"
Aie a Mwana" is the first single released by English
girl groupA girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonize together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
BananaramaBananarama are an all-female pop group who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Although there have been line-up changes during the years, the group enjoyed its most popular success as a trio, made up of lifelong friends Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin...
. Group members originally recorded the track as a
demoA demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for musicians to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
and ultimately it was the demo version that was pressed onto the record. Originally released as a stand-alone single, "Aie a Mwana" was eventually added to the group's debut album
Deep Sea SkivingDeep Sea Skiving is the debut album by the British female vocal group Bananarama, released in 1983. The album peaked at no.7 on the UK album chart and was certified Silver by the BPI....
two years later.
Bananarama's previous experience in a recording studio was as background vocalists on the
Department SDepartment S were a British new wave band formed in 1980, who took their stage name from the 1960s TV series.-1980s:Department S evolved from a previous punk/ska combo, Guns For Hire, and featured former Madness drummer John Hasler...
b-side "Solid Gold Easy Action", a
T. RexT. Rex were an English rock band fronted by guitarist, singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. Formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1960s London, the folk rock group's debut album My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows reached number 15 in the UK...
cover.
"
Aie a Mwana" is the first single released by English
girl groupA girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonize together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
BananaramaBananarama are an all-female pop group who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Although there have been line-up changes during the years, the group enjoyed its most popular success as a trio, made up of lifelong friends Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin...
. Group members originally recorded the track as a
demoA demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for musicians to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
and ultimately it was the demo version that was pressed onto the record. Originally released as a stand-alone single, "Aie a Mwana" was eventually added to the group's debut album
Deep Sea SkivingDeep Sea Skiving is the debut album by the British female vocal group Bananarama, released in 1983. The album peaked at no.7 on the UK album chart and was certified Silver by the BPI....
two years later.
Bananarama's previous experience in a recording studio was as background vocalists on the
Department SDepartment S were a British new wave band formed in 1980, who took their stage name from the 1960s TV series.-1980s:Department S evolved from a previous punk/ska combo, Guns For Hire, and featured former Madness drummer John Hasler...
b-side "Solid Gold Easy Action", a
T. RexT. Rex were an English rock band fronted by guitarist, singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. Formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1960s London, the folk rock group's debut album My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows reached number 15 in the UK...
cover. Prompted by friend and early supporter
Paul CookPaul Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band, Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
(of
Sex PistolsThe Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They are responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
), Bananarama decided to release their own single. As they had been including several
cover versionIn popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s in their repertoire (including later hit "Venus"), they decided on an obscure 1975
discoDisco is a genre of dance music that that had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, psychedelic and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
song by Black Blood, supposedly sung in Swahili. Group members
Sara DallinSara Elizabeth Dallin is an English singer and songwriter from the pop group Bananarama. She co-founded the group along with Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward in 1979, and has been a key force in the group's longevity despite other personnel changes and throughout her time with the band she...
,
Siobhan FaheySiobhan Fahey was a founding member of the 1980s British girl group Bananarama, and later founded the musical outfit Shakespears Sister.-Career:...
and
Keren WoodwardKeren Woodward is an English pop singer and songwriter from the girl band Bananarama.She was working at the BBC when she met Siobhan Fahey and Sarah Dallin...
had to learn to sing the song phonetically. The "tropical" nature of the single inspired the group's name:
banana coming from the vibe of "Aie a Mwana" and
-rama added to the end as a nod to an early
Roxy MusicRoxy Music are an English art rock group initiated during the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry . The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eno's replacement Eddie Jobson...
song called "Pyjamarama".
Issued by independent label Demon Records, "Aie a Mwana" managed to climb to number ninety-two in the
UK singles chartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. Write-ups in the English music and fashion press (
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it...
, The FaceThe Face was a magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan out of his publishing house Wagadon. Logan had previously created titles such as Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s during one of its most successful periods.The magazine, often referred to as the...
) caught the attention of
Terry HallTerry Hall is the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He has released two solo albums and also collaborated with many artists including David A...
, who invited Bananarama to sing on his new vocal group
Fun Boy Three
Fun Boy Three were a short-lived but successful English band which ran from 1981 to 1983 and was formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left The Specials.-History:...
's next single.
Origins of the song and other versions
In fact, the original song was not Swahili at all. Originally it was called "Aieaoa", and was featured on the pseudo-Japanese dance album
Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki which had been released in 1971 by the French writing and production team of
Daniel VangardeDaniel Vangarde, born Daniel Bangalter in 1947, is a French songwriter and producer. He is the father of music composer Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk.-History:...
and Jean Kluger. In 1975 Belgian group Black Blood recorded the version with Swahili lyrics and a more African vibe, called "A.I.E. (A Mwana)", heard by Bananarama.
After Bananarama's success in the UK, Vangarde and Kluger, who by then had found international success with the
Gibson BrothersThe Gibson Brothers are a France based musical group, who had their greatest success during the disco boom of the late 1970s, and are best known for their hit single, "Cuba".-Career:...
and then
OttawanOttawan were a French disco duo in the late 1970s and early 1980s.-Career:They were fronted by lead singer Jean Patrick and Annette , with Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger the main songwriters. They are best known for their two hit singles "D.I.S.C.O." and "Hands Up "...
, also recorded versions of the same song with both Ottawan ("A.I.E. Is My Song", with English lyrics, 1982) and
La Compagnie CréoleLa Compagnie Créole is a popular French pop band from French Guyana and the French West Indies, who started singing in the 1980s. They originally started singing in Creole but quickly adopted French as their main language...
("A.I.E A Moun'la", 1987).
Formats and track listings
7-inch single
- "Aie a Mwana" - 3:36
- "Dubwana" - 3:41
12-inch single
- "Aie a Mwana" (12" Version) - 5:46
- "Dubwana" - 3:41
Charts
| Chart (1981) |
Peak
position |
| UK Singles Chart |
92 |
| U.S. Hot Dance Club Play |
66 |