Banarama’s reunion about cashing in on comeback craze, says former video director

WHILE Bananarama say their decision to reform is motivated by George Micheal’s death, former collaborators cite another reason.

After 30 years Bananarama are set to tour again. Picture: Supplied

BACK in the Eighties, three girls ruled the charts — churning out hit after hit. Then one of the most bitter splits in pop tore Bananarama apart.

But now Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward have ended a 30-year feud to cash in on the reunions craze, The Sun reports.

During the decade when the girls were at the top of their game, they sold more than 40 million records and racked up even more hits than the Spice Girls.

Bananarama (from left) Keren Woodward, Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey in their Eighties heyday. Picture: Supplied

The group was a goldmine and experts estimate they raked in at least £5 million ($8.7 million) each.

And we can now confirm the main aim of their proposed tour is to make even more.

Jon Roseman, who directed many of Bananarama’s videos, including Robert De Niro’s Waiting, told us: “I never thought they’d patch things up but they’ve reached an age when it’s now or never for them.

“Their kids are grown up and they have realised the money isn’t going to last for ever so they’ve decided to relive their youth.”

The band said they ended their rift in the wake of George Michael’s death in December. Picture: Karim Sahib/AFP

The trio, who said they ended their rift in the wake of George Michael’s death in December, set up a new company called Three B Live last month — ready for the money to come pouring in from ticket sales and merchandise for the tour, which kicks off in November.

But some of their other business ventures have struggled.

Childhood friends Woodward, 56, and 55-year-old Dallin now own two companies together, called In A Bunch (started for the whole band in 1982) and Sarkazm, but recent figures show they were barely scraping by.

Woodward and Dallin — using the Bananarama name — have recently been offering to sing at private parties and corporate events.

Fahey, 58, has been the most successful of the trio, largely thanks to her nine-year marriage to Eurythmics star Dave Stewart, who is worth £40 million ($69 million) and owns luxury homes around the world.

Siobhan Fahey married Eurythmics star Dave Stewart. Picture: Supplied

But her London-based property letting company appears to have struggled in recent years too.

Bananarama was formed in 1979 after Woodward and Dallin, from Bristol, met Irish musician Fahey while they were fashion students in London.

Woodward had sung backing vocals for Wham and became very close with Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, who she went on to marry. They reportedly split up two years ago.

Wham's Andrew Ridgely and wife Bananarama's Keren Woodward in 2005. Picture: Supplied

They became friends with rock hellraisers such as Malcolm McLaren and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, who helped them launch their career. It spawned mega-hits including Venus and Cruel Summer.

But in an exclusive interview last week, their legendary former producer Pete Waterman told The Sun on Sunday how they argued constantly and stormed out of the studio if any man dared to disagree with them.

He said: “I fought with them about everything. They saw themselves as punks who were not prepared to be manipulated by any man.

Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin have toured as a duo. Picture: Supplied

“If I dared to argue or if I didn’t see things the way they did, they just walked out.

“They made it clear they would never change and anyone who didn’t like it could get lost. Siobhan was the feistiest one.

“Trying to get her to focus her talent on the band was difficult, and we have not spoken in a very long time.

“I’m in touch with Sara and Keren but it got to the point where they had come a long way, taken on the world and wanted to do different things — which is why they fell out. It was sad.”

After Fahey left the band in 1988 to start Shakespear’s Sister with American musician, Marcella Detroit, Pete — the brains behind hit factory Stock Aitken Waterman — never heard from her again.

In 1993, Detroit was fired from Shakespear’s Sister, which had a number of hits including, Stay, leaving Fahey as the sole member again until she ended the project in 1996.

Marcella Detroit and Siobhan Fahey were in Shakespeare's Sister. Picture: Supplied

That was the same year Fahey split from Stewart, after a constant stream of rows.

Announcing Bananarama’s reunion last week, the It Ain’t What You Do hitmakers claimed the loss of George Michael on Christmas Day led to them planning the comeback.

Woodward said: “George’s death was the instigating factor for saying yes to doing this now.

“He was such a huge part of our lives. It just makes you think, ‘Life’s too bloody short’.”

This story was originally published in The Sun

Originally published as Banarama’s reunion about cashing in on comeback craze, says former video director