Bananarama

Sara and Keren initially thought to continue as a duo after Siobhan left but the record company though Bananarama were known as a trio and wanted them to continue that way. They knew of Jacquie in passing but played up that they were friends with her previously to keep the band of friends vibe going.
Jacquie enjoyed her time on the 1989 tour but was struggling to feel like she fit in otherwise. She joined at a bad time, as they were promoting a Greatest Hits album that she had little to do with.
We know from their book that the Pop Life album era (Jacquie's only full album with the band) were difficult for Sara and Keren personally and professionally, on top of the album failing commercially. At this point I think Sara just became the driving force behind keeping Bananarama going at all, and it didn't really make sense anymore to keep Jacquie on as, for whatever reasons, she never got fully invested.
I think it's simpler. After the commercial failure of Pop Life, there was no longer enough money to pay for a third member.
 
It feels like Keren and Sara are so tight sometimes to the detriment of their career. Once I had gotten over the shock of Siobhan leaving, it took me a little while to get on board with Jacquie but I soon saw that she had the same slightly awkwardness in TV appearances as K and S, and showed similiar humour, I became a fan. I think perhaps they could’ve made her feel more welcome although I’d can also see how hard that would be as Bananarama were so established by then. Even all these years later, some still have a hard time with Bananarama being a duo. Who knows what might had happened if Jacs stayed?

As for Siobhan’s return for the original lineup tour, it was promoted as temporary yet it seemed to work so well and it genuinely felt that we could at least get an album. TV interviews were amusing and there was a real sense of excitement from all three of them - which really helped with ticket sales. The tour was so successful and beyond what anyone could’ve imagined. Far slicker than other duo performances, emotional because of the nostalgia and memories but most importantly it had huge potential to move away from the self funded route into something cooler, working with other producers, Siobhan’s influence on the writing and who knows - maybe we would have the Bananarama drama (TV) that has never got off the ground… about the rise of one of Britains best loved bands in the 80s.

That being said, we have been so lucky to have Bananarama last this long when other bands crumbled for good.
 
There’s not being a big hit… and there’s not charting at all. That’s pretty catastrophic.

There were lots of issues preventing it from being a hit. The single mix was not the best for commercial radio for starters. It was not played. The album version was far better or others like George’s mix. They didn’t really promote it as Sara was incapacitated and Jacqui was on the way out….. their manager Hilary had just left and I seem to recall just not seeing it in shops. With better timing, effort, good management for a campaign and no distribution issues, maybe it could’ve performed better?
 
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Mr.Arroz

Staff member
He/Him/His
Just out of interest why are they in the comeback corner thread? There seems to be a new album every week
Also I’m loving the new album, is there a difference between the red and blue vinyl? Other than the colour?

Looks like their last album came out before the new guidelines for threads were posted. If they confirm a new album or tour, a separate thread can be created in the main forum. Until then this remains their main general discussion thread.
 
There’s not being a big hit… and there’s not charting at all. That’s pretty catastrophic.

It did chart though?

4th singles:

Cheers Then #45
Hot Line to Heaven #58
A Trick of the Night #32
I Want You Back #5
Tripping on Your Love #76

No 4th singles after Pop Life. I Want You Back was the first single with Jacquie and had tons of promo after previous hits off the album. No singles from Pop Life were major hits.
 
The UK charts, as far as most people could access, was 1-75. That's what's stores stocked and was published in chart books.

It was only relatively recently that you could easily find positions 76-200.

So, anything that didn't make 75 was considered to have failed to chart in the UK.
And to be honest anything non top 40 was a flop
 
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