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Showing posts with label Bananarama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bananarama. Show all posts

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Eureka! I Have Found the Coolest Covers in the
History of the World! - Volume 2: Victory at Sina!


 WELCOME TO 
 VOL. 2 OF MY SERIES 


 EUREKA! 
 I HAVE FOUND THE 
 COOLEST COVERS IN THE 
 HISTORY OF THE WORLD! 

Each volume of  EUREKA!  brings you great original recordings
along with cover versions that are good, great or even better
than the originals. It's up to you to decide. I know what
you're thinking. You're thinking this series sounds
exactly like other series I have run over the years:
Battle of the Bands, Battle of the Banned,
Version SacrificeWWF Grudge Match
and Winning Hand. Well, you're wrong.
This isn't exactly the same. Those series
 didn't include a picture of Peter Griffin!

Listen now to these confirmed classics and cool covers
and let me know which ones (if any!) you prefer.

Remember, ladies and gentlemen...


This is only an exhibition...
This is not a competition...
Please... no wagering.


 BANANARAMA 


In 1976, "More, More, More," recorded by Andrea True, became one of the
best known disco hits of the decade. In 1993, those lovable banana girls,
the English dance-pop act Bananarama, once a trio, now a duo, covered
"More, More, More," and released it as a single from their album
Please Yourself. The ABBA-like, Europop single went top 25
at home in the UK and reached the top 10 in Portugal.

"More, More, More" - Bananarama
(Apr. 1993, highest chart pos. #8 Portugal/#24 UK)



 ANDREA TRUE 
 CONNECTION 


Nashville native Andrea True performed in dozens of adult films in Scandinavia
and New York before becoming a disco queen thanks to her international hit
"More, More, More" released under the stage name Andrea True Connection.
Initially the recording was released only to discos in the winter of 1975-76
but, when it exploded in popularity, Andrea's label, Buddah, released the
single to the public in the spring of '76. The record reached the top 3 in
the U.S. and in the UK. Here's Andrea performing her signature song
on the West German television music show Musikladen.

"More, More, More (pt. 1)" - Andrea True Connection
(June/July 1976, highest chart pos. #3 Cash Box,
#4 Hot 100#3 UK, perf. on 1976 ep. of Musikladen)



 TRAKS 

Trax, a band based in Rome, is credited with giving birth to a new musical
genre called Italo-Disco. They did so in 1982 with their disco funk cover of
"Long Train Runnin'," the 1973 country rock hit by The Doobie Brothers.

"Long Train Runnin'" - Traks
(January 1982)



 DOOBIE BROTHERS 

Now here's the original version of "Long Train Runnin'" recorded
by The Doobies, a top 10 hit for the band in the summer of '73.

"Long Train Runnin'" - The Doobie Brothers
(June/July 1973, highest chart position
#8 Hot 100/#9 Cash Box)



 SINA FEAT. 
 VICTORY 
 VIZHANSKA 

Indeep was a New York based electro funk dance group. Their claim to fame
is the 1983 club classic and top 10 R&B hit "Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life,"
a song that acknowledged the emerging New York DJ scene of the early 80s.
On the last day of 2019, German drummer girl Sina, along with our good
friend, Ukrainian singing sensation Victory Vizhanska,
released this cool cover of the song.

"Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" - Indeep cover
by Sina feat. Victory Vizhanska (Dec. 2019)



 INDEEP 

Along with its success in the states, "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life"
was a top 3 hit in The Netherlands and performed well in the UK and
France. Indeep consisted of songwriter/producer Michael Cleveland
and sassy singing ladies Reggie Megliore and Rose Marie Ramsey.
Here now is Indeep doing their original version of "Last Night
a D.J. Saved My Life!"

"Last Night A DJ Saved My Life" - Indeep
(Feb./Mar. 1983, highest chart pos.
#10 R&B, #101 Bubbling Under)



 STAY TUNED FOR MORE 
 TUNEFUL TAKEDOWNS, 
 MELODIOUS MAT MATCHES 


 AND BOFFO BEAT BOUTS 
 IN THE NEXT VOLUME OF 
 EUREKA! 

Have a Shady day!

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Wordless Wendi Meets Iris West, Nomi Marks & Nia Nal


CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
(COLD SHOW OPEN)


 "Barbara Ann" - The Beach Boys 
 (Jan./Feb. 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#2 Hot 100
 from Nov. 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!

A song from the 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!... that was "Barbara Ann"
featuring Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean on co-lead vocals along with
Brian Wilson and backed by America's Beach Boys. "Barbara-Ann"
was originally recorded in 1961 by the Bronx doo-wop group
The Regents who had a #13 charting hit with it. In early
1966 the Beach Boys cover topped the Cash Box chart
and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the summer
of 1975, the Beach Boys' single made a return visit to the
chart and Bubbled Under for three weeks, finishing at #101.



Hi everyone! It's Almost Wordless Wednesday
and I'm Wordless Wendi, Wendi Falkenberry,
Eddie Cleary's perky, levelheaded girlfriend
on The Kids Are Alright, the TV sitcom set
in the year 1972. I'm here today along with
three other cool television characters with
a sneak preview of our new radio shows.
That's right, you guessed it. Beginning
next year the four of us will be joining
The Shady Bunch as DJs on S-P-M-M
Retrosonic Radio. My show will be
called Wordless Wendi because I'll
bring you more music with less talk,
the best surf-rock and sunshine pop
hits of 60s, and right now I've got
another one by The Beach Boys.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Listen to the fresh, vibrant sound on this newly enhanced remix
of their top 10 hit from the summer of '66-- "Wouldn't It Be Nice!"


 "Wouldn't It Be Nice" - The Beach Boys 
 (Aug./Sept. 1966, highest chart pos. 
 #7 Cash Box/#8 Hot 100



I'm Nomi Marks. Do not call me Michael.
I'm the San Francisco based trans woman
hacktivist and blogger from the sci-fi TV
series Sense8. You might also remember
me from Riley's Raves on the old blog
Shady Dell Music & Memories. Next
year my BFF, an exciting young woman
you'll meet in a moment, will join me
in hosting a new show on S-P-M-M
called Transitory Verve. Together
we will bring you musical diversity,
great sounds of the past and present
by recording artists all over the world.
My first play is a way cool number
by the perennially popular dance-pop
new wave Brit girl trio Bananarama.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

These English sparrows made the Guinness book for having the world's
highest number of chart entries by a female group. If you wanna know
why, the proof is in the butter pie. From Disorderlies, the 1987
comedy starring The Fat Boys and Ralph Bellamy, here
are the banana girls and-- "I Heard A Rumour!"


 "I Heard A Rumour" - Bananarama 
 (Aug. to Oct. 1987, highest chart pos. #4 Hot 100 & Cash Box
 from OST of the Aug. 1987 film Disorderlies



Hi, I'm Nia Nal, code name Dreamer on the hit
TV series Supergirl. In 2018 I made history as
the first transgender superhero on television.

Latin rock 'n' roll pioneer Ritchie Valens was
only seventeen years old when he died in an
Iowa plane crash along with Buddy Holly
and The Big Bopper on February 3, 1959,
a date immortalized in the Don McLean
song "American Pie" as "The Day the
Music Died." Ritchie's adaptation of
the Mexican folk song "La Bamba"
was released as a single at the end
of 1958 and charted in the weeks
before and after his tragic death.


CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Sixty years later, on the other side of the world,
two young Romanians breathed new life into
the song. Here with their joyful cover of
"La Bamba" are guitarist Andrei Cerbu
and singing partner Beatrice Florea.


 "La Bamba" - Ritchie Valens cover by 
 Andrei Cerbu & Beatrice Florea, (August 2019) 



Hi, I'm Iris West, news journalist
and Barry Allen's girlfriend on the
DC Comics superhero TV series
The Flash. You might recall the
night we met when Shady Dell
Music & Memories presented
the rave party Barry's Bash
"Dance With The Flash."

My new show, which begins
next year on S-P-M-M, will be
called Flashback with Iris West.
I'll be playing hot urban soul,
R&B and dance club sounds
of the 70s, 80s and 90s.


CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

If you follow my simulcast on YouTube, you'll be able to see the music videos
that aired on MTV and Vh1. Here's a music history mystery, a single by
O'Bryan that spent a whopping 21 weeks on the R&B chart and went
all the way to #1, but somehow missed the Hot 100. O'Bryan co-
wrote this song with Soul Train's Don Cornelius. Watch and
listen now as O'Bryan turns on your-- "Lovelite!"


 "Lovelite" - O'Bryan (May/June/July 1984, 
 highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under




Here's another R&B chart-topper,
and this one also rode high on
the pop charts. It was recorded
in 1987 by Perri McKissack, a
singer from Oakland, California,
who, as a little girl, earned the
nickname "Pebbles" because
she reminded her family of
the cartoon character
Pebbles Flintstone.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!


In 1988, Pebbles hit pay dirt with her second
single, another record that logged 21 weeks
on the R&B chart-- "Girlfriend!"


 "Girlfriend" - Pebbles (Feb./Mar. Apr. 1988, 
 highest chart pos. 1 R&B/#5 Hot 100/#6 Cash Box








CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

That wraps up our sneak preview.
We hope you enjoyed sampling the
sounds you'll be hearing on Wordless
Wendi, Transitory Verve and Flash-
back with Iris West. Now for Iris,
Nia Nal and Nomi Marks, I'm
Wendi Falkenberry. See you
next year on S-P-M-M! 

 "Wendy" - The Beach Boys 
 (Oct./Nov. 1964, highest chart pos. #44 Hot 100, 
 #57 Cash Box, from Sept. 1964 EP 4-By The Beach Boys