Format: LP
Label: London/PolyGram
Country: US
Year: 1988
Price paid: $2.50
Most people roll their eyes at the mere
mention of Bananarama, but stick with me on this one. I used to be one
of those 'too cool' music snobs, but I softened to the
group when I found out that my then girlfriend, who was a hard-as-nails
scene goth, liked them. I think a lot of the bias comes from the fact
that they aren't a 'band' as such, merely vocalists, akin to the
girl groups of the 60s. And I'm fine with that. They have a long
history; check out this early song that shows a different face before
the the Venus-era scrubbed-clean Stock Aitken Waterman period:
The Fun Boy Three featuring Bananarama - It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way that You Do It)
For
me the real fun started when Siobhan Fahey (the blonde as pictured
below) left the group. She formed Shakespears Sister, which certainly
took the weird up a notch, while still retaining the pop attitude.
The
true retail value on this one is a bit of a mystery. Logic dictates that, being
such a huge chart-topper in the US, a greatest hits collection wouldn't
have much value. But in doing research it appears that the US release is
fairly rare. UK/European versions (with the same artwork)
can be found on eBay and Gemm for under ten bucks, but it appears that the LP didn't get wide release here in America.
Why? Well my guess is that, 1988 being the beginning of the Golden Age of
the CD, the push was really towards selling little shiny discs;
perhaps since the group were so mainstream the label did think that a
vinyl release was merited? Vinyl sales in Europe and the UK remained
strong up until the 90s; this would explain the relative commonness of
those versions. Just a guess. My example is one of those 'gold stamp on
the label' promo copies as well, which only strengthens the 'did not get
wide release' theory. Included is a photo glossy of the group!
