"Cruel Summer" is a song by English girl group

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...

. It was written by Bananarama and Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, and produced by Jolley and Swain. Released in 1983, it was initially a stand-alone single but was subsequently included on their self-titled second album a year later. The song reached number eight on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1983, and after its inclusion in the 1984 film ''

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'', it reached number nine on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Bananarama singer

Sara Dallin Sara Elizabeth Dallin (born 17 December 1961) is an English singer and a founding member of the pop group Bananarama. The group has achieved 28 UK top 50 and 11 US top 100 singles, including a US number one with "Venus" (1986). Other hits includ ...

said the song "played on the darker side (of summer songs): it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We've all been there!" It was ranked number 44 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. ''Billboard'' named the song #13 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

History

"Cruel Summer" was an immediate success when it was released in the UK, reaching No. 8 on the

, and the group performed the song live on the BBC's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' in July 1983. Its international popularity soared after its inclusion in the 1984 feature film ''

''; this was a year after the song's original release (the song was released in 1984 in the US). The group did not allow the song to be included on the film's soundtrack album, but it still reached No. 9 in the US, their first top ten hit there. When Bananarama were still struggling to make money in their early years, they even performed the song at a beauty contest in Hawaii. The song's biggest chart success was in South Africa, where it peaked at No. 3. The song has since been revived in various forms. It has appeared in several television commercials, and was covered by other acts, such as Ace of Base, who scored an international hit with it (their version reached Gold in the US). Blestenation sampled and remixed the song to make their own, also named "Cruel Summer" but with interspersed rap lyrics and altered structure; there are two edits of this song, one of which appeared on the 2002 ''

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'' soundtrack. Since the original release of the song, Bananarama recorded another three versions. "Cruel Summer '89" was released in 1989, and given a new jack swing makeover, featuring Dallin and Woodward's vocals as a duo for the first time. It reached number 19 on the UK singles chart in June. This version was not included on any Bananarama album until 2005's '' Really Saying Something: The Platinum Collection''. Another version of the song was recorded and featured on their 2001 album ''

Exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny Exotica (Martin Denny album), album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon Wa ...

''. This version featured

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instrumentation and additional lyrics, but it was not released as a single. They released another updated version in 2009, as a B-side of their single " Love Comes". The song was also featured as the theme tune of the first series of Trouble's reality show of the same name, where a group of young adults was sent off to a holiday camp, only to be tortured and humiliated in an attempt to win a large sum of money.

Music video

The music video was directed by Brian Simmons, and shot primarily in the

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...

section of

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Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough in the summer of 1983. It opens with a shot of Manhattan in the background including the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

. " twas just an excuse to get us to the fabled city of New York for the first time,"

Siobhan Fahey Siobhan Maire Fahey (; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the US number one hit single "Venus". She later ...

has said. She recalled the shoot, conducted during a

heatwave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in th ...

, as a difficult experience. "It was August, over one hundred degrees. Our HQ was a tavern under the Brooklyn Bridge, which had a ladies' room with a chipped mirror where we had to do our makeup." After an exhausting morning shooting in the city in brutal August heat, the band returned to the tavern for lunch. They made the acquaintance of some local dockworkers, who, upon learning of their situation, shared vials of

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with them. "That was our lunch," said Fahey, who had never tried the drug before. "When you watch that video, we look really tired and miserable in the scenes we shot before lunch, and then the after-lunch shots are all euphoric and manic." The music video for the 1989 remix was a compilation of different shots from Bananarama's earlier videoclips. Notably missing are clips from the original 1983 video. Fahey is only featured in a pair of frames. Bananarama were unable to record a proper video for the song, because they were in the middle of a world tour at the time of its release.

Track listings

* 7-inch vinyl single # "Cruel Summer" (Album Version) 3:35 # "Cruel Summer" (Summer Dub Edited) 3:30 * 12-inch vinyl single # "Cruel Summer" (Extended Version) 4:55 # "Cruel Summer" (Summer Dub) 5:15 # "Cairo" 3:15

"Cruel Summer '89"

* UK CD single # "Cruel Summer '89" (Swing Beat Version) 3:22 #: Remixed by

Blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

#: Also available from CD the albums '' The Works'', '' Now That's What I Call Music 15'' and '' Really Saying Something: The Platinum Collection''. # "Venus" (The Greatest Remix Edit) 3:42 #: Remixed by Phil Harding & Ian Curnow # "I Heard a Rumour" (Corporation of Bananarama Remix) 5:44 #: Remixed by Freddy Bastone * Japanese 3-inch CD single # "Cruel Summer '89" (Swing Beat Dub) 5:20 #: Remixed by Blacksmith #: Also available from the CD albums '' The Greatest Remixes Collection'' and ''

The Very Best of Bananarama ''The Very Best of Bananarama'' is a greatest hits album by English group Bananarama, released on 15 October 2001 by Warner Strategic Marketing and London Records. It was released to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary, including their singles ...

''. # "I Heard a Rumour" (Corporation of Bananarama Remix) 5:44 #: Remixed by Freddy Bastone # "Venus" (The Greatest Remix) 7:57 #: Remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow

Personnel

– vocals * Keren Woodward – vocals *

– vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Original version "Cruel Summer '89"

Year-end charts

Original version

Certifications

Ace of Base version

In 1998, Swedish pop group Ace of Base recorded the song at the request of their German and American record labels PolyGram and Arista Records. It was released as the second single from their third album, ''

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

'' (1998), and as the lead single from the American version of the album titled '' Cruel Summer''. A different "dancier" version of the song (known as the Big Bonus mix on the album), produced by

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and Johnny Jam & Delgado, was released on mainland Europe. The original album version, produced by

Cutfather Mich Hedin Hansen (born 9 April 1968), known professionally as Cutfather, is a Danish music producer, songwriter, remixer and DJ based in Copenhagen. Cutfather has a studio on Njalsgade, Copenhagen. Career Cutfather is perhaps best known for hi ...

& Joe, was released in North America and UK. "Cruel Summer" reached number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified gold. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number eight on the

, matching the peak of the original Bananarama version. It also became Ace of Base's final Top 10 single in the US and UK.

Critical reception

Quentin Harrison of Albumism described the song as an "engaging cover" in his retrospective review of ''

'', and added that "one variant is closer to the originating take, albeit with a spike of hip-hop flavor for a bit of modish spunk", while "the second rendition is a surprisingly danceable, Spanish flecked trip."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it is "the melodic high point" of the '' Cruel Summer'' album. Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' wrote that "the act that gave the such

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

-esque ditties as "

All That She Wants "All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in Scandinavia in 1992 as the second single from their first studio album, ''Happy Nation'' (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from ...

" and " The Sign" turns its attention toward

, faithfully covering one of that group's bigger '80s-era hits. Producers

& Joe bring a few new rhythm ideas to the table dropping the tempo to a jeep-inspired funk beat and injecting an ear-tickling keyboard twist or two. However, the vocals hold few surprises, which is exactly what fans of both Ace Of Base and the original recording will want. In all, a potential smash that could keep this Swedish quartet on the front burner of top 40 radio for much of the summer." Kelly Pickerel from '' Daily Kent Stater'' said she liked this remake better than Bananarama's original, noting that "it’s also one of those songs you can never get out of your head as soon as you hear it". Chuck Campbell from '' The Daily News'' noted it as a "slick-but-faithful remake". A reviewer from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' commented that "it's clear what Ace of Base Svengali

Jonas Berggren Jonas Petter Berggren (born 21 March 1967) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter and record producer, also known as Joker. He started writing songs when he was seven, and continues to write for the Swedish band Ace of Base, which he is a ...

is aiming for — the iridescent sonic symmetry of Swedish forebears ABBA. A pretty lofty ambition. But he and his seraphic singing sisters,

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

and

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

, actually attain ABBA's perfect pop- Euro-disco balance on this third outing. There isn't a note out of concordant place, no potential hook overlooked. Excepting the pointless title track, Berggren has done his homework. Just don't hate him because they sound so pretty." ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Even ...

'' said it is a gem, adding "more of the same can often be a good thing". Swedish newspaper '' Expressen'' stated that the song "shows why Ace of Base once ruled the pop world". Gary Shipes from '' The Stuart News'' wrote in his review, that "the bubble-gum juvenilia of the original is replaced with updated hardware and a contemporary dance arrangement that launches the arc the rest of the CD will follow. At once melancoholic and jovial, the band's driving rhythmic force leaves no option but to fill dance floors on a dime."

Chart performance

"Cruel Summer" was successful on the charts in Europe, Canada and the US. In Europe, it made it to the top 10 in Hungary, on MTV's European Top 20 and in the United Kingdom. In the latter, the single peaked at number eight in its first week at the

, on 4 October 1998. Additionally, it climbed into the top 20 in Scotland, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where "Cruel Summer" reached its highest position as number 16. It was a top 30 hit in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Iceland and Switzerland. Outside Europe, it peaked at number two on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Dance/Urban chart and number six on the ''RPM'' Top Singles chart in Canada, number ten on both the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart in the United States. It earned a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

in the US, with a sale of 500,000 singles.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was filmed and directed by English director

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is a British music video and film director, writer and musician from Catterick, England, now based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Britney Spears videos " ...Baby One More Time" and " Oops!... I Did I ...

. It was shot in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy between 27 and 29 June 1998. There are three versions of the video: * "Cruel Summer" * "Cruel Summer" (Big Bonus Mix) * "Cruel Summer" (Frenglish version featuring Alliage) The original video and the video using the Big Bonus Mix contain identical and similar footage, whereas the Frenglish version contains completely new footage. The Big Bonus Mix video was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in January 2015. As of August 2022, it had more than 17 million views on Youtube .

Track listings

* Scandinavian CD single #"Cruel Summer" (Big Bonus Mix) – 4:05 #"Cruel Summer" (

& Joe Mix) – 3:33 * Scandinavian CD single #"Cruel Summer" (Big Bonus Mix) – 4:05 #"Cruel Summer" (

& Joe Mix) – 3:33 #"Cruel Summer" (Hartmann & Langhoff Radio Edit) – 3:23 #"Cruel Summer" (Hartmann & Langhoff Club) – 7:45 #"Into the Night of Blue" (bonus track) – 4:11 * Scandinavian CD single #"Cruel Summer" (KLM club Mix) – 10:27 #"Cruel Summer" (Hani Num Club Mix) – 8:13 #"Cruel Summer" (Soul Poets House Bust) – 3:40 #"Cruel Summer" (Hartmann & Langhoff Club) – 7:45 * UK CD 1 # Cutfather and Joe Mix # Big Bonus Mix # Hartmann and Langhoff Short Mix # Hartmann and Langhoff Club Mix * UK CD 2 # "Cruel Summer" (Cutfather and Joe Mix) # "Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix) # "Beautiful Life" (Single Version) * US maxi CD # Album Version a.k.a. Cutfather and Joe Mix # Hani Radio Mix a.k.a. Blazin' Rhythm Remix #

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

Radio Mix # Hani Num Club Mix # KLM Club Mix

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

Ace of Base and Alliage version

Ace of Base united with the French boy band Alliage and re-recorded as a duet in a release designed specifically for the French markets. It is bilingual in English and French with added lyrics to the original. The joint version peaked at #24 in SNEP, the official French Singles Chart.

Rico Bernasconi vs. Ace of Base version

Rico Bernasconi The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

released a remix EP with 8 remix versions of Ace of Base version of "Cruel Summer" which peaked at #69 in Germany.

Track listing

# "Cruel Summer (Screen Mix)" (3:19) # "Cruel Summer (Tom Pulse Sunshine Radio Mix)" (3:00) # "Cruel Summer (Original Club Mix)" (6:21) # "Cruel Summer (Tom Pulse Sunshine Club Mix)" (5:24) # "Cruel Summer ( Max Farenthide Remix)" (5:48) # "Cruel Summer (DJ Tom Cut Remix)" (5:26) # "Cruel Summer (DJ Tomekk vs. Anady Club Remix)" (6:10) # "Cruel Summer (Chris Galmon vs. Christopher GrEy Club Mix)" (6:13)

Notable cover versions

* Kari Kimmel's version of the song was recorded for season 2 of ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed ...

'' and was released on its soundtrack album. It was used for the season's teaser trailer as well as being played at the end of the season finale, echoing the original song's use in the ''Karate Kid'' film which the show is a sequel to. *

Amy Lee Amy Lynn Hartzler (; born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, and lead songwriter of the rock band Evanescence. Alongside her contributions with the band, Lee has also particip ...

and

Troy McLawhorn William Troy McLawhorn (born November 4, 1968) is an American musician who has been a guitarist in the rock band Evanescence since 2007. He has also worked with the bands Seether, Dark New Day, doubleDrive, Still Rain, and Gibraltar. Early care ...

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...

recorded their version of the song at home during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

for MagentaMusik 360. * American alternative rock band Superchunk covered the song in 2012 as the B-side of their "This Summer" single.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1983 singles 1984 singles 1998 singles Bananarama songs London Records singles Mercury Records singles PolyGram singles Ace of Base songs Mega Records singles Disco songs Music videos directed by Nigel Dick Songs written by Sara Dallin Songs written by Siobhan Fahey Songs written by Keren Woodward Songs written by Tony Swain (musician) Songs written by Steve Jolley (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Jolley & Swain 1982 songs Songs about loneliness