Cruel Summer (song)
Cruel Summer is a 1983 song by Bananarama, written by the band and the duo Jolley & Swain. The latter also produced the song, which appeared on the album Bananarama and was used in the film Karate Kid.
History
In an interview with The Guardian, Sara Dallin of Bananarama said the song alludes to the darker side of a summer.
"The best summer songs remind you of your youth: what you did in your holidays, how it felt when you first kissed a boy, going away without your parents. For me, our hit, Cruel Summer, played on the darker side: it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We've all been there!"
"The best summer songs remind you of your youth: what you did on vacation, how it felt when you kissed a boy for the first time, going out without your parents. For me, Cruel Summer relates to the darker side: it was about the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer went by. We've all been there!"
- Sara Dallin
The song was released on June 27, 1983. Due to its use in the film Karate Kid, the song reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. However, Bananarama did not allow the song to appear on the soundtrack album for the film. Nevertheless, the song became a success in the United States, reaching #9, which was Bananarama's breakthrough there.
In 1989, Bananarama released another New Jack Swing version of the song entitled Cruel Summer '89, which reached number 19 in the UK charts. This version first appeared on the Bananarama compilation Really Saying Something: The Platinum Collection in 2005.
Music video
The music video was shot in New York. In the video you can see the band members working as car mechanics. Later, the girl group dances with passers-by on a sidewalk, meanwhile a truck comes. When one of the members of Bananarama makes a phone call to a phone booth, the truck stops, and the girl group asks the driver to give them a ride to escape from the police, who had previously become aware of the group. The driver drives away in the truck and the girl group throws banana peels at the pursuing police car to block the officers' view. At the end of the music video, the group gets out and goes to an outdoor party. The cops join them and dance with the singers and partygoers.
