"A Trick of the Night" by Bananarama

Hey Dialophiles!

Sit back and relax this fine Thursday night, as the Dial beams a forgotten track to your speakers, and thus, your mind. May we introduce London’s own Bananarama, and their 1987 masterpiece “A Trick of The Night”.

Featuring their “classic lineup” of Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward, and Siobhan Fahey, (later of Shakespeare’s Sister, known for their 1992 U.K. #1 and U.S. #4 hit “Stay”) the ladies cobbled their name together via the tropical vibe of their earliest recordings (“Banana”), and the Roxy Music track “Pyjamarama” (“-rama”)

Extracted from the True Confessions LP, “A Trick of the Night” was a minor hit in the U.K., peaking at #32, but criminally stalled in the States at #76, despite receiving exposure on the soundtrack to the Whoopi Goldberg film “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.

I’ve always enjoyed songs that capture that “nighttime vibe”. Those tunes which evoke images of walking down city streets, noting the neon signage glowing from the storefronts, even as the dark sky above twinkles with stars. Hall & Oates’ “Maneater”, Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”, Wham’s “Careless Whisper”, and Glenn Frey’s “You Belong To The City” all possess this relaxed, slightly forlorn quality, as does this breathtaking pop classic by our girls from London. Due largely, of course, to the breathy, seductive vocals sung in unison, the overlapped choruses and verses near the outro, and Keith Thomas’ saxophone interludes which elicit mental imagery of smoky rooms and whispered promises.

Give it a spin, and see if you don’t agree with us here at the Dial that this British track deserved to be a top 10 smash, on both sides of the pond. 

“Whatcha doin’, hey, whatcha doin’? Walking through danger, can’t see the wrong or the right.

Whatcha doin’, tell me whatcha doin’, can’t be a stranger… must be a trick of the night.”