HAH! Bananarama! She's got IT!

On this day in music history: September 6, 1986 - “Venus” by Bananarama hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1 week. Written by Robbie Van Leeuwen, it is the biggest hit for the London based female vocal trio. Originally formed in 1979, Bananarama consists of childhood friends Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin, who meets Siohban Fahey when all three are college students. All have an avid interest in music, and are immersed in the punk rock and post punk scenes in London in the late 70’s and early 80’s, performing as an opening act, or singing backing vocals for numerous artists including The Jam and Iggy Pop. The trio become roommates, living above a rehearsal space used by former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook. Jones and Cook help the girls record a demo for the song “Aie a Mwana” (#92 UK Pop) which get them signed to Demon Records who release it as a single. It is enough of a hit to attract the attention of Decca Records who sign Bananarama in 1982. They have a string of top five hits in their native country, which also garners them a cult following in the US. They finally score a major hit in the US in the Fall of 1984, after their single “Cruel Summer” (#9 Pop), is featured in the film “The Karate Kid”. For their third album, Bananarama pair up with the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) after hearing their work on Dead Or Alive’s number one UK single “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)”. The team produce two tracks for their album “True Confessions”. The group cover the pop classic “Venus”, originally recorded by the Dutch band The Shocking Blue, whose original version is a huge worldwide hit in late 1969/early 1970 hitting number one in the US in February of 1970. Bananarama’s version is released in early June of 1986, and quickly takes off. Entering the Hot 100 at #89 on June 28, 1986, it climbs to the top of the chart ten weeks later. When “Venus hits the top of the charts, it is only the fourth time in the history of the rock era that the same song has hit number one on the US pop singles chart by two different artists. The Bananarama version of "Venus” is later used in an episode of the animated series “American Dad!” in 2009. Titled “Moon Over Isla Island”, the song is declared the national anthem of a “banana republic” island also re-named Bananarama (making it a double in-joke), by Roger who is posing as the country’s dictator after the real one dies from accidentally choking to death on a corn dog.