Cruel Summer

Here comes another splendid album by Paavo Berglund, devoted to Russian music that was so dear to his heart. This recording includes two suites excerpted from major operas: Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel, a cruel tale about the devastating effects of ambition and power quest, and Prokofiev’s frivolous Betrothal at the Monastery, the suite of which he entitles Summer Night.

The band say this has been reissued “in celebration of our original line up tour” and the track listing is based on the first CD edition (so no Help! with Lananeeneenoonoo), although disc one does feature three bonus tracks: Hot Line To Heaven (from 1984’s Bananarama), The Wild Life (non-album 1984 single – not issued in the UK – written for the film of the same name) and Cheers Then (from 1983’s Deep Sea Skiving). This new edition comes with a bonus disc that features 11 remixes of singles, including Really Saying Something (with Fun Boy Three), Robert De Niro’s Waiting and Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).

Bananarama reunited last year and completed a successful 22-date UK tour. The evening at London’s Eventim Hammersmith Apollo, in late November, was recorded and filmed and will be issued as a 2CD+DVD set next month. This new package features 19 songs performed live by Sara, Keren and Siobhan, including early classics like ‘Robert De Niro’s Waiting’, ‘Cruel Summer’, ‘Rough Justice’ along with later hi-energy hits like ‘Love In The First Degree’ and ‘I Heard A Rumour’.