Neha Patil (Editor)

Pop Life (Bananarama album)

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Released
  
May 1991

Pop Life(1991)
  
Please Yourself(1993)

Release date
  
May 1991

Genres
  
Pop music, Hi-NRG

Recorded
  
July 1989 - May 1990

Artist
  
Bananarama

Label
  
London Records

Pop Life (Bananarama album) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb7

Producer
  
YouthStock Aitken WatermanShep PettiboneSteve Jolley

Similar
  
Bananarama albums, Pop music albums

Bananarama ain t no cure


Pop Life is the fifth studio album released by British girl group Bananarama in 1991 and is the only album released which features Jacquie O'Sullivan, who replaced Siobhan Fahey in Bananarama upon her departure in 1988. This album marks the end of the group's association with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team (they produced only two songs) as most of Pop Life was produced by Youth (real name Martin Glover). UK singer Zoë provided backing vocals on "Long Train Running". This would be the last album by Bananarama as a trio.

Contents

After the group's first world tour in 1989, they started recording their fifth album with producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman, but they were dissatisfied with the results of those sessions, thinking the majority of those songs of sub-par quality, although two of them were eventually released on the album. They started looking for other producers, first working with David Z with whom they recorded "Some Boys", but they felt it was not the direction they wanted to follow and the song remained unreleased until 2013. They then worked with Steve Jolley who, along with Tony Swain, had produced the group's first three records. A song co-written by him, "Is Your Love Strong Enough" ended up on the album, while another remains unreleased. The group settled with Youth, who had been Sara Dallin's boyfriend years before and whom the group knew well, to produce the majority of the album.

Upon its release Pop Life earned positive reviews from critics but was a commercial failure, peaking at number 42 in the UK, number 37 in Sweden, and number 146 in Australia. Four mid-charting singles were issued from the album, and following the release of "Tripping on Your Love", O'Sullivan left the group, leaving members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward to continue as a duo.

The album was a departure from their previous albums as it incorporates a much more diverse range of musical genres, including flamenco guitar (a cover of the Doobie Brothers song "Long Train Running" featuring Alma de Noche, a pseudonym for the Gipsy Kings), retro-rock ("Only Your Love", "Outta Sight"), acid house ("Tripping on Your Love"), reggae ("What Colour R the Skies Where U Live?"), experimental club ("Megalomaniac"), and their hallmark Euro disco sound ("Preacher Man", "Ain't No Cure").

The track "Ain't No Cure" was covered by Stock Aitken Waterman produced girl group Delage in 1991, although it was not released until 1997.

Track listing

CD version

  1. "Preacher Man" – 3:15 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine)
  2. "Long Train Running" – 3:31 (Tom Johnston)
  3. "Only Your Love" – 3:58 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine)
  4. "What Colour R the Skies Where U Live?" – 4:27 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine/K.Woodward)
  5. "Is Your Love Strong Enough" – 5:07 (S. Dallin/S. Jolley)
  6. "Tripping on Your Love" – 3:20 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine/D. Schogger)
  7. "Ain't No Cure" – 3:27 (M. Stock/M. Aitken/P. Waterman/S. Dallin)
  8. "Outta Sight" – 4:31 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine)
  9. "Megalomaniac" – 6:16 (S. Dallin/B. Walker/Youth/A. Caine)
  10. "I Can't Let You Go" – 6:10 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine)
  11. "Heartless" – 3:22 (M. Stock/M. Aitken/P. Waterman/S. Dallin/K.Woodward)
  12. "Preacher Man" (Ramabanana Alternative Mix) – 7:31 (S. Dallin/Youth/A. Caine)

Cassette version

  1. "Preacher Man" – 3:15
  2. "Long Train Running" – 3:31
  3. "Only Your Love" – 3:58
  4. "What Colour R the Skies Where U Live?" – 4:27
  5. "Is Your Love Strong Enough" – 5:07
  6. "Tripping on Your Love" – 3:20
  7. "Ain't No Cure" – 3:27
  8. "Outta Sight" – 4:31
  9. "Megalomaniac" – 6:16
  10. "I Can't Let You Go" – 6:10

2007 CD re-issue plus bonus tracks

  1. "Preacher Man" – 3:15
  2. "Long Train Running" – 3:31
  3. "Only Your Love" – 3:58
  4. "What Colour R the Skies Where U Live?" – 4:27
  5. "Is Your Love Strong Enough" – 5:07
  6. "Tripping on Your Love" – 3:20
  7. "Ain't No Cure" – 3:27
  8. "Outta Sight" – 4:31
  9. "Megalomaniac" – 6:16
  10. "I Can't Let You Go" – 6:10
  11. "Heartless" – 3:22
  12. "Only Your Love" (7-inch mix) - 4:02
  13. "Preacher Man" (alternative 7-inch mix) - 3:39
  14. "Megalomaniac" (edit) - 4:35
  15. "Tripping on Your Love" (single mix) - 3:15
  16. "What Colour R the Skies Where U Live?" (J-Jagged Mix) - 6:24
  17. "Ain't No Cure" (alternative version) - 4:03


2013 Deluxe Edition 2CD/DVD re-issue

Disc 1

  1. "Preacher Man" - 3.14
  2. "Long Train Running" - 3.30
  3. "Only Your Love" - 3.58
  4. "What Colour R The Skies Where U Live?" - 4.27
  5. "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" - 5.06
  6. "Tripping on Your Love" - 3.19
  7. "Ain't No Cure" - 3.27
  8. "Outta Sight" - 4.32
  9. "Megalomaniac" - 6.22
  10. "I Can't Let You Go" - 6.07
  11. "Heartless" - 3.20
  12. "I Don't Care" - 6.16
  13. "Some Boys" - 5.33
  14. "Only Your Love" [Milky Bar Mix] - 8.11
  15. "Tripping on Your Love" [Dance Floor Justice Mix] - 6.10
  16. "Preacher Man" [Original 12" Mix] - 6.08

Disc 2

  1. "Only Your Love" [Monkey Drum Mooch] - 7.33
  2. "Preacher Man" [Ramabanana Alternative Mix] - 7.31
  3. "Long Train Running" [Alma De Noche Version] - 6.39
  4. "Tripping on Your Love"[Euro Trance Mix] - 7.20
  5. "Ain't No Cure" [Alternative Version] - 4.06
  6. "What Colour R The Skies Where U Live?" [Paco's Revenge Mix] - 6.55
  7. "Tripping on Your Love" [Smoove Mix] - 7.07
  8. "I Don't Care" [Tony King Remix] - 6.10
  9. "Ain't No Cure" [Original 12" Mix] - 7.02
  10. "Tripping on Your Love" [Silky 70s Mix] - 6.26
  11. "Long Train Running" [Sparky’s Magic Button Mix] - 4.34
  12. "Tripping on Your Love" [Sweet Exorcist Remix] - 8.12

DVD

  1. "Only Your Love"
  2. "Preacher Man"
  3. "Long Train Running"
  4. "Tripping on Your Love"
  5. "Only Your Love" [On 'Wogan']
  6. "Preacher Man" [On 'Top Of The Pops']


Unreleased songs and demos

  1. "Nothing Lasts Forever"
  2. "Don't Throw It All Away"
  3. "One in a Million"
  4. "Love Generation"
  5. "Wake Up and Love Me"
  6. "Got to Be Good"
  7. "Sweet Destiny"
  8. "You Give Love a Bad Name"

Personnel

Bananarama

  • Sara Dallin – Vocals and bass
  • Jacquie O'Sullivan – Vocals and bass
  • Keren Woodward – Vocals and bass

    • Musicians

  • Gipsy Kings – Flamenco guitar on "Long Train Running"
  • Zoë – Backing vocals on "Long Train Running"
  • Carol Kenyon – Backing vocals on "Long Train Running"
  • Shep Pettibone – Additional production and remix on "Preacher Man"

    • Additional Personnel

  • Hillary Shaw – Manager
  • Ellen Von Unwerth – Photography

    • Songs

    1Preacher Man3:14
    2Long Train Running3:30
    3Only Your Love4:00

    References

    Pop Life (Bananarama album) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA