Bananarama - The Greatest Hits Collection

Bananarama

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 1988
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B000001FGS
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,736 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine collection of Bananarama tunes, September 8, 2002

By	Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

All 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.

For 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.

The song distribution per album is as follows, with (C) indicating cover songs:

Deep Sea Skiving (4)--"Aie A Mwana" (C), "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'", "Shy Boy", "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" (C)

Bananarama (2)--"Cruel Summer", "Robert De Niro's Waiting"

True Confessions (2)--"Venus" (C), "Trick Of The Night"

Wow (5)--"I Heard A Rumour", "Love In The First Degree", "I Can't Help It", "I Want You Back", "Nathan Jones" (C)

(New) (2)--"Love Truth And Honesty", "Help!" (C)

That's consistent with how I feel--Wow and Deep Sea Skiving were Bananarama at their best, their self-titled album being the worst.

Of 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.

With 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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This collection is great, but..., March 28, 2005

By	Ryan A. Rigg - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love Bananarama and this collection of their biggest hits before
Siobhan 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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Party Disc, July 3, 1999

By A Customer

This is a great dance and party record because most of Bananarama's classic dance hits are here. "I heard a Rumor", "Love in the first Degree", "I can't help it", "I want you back", "Love truth and Honesty" and of course, "Venus". Pity some of their other chart-topping hits are not included, like my favorite song "More than Physical" off their 1986 release "True Confessions", and "Some Girls" off their 1987 classic album "Wow". Some of the old songs sound very dated but otherwise, this ranks as one of the best "Greatest Hits" compilations ever.