Bananarama “Bananarama” 1984. Today, April 2nd, is singer/songwriter/co-founder Keren Woodward’s 60th birthday (b. 1961). The band’s second self-titled album went to #16 in the UK and to #30 in the US. I loved the hit single “Cruel Summer” when it came out in the US in the summer of ‘84 (they released it in the UK in ‘83 where it went to #8; it charted at #9 in the US) and still do – such a great mid-tempo strolling new wave summer jam. I guess it was in the movie Karate Kid (though not included on the soundtrack) but while I did see that movie it never made that much of an impression. I mainly heard it on the radio and saw the video on MTV. Bananarama released four other singles from the LP: “Robert De Niro’s Waiting…” (#3 UK, #95 US), “Rough Justice” (#23 UK; it was not released in the US), “Hot Line to Heaven“ (#58 UK; the single version about half the length of the album version), and “The Wild Life” (#70 US). “The Wild Life” was not on the original Bananarama album release and is not on the version we have. It was included on some re-releases of the LP after its inclusion on The Wild Life movie soundtrack (1984). Later re-releases dropped the track and reverted back to the album’s original track sequence.