The British pop trio Bananarama made their first big splash in the US in 1984 with "Cruel Summer", which was heard in the original "Karate Kid", with Ralph Macchio & Pat Morita. Orion3590 uploaded the clip to YouTube:
Bananarama would only have a couple more major hits here in the US, including a cover of Shocking Blue's 1970 1-hit wonder, "Venus". In turn, the Swedish group Ace of Base covered "Cruel Summer" more than a decade later, but by then, they too were fading into memory......
I used to like the song back in the day but I tend to remember the video more (isn't that the way for the MTV Generation?) and consequently, the song just doesn't hold up as well as other classics.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that used to bug me in the video was the scene where the girls are being chased by the cops in NYC, yet one of them looked like "Boss Hogg" from "Dukes of Hazzard'. Why would they do that? It made no sense to have him there, or were the Brits just clueless?
While the guy in white wasn't Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg), I think the only reason the cops were chasing the girls was that maybe they were, well, trespassing? It wasn't made clear in the context of the song or video, one of the ambiguities of the period.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Empty-V can't be bothered to revisit those glory days......