Released: March 8
Personally-curated by Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, Bananarama’s ‘Glorious: The Ultimate Collection’ is the definitive guide to one of the most successful girl groups of all time.
Documenting their journey from the early-’80s with Siobhan Fahey, through the turn of the ‘90s with Jacquie O’Sullivan and into the past 30+ years as a duo, the set encompasses all of Bananarama’s studio albums and then some.
“We wanted this to be a unique collection, a celebration of all the twists and turns in our career,” says Sara. “We compiled endless lists of songs, album tracks and hit singles and whittled it down to forty: our favourite tracks from the past four decades.”
Notable is the lack of ‘80s cuts; only eight songs from that decade feature on the album, representing the era proportionally with hits like Cruel Summer, I Heard A Rumour and Love In The First Degree while placing the focus firmly on Dallin and Woodward’s enduring collaboration beyond the first iteration of the band.
From the past 20 years, each album is represented with four songs – Top 40 smashes like Move In My Direction and Look On The Floor (Hypnotic Tango) sit alongside album cuts including Extraordinary, I’m On Fire and It’s Gonna Be Alright.
In spanning 1983’s ‘Deep Sea Skiving’ to 2022’s ‘Masquerade’, there’s also dazzling re-workings of Movin’ On and Last Thing On My Mind plus the between-album releases Now Or Never, La La Love and holiday cult classic, Baby It’s Christmas.
‘Glorious’ is not a greatest hits; hit play expecting to find all Bananarama’s charting songs and you’ll be disappointed – that’s what past compilations are for. This time, the focus is on the core duo as they revisit four decades of success and cast the spotlight on the recordings they’re most proud of from their entire hitmaking tenure.
Within that, a deluxe bonus disc of reworked mixes is an additional treat, with a pulsing New Wave mix of Do Not Disturb from Krystal Klear a highlight, while the inclusion of two new songs – Feel The Love and Supernova – sees the girls cast their eyes to the future.
“Putting the music together for this project… made me realise how much we have achieved and how determined, tenacious, and hardworking we are,” adds Keren – and with at least five extra tracks in the vault as outtakes from the ‘Glorious’ sessions alone, it surely won’t be long until another new Bananarama offering arrives.
