I do hate is when a record company puts out a Greatest Hits package and leaves off some of the songs that were released as singles. Most Greatest Hits packages do this, and this one is no exception. The key tracks missing here are the title song from the movie "The Wild Life" (which peaked at #70 in 1984) and "More Than Physical" (which peaked at #73 in 1986). Since this was issued, they have issued a package called "The Essentials" which includes all of their Hot 100 hits (including the 2 songs missing on this CD). So, if you want all the Hot 100 hits, skip this one and buy "The Essentials". If you just want the Top 40 hits plus some great dance tunes, this will suffice. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFine collection of Bananarama tunes, September 9, 2002 \nBy Daniel J. Hamlow (Chikusei City, Japan)\nAll right, this class is BANM-52, for those of you into 80's music studies, and the required text here is Bananarama's Greatest Hits Collection. I would've recommended their first and fourth studio albums, whose key tracks comprise this compilation, but they are criminally hard to get and/or out-of-print. No matter, this single CD collection will do.\nFor most 80's music fans, their barn-burning cover of Shocking Blue's "Venus" and "Cruel Summer" are their two most famous songs. Don't worry--they're here. Their fourth album Wow boasted five singles, all here, and that was when they exploded, becoming part of the Stock-Aitken-Waterman bubblegum machine. However, I would like to point out that the single versions of "I Want You Back" and their cover of the Supremes' post-Diana Ross hit "Nathan Jones" are on this collection, and are much better than the originals on Wow.\n\nThe song distribution per album is as follows, with (C) indicating cover songs:\n\nDeep Sea Skiving (4)--"Aie A Mwana" (C), "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'", "Shy Boy", "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" (C)\n\nBananarama (2)--"Cruel Summer", "Robert De Niro's Waiting"\n\nTrue Confessions (2)--"Venus" (C), "Trick Of The Night"\n\nWow (5)--"I Heard A Rumour", "Love In The First Degree", "I Can't Help It", "I Want You Back", "Nathan Jones" (C)\n\n(New) (2)--"Love Truth And Honesty", "Help!" (C)\n\nThat's consistent with how I feel--Wow and Deep Sea Skiving were Bananarama at their best, their self-titled album being the worst.\n\nOf the new tracks, "Love Truth And Honesty" would've fit in their Wow album, which figures as it was produced by Stock-Aitken-Waterman. And speaking of S-A-W, notice that eight of the fifteen songs here are S-A-W productions, including their cover of the Beatles' "Help!" If one thinks about it, the original was also quick-paced, and the Rams' version is just as bouncy.\n\nWith the exception of the new songs, this features the original trio of Sarah Dallin, Keren Woodward, and Siobhan Fahey. The Rams at their best--what else can I say? Believe you me, you won't slip with this one. OK, class dismissed. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\n"I Heard a Rumour" That Bananarama Lip-synched Their Vocals!, November 29, 1999 \nBy A Customer\n\nWould a fellow Bananarama fan please help me? I was watching VH1's episode of "Where Are They Now?: Girls, Girls, Girls" and this was said: "When American audiences learned [Bananarama] were lip-synching, the pressure of performing began to take its toll." First of all, VH1 also claimed that, when Siobhan Fahey left to form Shakespear's Sister (another personal fave), Bananarama "split." FALSE! Jacquie O'Sullivan replaced Ms. Fahey, and THE GREATEST HITS COLLECTION was released in 1988. The single, "Love, Truth and Honesty" features Ms. Sullivan's vocals and she is also featured in the liner notes. She left the group following the 1991 release of POP LIFE.\nNow that I have cleared that up, would somebody please explain this scandal involving the authenticity of Bananarama's recordings. I recently purchased their out-of-print record, WOW!, released in 1987. Within its liner notes, it states, "Bananarama's vocals are recorded on the Calrec Soundfield Microphone." Perhaps, this is a promotional message. I'm really not sure, but I would love for someone to inform me of this scandal.\n\nBy the way, since we're on the subject (!), THE GREATEST HITS COLLECTION is a knockout. Smash hits "Venus" and "I Heard a Rumour" are perfection, while WOW! tracks "I Can't Help It," "I Want You Back," "Love In the First Degree," and "Nathan Jones" are testaments to the brilliant pop sensibilities of production trio Stock, Aitken, Waterman. (Check out Donna Summer's ANOTHER PLACE & TIME.) \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNot really their best, October 12, 1999 \nBy A Customer\n\nUnfortunately, this greatest hits collection borrows heavily from later albums, which weren't all that great. The best album remains their first one, "Deep Sea Skiving," which unfortunately is not available. The pure, unadulterated fun and girlish exuberance of that album was never equalled since.\nThen came the album simply titled "Bananarama." It had "Cruel Summer" on it, but for me the slide had begun. Gone was the exuberant fun, replaced with a much slicker face (both in the music itself and in the girls' new glamorous appearance). It took away most of the fun for me.\n\nIf you can find "Deep Sea Skiving" anywhere, get it. That's the best Bananarama. \n\n\nHalf.com Details \nContributing artists: Jackie O'Sullivan \n\nAlbum Notes\nProducers include: Stock/Aitken/Waterman.\n\nA straightforward singles compilation, Bananarama's GREATEST HITS is a handy summary for fans and an excellent introduction for newcomers. The track selection somewhat unfairly gives short shrift to 1983's DEEP SEA SKIVING and 1984's BANANARAMA, the trio's earliest-some say best-albums, in favor of later singles that were bigger US hits ("I Heard a Rumour," "I Can't Help It"). But GREATEST HITS does the service of collecting the often-superior single mixes of these later songs rather than the longer album versions. \n\nThe 15-song collection opens with Bananarama's biggest hit, 1986's "Venus," and closes with a 1988 benefit-single version of the Beatles' "Help!" The latter is the group's first track featuring Jacqui O'Sullivan, original member Siobhan Fahey's replacement. As O'Sullivan only appears on this one song, her inclusion in the album's cover photo is somewhat misleading. Over one-third of the tracks are taken from the group's then-recent album, WOW!
This misc cd contains 18 tracks and runs 71min 54sec.
Freedb: f410d812
Buy: from Amazon.com

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