"A Trick of the Night" by Bananarama

Song#:  2975
Date:  12/27/1986
Debut:  93
Peak:  76
Weeks:  7
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Bananarama's third album, True Confessions, would be their best effort in the US reaching #15 and going gold thanks mainly to the #1 hit remake of "Venus." The LP's second single, "More Than Physical," did fine at Dance getting to #5, but it failed to do much at Pop (#73). Hoping to turn things around, this third single got pushed out. Unfortunately, it couldn't make any headway either and it stalled early in the bottom quarter of the Pop chart. It was far less successful at Dance as well stopping at #29. It would be the last single to be released from the album.

ReduxReview:  The trio's previous singles had been along the dance-pop line so this more mid-tempo track was a change of pace. It suited them well and I liked the darker, film noir feel of the song. It was a good track, but perhaps not the best choice for a single. I'm not sure listeners who enjoyed the trio's dance floor jams were ready for a more mature sounding Bananarama. The song is certainly better than what its peak position would lead you to think, but it just wasn't going to be Top 10 bound.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  For its release in the UK, this single got spruced up. Originally written and produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain, the tune got a bit of a makeover courtesy of a new trio of producers that helped Bananarama reach #1 with "Venus." The Stock Aitken Waterman team dressed the song up to make it more dance-oriented. Its release in the UK would be postponed until early '87 due to Bananarama's participation in a BBC reality show called In the Deep End. Each week on the show, one of its two hosts would be challenged to take on a particular task or job and try to complete it in a professional way, sometimes even competing with the pros. For the first show of its third season, host Paul Heiney was tasked with making a music video that was good enough to be shown on pop music shows and channels like MTV. Bananarama signed on to be the willing artist to let Heiney film them and "A Trick of the Night" in its new SAW remix was the song to be used. Heiney and the trio finished the video and it did indeed have the look and feel of a professional music video. However, it seemed that Bananarama didn't really like the end result and preferred their original official video for the song that was released earlier in the States.

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