Born on September 19: Siobhan Fahey, the Bananarama chrysalis who became Shakespears Sister

The Irish singer with the distinctive contralto voice was born near Dublin in 1958.

When her father joined the British Army, Siobhan, her mother, and her two sisters moved first to England and then to Germany. Upon their return to Albion, the young girl fought back. A true rebel, she left the family nest to discover punk in London. Alongside Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, she founded Bananarama in 1981. Together, they enjoyed a few years blessed by a string of hits, often sweet and always carefree. The story begins gently with "Aie A Mwana," on the small label Demon Records, a reworked cover of a song written by the Belgian-French duo Roland Kluger and Daniel Vangarde. A truly incongruous moment! But their second single, "Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)" a few months later, a duet with Terry Hall's Fun Boy Three, was a hit in England, Ireland, Belgium, and Holland. Others followed, such as "Really Saying Something," also with Fun Boy Three, and "Shy Boy" (1982), "Na Na NHey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Cruel Summer" (1983), "Robert De Niro's Waiting" (1984), and, the icing on the cake, "Venus," a cover by the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, which climbed to number one across Europe and even in the United States. Despite their popular success, the three women firmly held the reins of their careers. They needed neither the spotlight of business leaders nor a shady manager. They were free, proud of it, and would remain so until the end!

In 1988, driven by a need to breathe fresh air away from sophisticated but repetitive pop, Siobhan Fahey left Bananarama to quickly launch an ambitious new solo project. First on her own, then with the help of Marcella Detroit, Shakespears Sister recorded two fabulous albums: "Sacred Heart" (1989) and, most notably, "Hormonally Ours" (1992). The track "Stay" remained at number one in the UK for no less than eight weeks!

The rest of her career was less triumphant. Persistent tensions led her to separate from Marcella, and endless legal wrangling prevented the release of "#3" until 2004. Siobhan also suffered a serious breakdown before finding the strength to pick up her pen again to record "Songs From The Red Room," self-released on her own label, SF Records. She also reconciled with her past by agreeing to reunite with Sara and Keren in Bananarama in 2017 after 30 years of bickering.

Shortly after, she finally reconnected with Marcella Detroit during sessions, in the desert, of course, the results of which are still awaited, however. While Siobhan hasn't said her last word, we still don't know what direction she'll take. Or when...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Siobhan Fahey abec Bananarama for the RTBf program Génération 80 in Brussels (Belgium) in May 1982