Bananarama: Keren Woodward, Sarah Dallin, Siobahn Fahey.1986's TRUE CONFESSIONS is Bananarama's transitional album. Though written and recorded in part with Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, the maste

Bananarama: Keren Woodward, Sarah Dallin, Siobahn Fahey.
1986's TRUE CONFESSIONS is Bananarama's transitional album. Though written and recorded in part with Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, the masterminds behind 1983's DEEP SEA SKIVING and 1984's BANANARAMA, the album's single, a cover of the Shocking Blue's "Venus," was the work of mid-'80s UK hit-makers Stock-Aitken-Waterman. That single-- the trio's first US #1-also inaugurated Bananarama's new, sexier, and more glamorous image.
The rest of TRUE CONFESSIONS is somewhat hit-or-miss in comparison to the earlier albums. The best tracks, like the title song, "Dance with a Stranger," and the slinky second single "Trick of the Night," are nearly the equal of such past hits as "Robert DeNiro's Waiting" or "Cheers Then." Some longtime fans were put off by the Hi-NRG beats and sleeker image, but TRUE CONFESSIONS is a fine example of mid-'80s dance pop.