Interviews

Published on July 15th, 2019 | by Darren Paltrowitz

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Bananarama’s Sara Dallin On The New “In Stereo” Album, The UK Band’s Longevity & More

One of the most successful female groups of all time, the UK’s Bananarama has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, enjoying chart-topping hits all around the world. With such ubiquitous songs as “Venus,” “Cruel Summer” and “Robert DeNiro’s Waiting,” Bananarama is listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records for achieving the world’s highest number of chart entries by an all-female group.

Bananarama’s Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward are celebrating their 37th anniversary as founding members of the group. The duo continues to tour the world, yet 2019 has brought the group’s first new album in a decade: In Stereo. Due out on July 26th in North America via Bob Frank Distribution and The Orchard, In Stereo features the irresistible dancepop for which the band is known.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Sara Dallin about In Stereo and more earlier this month. A few minutes of Q&A is transcribed below as an exclusive to The Hype Magazine while the full interview will appear later this summer on an upcoming edition of the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz podcast. In the meantime, more on all things Bananarama can be found online at www.bananarama.co.uk.

On how long it took to put together the group’s new album:

Sara Dallin: Probably three years, not saying all the tracks were written back then, but we kind of write all the time… We decided to just get started and just see what happened. Fortunately over here it’s been fantastic. It’s our first Top 30 album in a decade and both singles have been played on BBC Radio 2… It has just gone so well, we played Glastonbury… So hopefully you guys [in America] will like the album.

On deciding to make an album before a label came onboard:

Sara Dallin: We’ve been going for so long and obviously you know your relevance. There are young artists up and coming, and everything could be done in a bedroom now and it is so different to how it was back in our day. I don’t remember anybody falling for themselves to get to the new Bananarama album. But maybe that’s being cynical… I just think you can do things in so many different ways.. You raise money through the Internet and all kinds of ways of putting albums out. “We’ll fund this ourselves. We love music. We never stopped writing. Let’s just see what happens.” So I don’t think there was any pressure and so we just went for it and it just has been fantastic.

On when she knew that Bananarama was going to be fine even if the band didn’t have Top 40 hits:

Sara Dallin: I was 18 when I started, so when had the hits and that we worked with Fun Boy Three and we’re on Top Of The Pops, we didn’t really care what happened today, if it was a long career or it wasn’t. But the longer it went on… For a long time the hits kept coming, and then when it doesn’t, “You know the song isn’t a hit… What’s going on?” Because you do imagine it will go on forever and you put out an album and it’s not as successful as that… We’ve got a fanbase, people want to buy it… It’s not really about that competition anymore, I think it’s about the love of music.

On her last words for the kids:

Sara Dallin: I would always say you’ve got to stick with your gut instinct and make the music you want to make… It has to come from yourself.


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About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."


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