A great new interview from Jeremy Kennedy.
{Note: I have amended an error in Jeremy's article. The comments about Exotica and Ultra Violet were not quite right. I think Sara and Keren's comments were put against the wrong album titles in the original article.}
Source:
http://www.examiner.com/article/guerillarama-on-bananarama-a-backstage-conversation
Harmony, Hits and Humor: Getting to Know Bananarama
Over the weekend, Britain’s most delightfully amusing pop group from the 1980s made their Atlanta debut – the first in their 30 year history. Supporting the
Pinktober initiative launched by the Hard Rock franchise,
Bananarama are touring America again (their first tour of the States since 1989), recounting their backlog of radio hits, including the breakout single ‘Cruel Summer’ and their number one smash ‘
Venus’. Backed by an all-star band, including guitarist
Matt Backer (ABC, Swing out Sister), blonde member Sara Dallin and the dark-haired Keren Woodward, have reached unexplainable heights with their success, selling in excess over 40 million albums world-wide. On Sunday night, these ladies of the Eighties were cheerfully celebrated by a vigorous crowd of 300 or so fans at the posh Velvet Underground inside
Hard Rock Café, for what could be their first visit and their last, ever in Atlanta.
Unfortunately, the girls remained just as distant from Atlantans as they’ve always been, opting to stay hidden from the venue lobby activities. Nonetheless, the author found an entrance, with the help of an inside source and made his way through the kitchen of the Hard Rock Café restaurant, destined to the parlor lounge where he was greeted with a huge banana smile, followed by the question “Who are you?”.
In the author’s quest to mark Bananarama’s first visit to Atlanta as one of the milestone events of his career, he found himself sandwiched between Bananarama, rather giddy and star struck from the invitation. As cameras blinded the trio with lightning flashes, his confidence subliminally elevated him to dare ask the two retro bombshells by his side: “How does an American journalist achieve a proper interview with Bananarama?” As he gripped his leather notebook, armed with serious questions that America craves to know about this dynamic duo of Eighties pop music, Bananarama’s Keren Woodward assertively reaches for his document, pulls it out and begins reading.
Looking at the bystanders of handlers & management, she strikes an unexpected reaction: “Let’s do this,” she says to partner Sara Dallin. “I’ll start with number one.”
JK:
Is it true, that you would sew pieces of fabric together to make your stage clothes, including some of the threads from the Deep Sea Skiving videos? Can you still sew today?
Keren: Nodding her head with assertion, “Yes. We’re very good. It’s one of many unrecognized talents! “
JK:
What’s the last garment or repair you sewed?
Keren: “A pair of jeans actually.”
JK:
Here’s a challenge: Can you recite, in harmony, the synchronized lyric on ’It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it’ that you sung with the Fun Boy Three back in 1981?
Sara: “Sure. Just roll it out like this: Doo-doo-doo-do-dit, do-dit, doo-doo, Doo-doo-doo-do-dit, do-dit, doo-doo.” With a coy smile, she added “It’s not that difficult.”
JK:
What are the chances of stripping down the production of your Hi-NRG sound and making another ‘doo-wop’ album like the first three Bananarama records?
Keren: With hands on her hips, “We never made a doo-wop album! We still sing in harmony.”
Sara: “Well, those were the early days. We worked under the guidance of the Fun Boy Three and the Specials and they sort of had reggae-ska wrapped around them vocally.”
Keren: “But we did play stuff for Fun Boy Three. We actually played the piano on those records.”
JK:
How autobiographical are Bananarama’s lyrics? What’s the most outrageous testimonial song you have written?
Keren: ‘
Move in my Direction’ is pretty much the story of my life.” Looking at Sara for assurance, she continued, “Should have called a taxi. I should have gone straight home.”
JK:
In the Band Aid documentary of the making of ‘Do they know its Christmas’, it’s evident that the record was primarily male-dominant. You all looked incredibly bored. Were you? What is one story that you’ve never told anyone about those 24 hours you spent cramped in that hot studio with all of those egos?
Keren: “You know, they told us to tune our vocals down. We must have been incredibly loud,” she says with a smirk stretching toward a smile. “We were a bit hung-over. We didn’t know any cameras were going to be there. No one told us.”
Sara: “We were not informed. Our manager arranged for us to appear after Geldoff asked us to come. There we were, with Bono and Sting and the Durans.”
Keren: “We weren’t expecting to do too much. We just hung in a dark corner and hid with Paul Weller.”
JK:
Have you ever met Mariska Veres or any members of The Shocking Blue that originally took ‘Venus’ to number One on Billboard’s Pop Chart in 1970?
Keren: “No, we never met Mariska, but we did meet Robbie van Leeuwen, the member that wrote the song.” Adding, “He kissed our feet. We had just performed on a TV show and he dropped to his knees and literally kissed our feet.” Continuing, sipping her drink, “He said ‘Thank you for making me a multi-millionaire’.”
JK:
Bananarama shifted from making free-spirited videos that captured three girls just being casually innocent on film, to making tightly choreographed videos to accompany the singles produced by Stock-Aitken-Waterman. Was the transition a necessity?
Keren: “We were just moving along. Everyone was doing it then.”
Sara: Holding two fingers barely apart, she adds “The Stock-Aitken-Waterman period was such a short period in our career.”
JK:
Do either of you own the spitting image puppets used in your 1983 video ‘Cheers Then’?
Keren: “No, but I wish we did. We picked a video company to make those early videos and they came up with those.”
JK:
There have been numerous compilations of your ‘best’ work over the years, including a brand new 30th anniversary package featuring most of your videos. Do you like making music videos now?
Sara: “Yeah.”
Keren: “We love making videos; we hate taking photos.”
JK:
How involved were you with the new compilation project? Did you have an opinion on which tracks would be included or was it a singles-only endeavor?
Keren: “We were involved with that one because in the U.K., we wanted to release all of the (Bananarama) videos. It’s the first time that the entire collection of our videos is in one package, some of which are seeing a DVD format for the first time.”
Sara: “I don’t think they did that over here.”
JK:
You just released a brand new EP ‘Now or Never’.
Keren: Interrupting, she asks “Do you like it?”
JK
: Yes. The new single is as essential as any other Bananarama release. Right now, the new record is only available as a download format file.
Will the new release receive a hard copy format on vinyl or compact disc?
Sara: “Probably not. We don’t have a label to put it out.”
Keren: “But I think that the producer did such a great job with it, it doesn’t need another touch.”
JK:
Keren, What does your son think of Wham! ?
Keren: Sighing, she says “Well,
Andrew (Ridgely) is his step-father. He’s fine with Wham!; better with Bananarama.” (Note: Keren and long-term boyfriend Andrew Ridgely never married officially).
JK:
When former Bananarama vocalist Siobahn Fahey makes a new Shakespears Sister record, does she aggravate you to listen to it?
Keren: “No,” as she purses her lips.
Sara: Contradicting her sidekick with a tap on the shoulder, “She did that one time… what was it?”
Keren: “Pulsatron.”
Sara: “Yeah, ‘Pulsatron’; I couldn’t remember.”
JK:
On the topic of Shakespears Sister, are you at all friends with Marcella Detroit?
Keren: “No, but we’ve met her a couple of times. So we’re not friends. We are still friends with Siobahn though. We actually might see her in LA when we play there next week.”
JK:
How have you remained so ‘wholesome’ with no scandals, criminal records and feuds for 30 years as pop stars or have you just perfected the mastery of privacy when it comes to the press?
Sara: Looking over her shoulder, “Wholesome?”
Keren: “We are scandalous. Where have you been?” she laughs.
Sara: “We have mastered the art of fooling everyone; absolutely,” she giggles.
JK:
Sara, your daughter Alice sings with Bananarama often. How did that come about?
Keren: “She was going to sing with us on this tour. She rehearsed all of the higher parts with us, but they had these massive storms in England and her place is knee-high in mud.” Continuing, she adds “She is the most amazing singer. She once sung a cover of ‘Paparazzi’ by Lady GaGa at a school concert, while playing the piano, and it literally made me cry.”
Sara: “She really is a beautiful singer.”
Keren: “She is absolutely fabulous.”
JK:
Finally, I’ll list your albums in chronological order. If you would do us the honor and describe in a sentence or statement; whatever comes to mind. Positive, negative, pleasure or pain.
Deep Sea Skiving (1983)
Keren: “A really bad picture on the album’s cover.”
Sara: “Keith Richards really liked it.”
Bananarama (1984)
Keren: “I look like Boy George on the cover. We have a very similar profile, before he piled it on.”
Sara: “But he’s joined a gym now and looking quite good.”
Keren: “You’d really like him if you met him. He’s very funny. We met him before we were famous. We were in London and he said to us, ‘I’m going to be there and I will be famous’, and you know, a year later, there he was, everywhere.”
True Confessions (1986)
Keren: “Our American success.”
Sara: “Our first American hit was on that one, right?”
Keren: “We should have done ‘More than Physical’ tonight.” Adding, “The ‘Venus’ success was amazing because we never came to America to promote it. Suddenly, it was number one and we were shocked; horrified in fact.”
Wow! (1987)
Sara: “I like Wow!”
Keren: “That was a good time for us.
Sara: “The videos were produced by Bruno Tonioli, who’s on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ now.”
Keren: ”He’s one of the guys that we featured on the cover too. He’s our best friend. We still see him a lot.”
Pop Life (1991)
Keren: “I love Pop Life. We went guitary, but we needed to.”
Sara: “It was massive in Germany.”
JK: Did Jackie O’Sullivan actually sing on that record or was she a visual Banana beauty-only?
Keren: “I think she did sing on a few?”
Sara: no response.
Keren: “The Jackie thing was difficult because no one saw her as anything other than a replacement. She was always the ‘new’ girl.”
Please Yourself (1993)
Sara: “I’m not really fond of that one. We were floundering at that point.”
Keren: “We’d done the guitar album, though people didn’t want us to do a guitar album and but then they liked it. So we did (Please Yourself) and yet the general public didn’t like it. We like it now, but...”
Sara: “Do you like it now? I don’t.”
Keren: “Well, we like what we’re doing now, as opposed to pleasing everyone.”
Sara: “Go on.”
Keren: “We call those years – the early Nineties, the lean years.”
Ultra Violet (1995)
Sara: “That was a good time for us. It was huge in Japan.”
Keren: “We started touring and playing live again around this time.”
Exotica (2001)
Sara: “We call that the French Album.”
JK: The album is light-weight, almost airy as it permeates the listener.
Keren: “Do you think it’s airy? Get out of here. Cut the interview.”
Drama (2005)
Sara & Keren: “We like it.”
Keren: “This is our Swedish album. It was made in Sweden.”
Viva (2009)
Sara: “I didn’t realize that some of the singles were popular in America. We thought about performing ‘Love Comes’, but we doubted its reaction.”
Keren: “It’s unfortunate that some of the best stuff we’ve done hasn’t been released properly.”
Now or Never (2012)
Sara: “I love it.”
Keren: “The bonus remix of ‘Movin’ On’ is available only if you buy the EP online.”
