Shy boy: a Bananarama homecoming
By Ross Semple
There are various reasons why we go back to our hometowns, most usually for family events that run the gauntlet from weddings to funerals, or annual commitments such as Christmas, Mothers Day and Fathers Day. On this May Bank Holiday weekend, while some friends remained in London to party at WE in Brixton or at XXL Bear Pride, and others travelled to Birmingham for Birmingham Gay Pride, I returned to my hometown of Pontefract in West Yorkshire for an unmissable once-in-a-lifetime event.
For once it had nothing to do with family commitments, but it definitely took me back to my teenage years – because I had tickets to see my all-time favourite pop group Bananarama perform live (on Friday 26 May) at Pontefract Racecourse’s special 80s music night.
Growing up in this small mining town during the 1980s, a shy and awkward teenager who was not yet out, I’d spend many an hour watching videos I’d recorded of Bananarama performing hits including Venus, I Heard A Rumour and Love In The First Degree. These now-iconic pop songs were a fabulous three-and-a-half minutes of pure escapism. And of course the fit, shirtless male backing dancers were eye-popping eye-candy to a sexually confused teenager.
In the privacy of my bedroom in an ordinary house in a quiet corner of Pontefract, I’d rewind and re-watch those videos so I could learn every dance routine. How could I have imagined that, thirty years later, Sara and Keren of Bananarama would actually come to Pontefract to perform live – and that a thirty year-older version of me would be back Up North and dancing along to Bananarama within shouting distance of my old high school and just minutes away from my childhood home.
Pontefract Racecourse wasn’t a place that held many cherished memories for me. With my old high school backing onto the racecourse, it was on these grassy expanses that I had to endure the weekly PE lesson misery of being the last one picked for team sports such as rugby and football. Some weeks our PE teacher would send us all off to jog around the entire 2-mile racetrack, which was pretty grim on cold and damp schooldays.
Back then, my fellow classmates favoured rock bands like Whitesnake and Def Leppard so, like my sexuality, my love of Bananarama remained something that was rarely expressed beyond the walls of my bedroom (although in May 1989 I did persuade my mum to take me to Sheffield to see Bananarama perform in the city as part of their first ever World Tour).
So it was a rare and wonderful experience to stand amongst a jam-packed crowd of thousands of people at Pontefract Racecourse for this May Bank Holiday 80s night, ready to watch Bananarama perform live on stage after the last race. Predictably, there were groups of 40-something housewives in hen night fancy dress of 80s rah-rah skirts and neon crop-tops, plus the occasional DILF in a Wham “Choose Life” t-shirt or with Adam Ant face paint. But there was a whole mix of folk, including slightly drunken groups of younger and often sexy straight lads with their mates or girlfriends, who altogether jostled eagerly into the parade ring after the last race to secure a prime spot close to the stage.
With Sara and Keren on stage, performing a 45-minute set that began with Cruel Summer and culminated with Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye), the crowd got into the unashamedly pop spirit by waving their arms in the air and singing along to Bananarama’s biggest hits. It suddenly seemed as if everyone in Pontefract was guilty of being a Bananarama fan.
As a teenager, standing hereabouts on a drizzly school day, wearing my school’s bee-like yellow and brown striped rugby kit and hoping no-one would pass the ball in my direction, I never imagined that I’d return three decades later to see Bananarama perform live on the very same spot. I’ve seen them at places such as London’s G-A-Y Club and at the O2 Arena as part of a 80s-themed Here And Now tour. Who’d have thought I’d be singing and dancing along with Sara and Keren actually live in my hometown of Pontefract?
It is said that music is the soundtrack of our lives. Our favourite songs can certainly trigger an array of memories and emotions. Whether you’re a massive ABBA fan who still fondly recalls their Eurovision win in 1974, or your current playlist is dominated by new music from the likes of Jess Glynne, Little Mix or Years & Years, the songs that mean the most to us can often become an integral part of our personal history and, as my recent experience of seeing Bananarama live in Pontefract proves, can pop up and bring you pleasure in the most unexpected of places.
Words by Stuart Haggas
Bananarama’s original line-up of Sara, Keren and Siobhan will perform live for the first and only time across the UK in November and December 2017. For details visit www.bananarama.co.uk
Another top selling British group of the 1980s, Cheryl, Mike and Jay, formerly of Bucks Fizz, will perform live after racing at Pontefract Races on Friday 21 July. For details visit www.pontefract-races.co.uk