Wow! is the fourth studio album by the English group Bananarama, released on 7 September 1987 by London Records. The album was entirely produced and co-written with the Stock Aitken Waterman production trio. Tensions between group member Siobhan Fahey and Stock, Aitken and Waterman regarding songwriting input and lyrical content prompted Fahey's departure from Bananarama five months after its release. The album reached number 26 on the UK Albums Chart and number 44 on the US Billboard 200, while peaking at number one in Australia. The album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 3 February 1988.
Contents
Background and writing
With Wow!, Bananarama's sound successfully shifted towards dance-oriented Europop under the direction of Pete Waterman, but the creative process on the project was often fraught, with Matt Aitken describing the band's contribution to songwriting as minimal outside of suggesting song titles. Karen Hewitt, who was the engineer at the songwriting sessions, made clear that Bananarama very much tried to be involved in the creative process but that this was not made easy by Aitken and Mike Stock, who wanted to work very quickly. Bananarama were, however, very assertive and opinionated during the sessions.
While Siobhan Fahey often clashed with Waterman, and claimed she was responsible for having him banned from the studio, tensions during recording of the album commonly centred on a struggle for dominance between Aitken and the band. By the time the album's fourth single, "I Want You Back", was released in March 1988, Fahey had been replaced with Jacquie O'Sullivan, who re-recorded Fahey's vocals for the single version of the song. Fahey would resurface later in 1988 with her new band, Shakespears Sister. Wow! was reissued in 2013 as a three-disc deluxe edition, including "Reason for Living", which is an early version of "I Want You Back".
Critical reception
American magazine Cashbox placed Wow! in its "Out of the Box" section among the best albums of the week, with the comment: "The songwriting/production team of Stock/Aitken/Waterman has laid down the funky programmed synth grooves in full force on this effort destined for serious airplay." Writing for Smash Hits, Chris Heath found that the album contains four "rather brilliant" songs – "I Heard a Rumour", "Bad for Me", "Once in a Lifetime" and "Love in the First Degree" – while "the rest isn't bad either though there are a few bits where they still sound completely useless. Thank goodness for that." To Charles Merwin from Stylus Magazine, "It's probably the group's most underrated record. Lead single "I Heard a Rumour" still holds up as a shining example of hi-NRG pop, while the cover of the 1971 Supremes song "Nathan Jones" is an exceptional update, both soulful and surreal. Even the ballad “Come Back” shines."
Retrospectively, Jose F. Promis of AllMusic praised the album's "quite intoxicating" singles, but criticised "Some Girls" as "dated" and "Strike It Rich" as "an inferior version of 'I Can't Help It'", while finding that "Bad for Me" "unintentionally highlights the trio's vocal limitations"; however, he concluded that Wow! is still "sure to please fans of Bananarama, or any fans of the Stock, Aitken & Waterman sound". In 2018, Mark Elliott of Classic Pop listed Wow! as the second-best album produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, commenting that "Bananarama's decision to embrace high-camp pop was a commercial triumph".
Track listing
All songs written by Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward, Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, except where noted.
LP
"I Can't Help It" – 3:32
"I Heard a Rumour" – 3:25
"Some Girls" – 4:19
"Love in the First Degree" – 3:33
"Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05
"Strike It Rich" – 3:25
"Bad for Me" – 3:39
"Come Back" – 3:40 (Richard Feldman, Nick Trevisick)
"Nathan Jones" – 5:12 (Kathy Wakefield, Leonard Caston)
"I Want You Back" – 3:53
CD and cassette
"I Can't Help It" – 3:32
"I Heard a Rumour" – 3:25
"Some Girls" (12" Version) – 5:47
"Love in the First Degree" – 3:33
"Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05
"Strike It Rich" (12" version) – 6:01
"Bad for Me" – 3:39
"Come Back" – 3:40 (Richard Feldman, Nick Trevisick)
"Nathan Jones" – 5:12 (Kathy Wakefield, Leonard Caston)
Personnel
Bananarama
Sara Dallin – vocals
Siobhan Fahey – vocals
Keren Woodward – vocals
Jacquie O'Sullivan – vocals on the single version of "I Want You Back" (uncredited)
Musicians
Mike Stock – keyboards and Linn programmes
Matt Aitken – guitar, keyboards and Linn programmes
John O'Hara – keyboards
A. Linn – drums
Pete Waterman – additional drum patterns
Ian Curnow – Fairlight programming
Pete Hammond – mixer
Phil Harding – assistant mixer
Mark McGuire – engineer
Burni Adams – tape operator
Freddy Bastone – mixer on "Nathan Jones"
Additional personnel
Hillary Shaw – manager
Peter Barrett – sleeve design
Andrew Biscomb – sleeve design
Andy Earl – photography
Carrie Branovan – additional photography