Cheers Then

"Cheers Then"
Single by Bananarama
from the album Deep Sea Skiving
B-side Girl About Town
Released November 1982
Format 7" single, 12" single
Recorded 1982
Genre Pop, new wave
Length 3:31
Label London Records
Writer(s) Sara Dallin
Siobhan Fahey
John Martin
Terry Sharp
Keren Woodward
Producer(s) Barry Blue
Bananarama singles chronology
Shy Boy
(1982)
"Cheers Then"
(1982)
"He's Got Tact"
(1982)

"Cheers Then" is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It appears on their 1983 debut album Deep Sea Skiving and was released as its third single in November 1982, a few months before the album. The song was the first Bananarama single to be written by group members Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward and also their first ballad release.

Coming off three consecutive top-ten hits, "Cheers Then" peaked at a disappointing number forty-five in the UK singles chart. Fahey said in a 1986 interview about this song, "We started taking our careers seriously after 'Cheers Then' bombed. Before then we thought all groups just brought out records and had them go to the top of the charts. It brought us down to reality a bit." [1]

Even with its relatively low sales, the song is regarded by critics as one of Bananarama's best recordings.[2] The group's fortunes would rebound, however, with their UK follow-up single, a cover version of Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye".

The B-side, "Girl About Town," has been issued on CD for the first time on the 2007 UK reissue of Deep Sea Skiving as one of five bonus tracks. However the version used is a slightly longer version (3:31) with an additional 4 bars just before the instrumental break (roughly 1:45 - 1:59).

Music video

The music video was a recreation of the musical film The Sound of Music. Filmed in Salzburg, the girls re-enact many of the scenes from the film, including the step-jumping scene for "Do-Re-Mi" and running in the hills, and the gazebo scene. It was directed by Keef for Keefco.

Versions


7" vinyl single

London Records NANA 3

  1. "Cheers Then" 3:29
  2. "Girl About Town" 3:10


12" vinyl single

London Records NANX 3

  1. "Cheers Then" (Extended Version) 5:19
  2. "Girl About Town" (Extended Version) 5:31
    S. Dallin/S. Fahey/K. Woodward

Charts

Chart (1982) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 45

References

External links