Reflecting on Life in Bananarama: Jacquie O’Sullivan

[@Paul_John_Paul]

Frankly I loved Jacquie. And 'Poplife' was a really great album.

[@allansuaza]

I love that Jacquie is in Siobhan’s video for “Pulsatron”!😊

[@Asukenick]

I like them as a trio. The 80s stuff is the best.

[@MirjanaLfan]

Loved all four members and the Jacquie years were great.

[@BlytheWorld1972]

I liked jacquie as the first single i ever got was i want you back!!! she was fab. and se were the other two. great times dollx

[@kidwaryodproduction]

I thinking about Boney M and then, I saw your comment at here haha.

[@BlytheWorld1972]

@@kidwaryodproduction Hello how do you know i love boney m ??

[@kidwaryodproduction]

@@BlytheWorld1972 I always see your comment in Boney M clip :) And there's another user name MUSIC WORLD VISION who always comment in Boney M clip too haha. 😄

[@BlytheWorld1972]

@@kidwaryodproduction Its a small on line world eh lol

[@universalsoul7653]

Long train running was great tho! 👍. Would LOVE to see the 4 of them together as a group! 😃

[@nicolasbouchet]

Like the Bangles

[@hallson2917]

Jaquline was a true beauty

[@adiksadiatabs]

jacquie has a classical beauty

[@toddbeaton1512]

bananarma are so amazing

[@jabaros75]

Maravillosa Jacquie❤

[@KayleighNatasha]

I don't know about other Bananarama fans but to me Jacs will always be the 4th member of the group

[@nickpalmer3076]

Miss her still. Sadly with three fiends there are always two best friends. Glad sara and Keren are still going but miss Jaxx. It was an exciting time for the group.

[@Bigweight66]

I thought Jacquie was a very aduaqrte replacement for Siobhan. Bananarama still had hits with Jacquie O'Sullivan joining then.

[@triadafillos1]

Jacquie did a great job replacing Siobhan, and although she took part in the one and only very successful 1989 Bananarama world tour and she did with them one of their best lps, the "pop life", she never gets any acknowledgement or mention soever for this from the other girls of the band

[@wattage2007]

I could imagine the Bananarama girls were absolute cows.

[@triadafillos1]

@@wattage2007 do you hallucinate or something? Do you need any help?

[@KayleighNatasha]

I know and yet Sarah and Keren (almost) always mention Siobhan

[@triadafillos1]

@@KayleighNatasha true, they never mention Jacquie. Plus, I think, Jacquie was the one who did not have a great time in the band and not Sarah and Keren. But for me, Jacquie did an excellent job as the 3rd Banana back then

[@KayleighNatasha]

@@triadafillos1 I agree she did do a fantastic job, such a shame she never gets the acknowledgement she deserves

[@JulioGalicano]

Jacquie is my crush

[@Kris-v7p]

No comparison… 1984 will always be supreme!!!!!

[@antonmedvedev1128]

I loved Jaquie's moments in the group, I adored her in the Preacher Man video and I always thought she was French because her mouth looks 100% French 😺 Pop Life was a good album, a new beginning, they could've gone further as a trio, had there not been that silly pressure on J.

[@KayleighNatasha]

Jacquie was gorgeous in that video

[@RBS_]

...I'm sorry, Jacquie. ....might as well say it, now....I, too, did not take to Jacqs, at ALL, during the "WOW" era, but LOVED her during the "Pop Life" era! ...It took some time, but by 1992, I loved her...but, she's right...the "Shadow Of Siobhan" was too strong...

[@KayleighNatasha]

Jacquie left the band in 1991

[@colliescameraaction8944]

I can see Jacqui's point of view. She was never seen as a member of Bananarama, just as an add-on replacement. Bananarama had a coolness and an edginess prior to working with SAW, and although its hard to separate the blended vocals out, I think it was Siobhan's soft contralto that gave the early songs the distinctive sound. I don't think Siobhan was strong enough vocally to be a solo artiist, but she was much more than a backing singer. I always got the impression that Keren and Sara were basically backing singers/dancers needing a stronger vocalist to join them, but then resenting the stronger vocalist getting more attention. Then being insecure and bonding closer to drive them out.

[@wattage2007]

Indeed. Bunch of cows, it must've been a toxic environment to come into.

[@Starsurfer1988]

I can feel her. It's not easy and must be very annoying to be the "new girl" even after 3 years and all those questions about Siobhan. She could not be herself, had no creative right to have a say and pushed her into a Siobhan frame that wasn't meant for her.

[@Dee_Lite263]

You'd think after 3 years they would have forgotten about Siobhan, noticed that they'd been successful without her and let her have creative input seeing as she obviously worked hard and earned her stripes as a banana.

[@johnboyzan3304]

I’m sure Jacqui’s time in the group was hard, Keren & Sara were kinda destined to be a duo after Siobhan left but the label insisted they get a new member.

[@raymondtaylor8525]

She was great in the group you can see Sarah and Keren are very clicky.

[@allthatjazzspaz95]

As much as I love them, the problem seems to lie with Keren and Sarah. They were close friends practically from birth and I always got the vibe that they iced out both Siobhan and Jacquie. If the other girl would do something that was annoying to the other 2, k and s sort of stuck together and would both get mad at the other girl, but never at each other. 2 against 1. That’s a tricky balance as far as personal relationships go. They seem very happy as a duo now, and I think that they feel that they don’t need anyone else. But let’s be real, Siobhan was the true magic. She’s just such a magnetic performer. Keren had the voice, Siobhan had the stage presence, and Sarah was the… blonde. And jacquie was always the replacement, as she expressed here.

[@Dee_Lite263]

I completely agree with you here. Siobhann was the one with star quality and it was never the same after she left but I got the impression with Keren and Sarah that those 2 were really close and thick as thieves and I don't know if they were jealous of Siobhann and I don't think they ever really accepted jacqui which is a shame because she obviously worked hard to fit in and you could see the tension between them in a few interviews which was uncomfortable to see and although I always think of the original three as bananarama I have to give respect to jacqui joining a group where she clearly wasn't wanted, I feel sorry for her.

[@Cicilo1983]

Agree with many of your points. Just out of curiosity, how do we know that Keren had "the" voice ? They sang in unison most of them, and still do up until this day.

[@sabinemattelaere4269]

I completely agree. Siobhan had it all, the talent, the voice, the dancemoves, everything. I just was a big bananafan till Shuv left. And poor Jacquie derserved better, had a great talent too. It was the best desition for Siobhan to left the group and could do her own thing in SS.

[@kenni6748]

How do you know Keren had the voice? I think both Keren & Sara seem like they have nice voices...

[@DIETRICHCICCONE]

Siobhán was always the coolest and prettiest Banana 🍌

[@WilliamBonney-gl2qf]

Jacquie still looks good

[@iampause]

I still think Jacquie could rejoin them and make one hell of an album!

[@Bananadiva1]

As much as I've always loved the group it's safe to say that Jacquie and Siobhan were the best singers. They've never been quite the same as a duo. They were still a force to be reckoned with as a duo though ... well until that cringeworthy excuse for an LP was issued last year.

[@thisisnotme7017]

was that the Please Yourself LP?

[@Bigweight66]

Siobhan Fahey always needed more vocals to help carry a song. Siobhan needed Keren and Sara. Siobhan soon found out she really needed Marcella Detroit in Shakespeare Sister, to make something big happen with the songs. Siobhan just didn't have the voice to be a serious lead signer, or raise above a second tier singer at best.

[@wattage2007]

Siobhan couldn't sing at all! Listen to the Shakespeare's Sister stuff, she speaks her way through the vocals.

[@bouncingbluesoul5270]

No@@thisisnotme7017

[@mikekaraoke]

@@wattage2007 Yes she could, I own all SS + Bananarama albums- also seen them live and she can sing!

[@VogueFM]

Shame, I liked Jacquie.

[@GEONAT78]

Me too

[@Zlervo]

Same

[@anthonypoole6417]

If it'd been siobhan and one of the others it might've been easier for jacquie. I think anybody would've felt like threes a crowd, with those two.

[@Alexidrik]

Me too.

[@rayoflight6505]

Count me in love her

[@thesammyjenkinsexperience4996]

Yup, Siobhan was always my favourite banana. Lost interest in them after she left.

[@stevenwilcox8631]

It's a shame she felt she was not accepted as one of the group.

[@Zlervo]

I can easily see the other two ganging up on her. It's a shame because I liked Jacquie.

[@rayoflight6505]

@@Zlervo Me too Jacquie brought a new invaluable essence to the group.

[@kevinwilliams7526]

Shame really I liked that line up and thought jacqui fitted in really well

[@jamesc7019]

I was there when Jacqui was talking to Siobhan about Sara & Keren & sue went ‘They’re so horrible’ and Siobhan said ‘ I know, sorry’

[@MosesPreciado-m4p]

Jacquie was never a really part of bananarama. I guess she's a good person, but she didn't belong there & she knows it. So did the other one. Keren & sarah are top pop🎉🎉❤❤ glorious: the ultimate collection🎉🎉

[@kidwaryodproduction]

Sometimes I wondered. It would be funnier as hell if when Jacquie left Bananarama. She joined Siobhan Fahey as new version of Shakesphere Sister. And Marcella Detroit collaborated with Bananarama after she left Siobhan 😄 Would be a nice what-if scenario.

[@ejessup1]

Actually she was on one of Bananarama's better albums. Poplife was a lot more mature and experimental than the others.

[@kevinwilliams7526]

I preferred jacqui to siobhan

[@Skaterbun]

I think she gave off unlikeable vibes probably due to her lack of confidence of being accepted, and we always hoped Siobhan would return one day. A few decades later learning this was exactly how she felt and was treated, I respect her coming out and saying this, she did have something to offer but just wasn’t allowed to express herself, she was probably harbouring a ton of ideas and energy. I feel they probably just used her to carry on the brand of three piece girl group.

[@maryjane9221]

Nah, she didn't last coz she wasn't meant to be. They are meant to be a duo.

[@rayoflight6505]

I find them much more interesting with that third element whether it be Siobhan or Jacquie.

[@KayleighNatasha]

Jacquie left because it was getting to the point where she had enough of being asked the same two questions

[@maryjane9221]

@@KayleighNatasha no she did not. She left because it wasnt meant to be for her. They are meant to be a duo.....its what they call fate....

[@thomashong2938]

⁠@@maryjane9221No, they wanted to be a duo. Fate meant them to be a trio. They were at their best when Siobhan was with them. And they performed at their best when she rejoined them for the Original Line Up tour. Because Sara and Keren and Siobhan are soulmates.

[@thomashong2938]

@@rayoflight6505 💯

[@georgesullivan4473]

Sorry Jacki but when you are given a starring role in a top group you don't spend half your time off your head lol 😂

[@KayleighNatasha]

All four girls had their moments of chaos though