15 Unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman Singles

5. Venus - Bananarama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KTJlY3GZjs Released: May 1986. UK Chart Peak: #8 Oz Chart Peak: #1. US Chart Peak: #1. Between 1985 and 1992 a SAW single only performed better on the American or Australian charts than at home 14 times. Rarer still was for both the US and Australia to out-perform the UK, yet that's what happened with Bananarama's Venus. It clocked a week at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100, while in Australia it was the 4th-highest selling single of 1986 after racking up 7 weeks at #1. At the time Euro dance music was far more popular in the UK than it was in either the US or Australia, making the #8 UK peak of Venus all the more surprising. Venus was a cover of the 1969 Shocking Blue single which, oddly enough, had also peaked at #1 in the US and Australia and #8 in the UK. The similarities between the two versions ended there, with Bananarama's cover version now a timeless classic of 80s synth pop, an instantly recognisable foot-tapping gem of a thing from a time before SAW's Hit Factory fell into a routine. With that provocative video and all its fire, sexy choreography, coffin dancing and red patent-leather devil outfits to complement the fresh sound, the worldwide success of Venus was practically a given and bode well for future success, if not with singles from the same album then certainly with those from the one that followed.