Fridae

"It was just much more fun than going to normal, boring old straight clubs. We still tend to hang out with a lot of gay people."
- Bananarama in an interview with Instinct Magazine

Like many gay men and women growing up in the 80s, Ms Scary has a soft spot for Bananarama - three gorgeous gals who mouthed pop ditties and sparked off the craze for frantic arm choreography thanks to their music videos for "I Heard A Rumor" and "Venus."

Ms Scary is thus understandably delighted when the Nanas announced the long awaited release of their ninth studio album Drama produced by Brian Higgins (Sugababes, Girls Aloud) and Ian Materson (Dannii Minogue).

Looking like ragged fag hags sitting on disco steps after a hard night of clubbing on the CD cover, the remaining two founding members Sarah Dallin (the blonde) and Keren Woodward (the brunette) are back with their brand of Europop dance beats.

Drama follows 1996's bargain-bin Ultra Violet and the Singapore edition offers a grand total of 16 tracks - including the gorgeous "Move In My Direction" and "Look On The Floor" (Hypnotic Tango) which any aspiring pop tart would kill to cover.

With the exception of "Waterfall" and "Middle Of Nowhere" (which incidentally sounds as if it should be in the Love Boat soundtrack), the first half of Drama sounds like the album that Ms Kylie Minogue should have made after Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001).

Unfortunately, the second half of the album from "I Love The Way" to "Your Love Is Like A Drug" comes across as a letdown and contains pop fluff so homogeneous that Ms Scary is hard pressed to tell the songs apart even after repeated listens.

Thankfully, there are updated remixes of past hits such as "Venus" (Marc Almond's Hi NRG Showgirls Remix) and "Really Saying Something" (Solasso Mix) to remind us why Bananarama was the girl band to watch in those days when Stock/Aitken/Waterman were all the rage.

Now excuse Ms Scary as she adjourns to her boudoir to relieve her teenage years by flipping through old issues of Smash Hits and singing into her hairbrush while Bananarama plays in the background.

Scary's Selected Spins: "Move In My Direction," "Look On The Floor," "Frequency," "Feel For You" and "Don't Step On My Groove."