"I Can't Help It" by Bananarama

Song#:  3340
Date:  11/21/1987
Debut:  78
Peak:  47
Weeks:  13
Genre:  Synthpop, Hi-NRG



Pop Bits:  The British vocal trio got their third US Pop Top 10 with the #4 "I Heard a Rumor." It was from their album Wow!, which mostly co-written and fully produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman team. Next up from the album was this single. While it would do well on the Dance chart getting to #7, the song fizzled on the Pop chart stopping short of the Top 40. Without a second major hit, the album halted at #44 and failed to reach the gold level sales mark that they had hit with their previous LP, 1986's True Confessions.

ReduxReview:  While this sleek dance track still had the SAW stamp, it leaned towards sophisti-pop. It was as if Level 42 or Swing Out Sister decided to boost their tunes with a little Hi-NRG. The tune wasn't quite as catchy as Bananarama's top hits, but it was a pretty good track. The SAW production was apt for the time period, but frankly I think the song would have been much better done in a more subtle, string-laden lite jazz arrangement. The honking synth line that plays through the chorus overwhelms and even drowns out the vocals. It gets rather annoying. The tune probably should have dipped into the Top 40, but it wasn't destined for greater glory.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Two members of Bananarama had long term relationships with famous musicians. Siobhan Fahey married Dave Stewart of Eurythmics in 1987. They would have two sons that would follow in their parents' footsteps in the music business. The two boys would form their own band in 2010 named Nightmare and the Cat. The band would last until 2015. Fahey and Stewart would divorce in 1996. Keren Woodward would start a relationship with former Wham! member Andrew Ridgeley sometime around '85. They would live together until 2017, but the reunite in 2019. While the pair never had kids, Woodward did have a son from a prior relationship that lived with the couple.

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