Search - Bananarama :: Very Best of 2002

We All Have Guilty Pleasures.

The Groove | Boston, MA | 07/01/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A decade before the emergence of the Spice Girls, Bananarama were the original queens of girl power. In the early 1980s, the UK trio (currently a duo) had a modest string of new wave pop hits including "Shy Boy," "Robert DeNiro's Waiting" and the 1984 Top Ten hit "Cruel Summer." But it wasn't until they hooked up with the neo-disco hitmaking team of Stock Aitken Waterman did their career begin to skyrocket, with frothy confections such as the Number One cover of Shocking Blue's "Venus," "I Can't Help It," "Love in the First Degree," and "Love, Truth and Honesty." Their partnership with SAW ended up being short-lived, and while they're not the hit machine they once were, Bananarama is still touring and recording. "The Very Best of Bananarama" is more comprehensive than the previous "Greatest Hits Collection," which had only their 1980s singles. On this compilation, not only do we get the obvious hits, but we also get lesser-known tracks like the disco-flavored "Preacher Man" and the ABBA-esque "Moving On" (also produced by SAW). We also get a positively horrific cover of the Beatles' "Help." Why, oh why, did they feel the need to butcher this? Also, despite a whooping 22 tracks, "The Very Best" also skips a few other hits such as "More Than Physical" and "Wild Life." Either one of those singles would have been a welcome addition in lieu of "Help." Still, this collection is the best Bananarama compilation on the market. More than twenty years on, the bananas are still ripe."