Although they’ve been around for 25 years, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin show no signs of slowing. The duo, which now make up Bananarama (minus Siobhan Fahey who performed with the band during the ’80s and ’90s) have been synonymous with club-pop since the mid-’80s. Their new release ‘Drama’ has scored a dance floor hit in Europe with track ‘Move In My Direction’ and they performed with the Scissor Sisters in 2005.
It started in 1982 when The Specials’ Terry Hall asked the girls to perform on Fun Boy 3’s ‘It Ain’t What You Do, It’s The Way That You Do It’. When the single hit the top five in the UK, the girls were stunned. Woodward says: “We were signed as a one-off novelty act, we had no idea what we were doing. But it was obviously working so [the record company] let us carry on.”
It’s been a strange, but exciting journey. Even though they had a record deal, the group were broke, using the showers at the local swimming pool and getting evicted from their accommodation at the YWCA. At the same time they were on magazine covers and TV sets everywhere. The fame was about to really hit. “In the early days, we were swept away in it. I’d never been on a plane when we started. Then we were on TV, staying in hotels, going to fab parties. One minute we were sitting next to each other in school, and the next we were on stage together on the other side of the world.”
At their peak with hits such as ‘Venus’ and ‘Love In The First Degree’ Bananarama were a world-wide phenomenon.
“It was impossible to have a life outside of Bananarama in the ‘80s. In the early ‘90s, I’d stopped enjoying it, and wanted to take a step back, take it easy. I had a baby in the middle of it all.”
What gives the music its edge is its attitude. Bananarama were built on independence, and that creative control is something that defines their new release as well.
“When we started our attitude was school-girl punk. More like today’s indie bands. No one told us what to do, and if they did we wouldn’t listen to them anyway. We had a very strong sense of the group. Everything we did was about us. We didn’t do anything except what were about.”
Drama was co-written and produced by Korpi and Blackcell who have written hits for Britney Spears and J-Lo. But Woodward and Dallin have again retained creative control.
“We have been doing this for years so we are more confident in our ideas. “We have been afforded a lot of respect by the people we’ve worked with on this album – because of our history. They are happy to try anything we suggest.”
‘Drama’ is out now through Central Station Records
http://www.centralstation.com.au