Bananarama are back! And while new single,
Move in my Direction isn't quite a laser like blast of pure pop perfection, it's still a pretty decent tune and does, at lest, demonstrate that, despite what
Duran Duran's comeback may have led you to believe, it is possible for an eighties band to make a comeback without embarrassing both themselves and the people actually listening to their record. To celebrate this momentous achievement, here's ten entirely true and in no way made up facts about the original girls who were both aloud and spicy:-
- Despite the fact she'd only just been born, their cover of Venus was intended as a tribute to the always lovely Nicola Roberts. Before it was vetoed by their record company, the original plan was to change the opening verse to read "Goddess with a carrot top / Burning with an orange flame / The summit of beauty and love / And Nicola was her name"
- Bananarama named themselves after a local fruitmongers which specialised in selling every different kind of banana you could think of. As it turned out, most people could only think of one and, as the supermarket down the road was selling them a lot cheaper, the shop went out of business after a week and has now been replaced by a leather furniture shop.
- Contrary to what they may have led you to believe, it's not actually a crime to be in love and you cannot be sent to jail for it. Unless the person you're in love with is either a) an animal, b) dead or c) both.
- Inspired by the In Bed With Madonna film, Bananarama released their own backstage tour documentary entitled Bananarama in Pyjamas
- While Bananarama may not have technically been the world's best singers or dancers, critic generally agree that they were successful not because of what they did, but they way that they did it. That, they say, was what got results.
- They love nothing more than hanging around Piccadilly Circus in London and giving out directions to confused tourists. Should this not be clear enough, they actually encourage the lost souls to follow them to their destination, suggesting they move in their direction.
- Keren really hates chimps.
- To celebrate the release of their 1983 single, Cruel Summer, the girls spent two hours each day kicking puppies, laughing at old people falling over, bursting small children's balloons and kicking over sandcastles.
- Banarama still harbour a dream of opening a restaurant staffed entirely by major Hollywood stars. The aim was to have Charlton Heston working in the kitchens, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Matrie'D and Robert De Niro waiting.
- French and Saunders are fucking shit. And that's really saying something.
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