"I Heard a Rumour" 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 ...

from their fourth studio album, ''

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'' (1987). It was released on 29th June 1987, as the album's lead single. It was also featured in the 1987

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'' and is included on its soundtrack. "I Heard a Rumour" peaked at number 14 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 ...

,. It was one of Bananarama's highest-charting singles in the United States – it reached number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and became their third and final top ten hit. It was also their last top 40 hit on that chart. It was also successful in nightclubs, reaching number three on the '' Billboard'' Dance Club Songs. The track bears notable similarities in part to Michael Fortunati's "

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", which was released in early 1986. However, producer Mike Stock denied the track was based excessively on that record, insisting "I Heard A Rumour" was simply broadly inspired by

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

trends at the time. "We didn't do sampling... There's no similarity in the lyric, there's no actual similarity in terms of note-for-noteness in the tune," he said. "We were doing Europop."

Music video

The music video, directed by

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. ...

, features a dress-up theme, in a similar vein as their video for "

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". Group members

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 ...

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 ...

, and Keren Woodward are seen emulating various

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s, projected on screens behind them. Each member dresses up in costumes, including a cowgirl and

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, backed up by topless male dancers. When the group is dressed in French can-can dresses, they bend over to "moon" the camera and expose the letters W-O-W (a reference to their album title) on their rears. They also appear in sequined red dresses on a rotating platform, surrounded by their dancers. Bloopers of the girls making mistakes in the dance routine are intercut with other footage.

Track listings

*7-inch single #"I Heard a Rumour" (Album Version) – 3:25 #"Clean Cut Boy" (Party Size) – 4:22 #:S. Dallin/S. Fahey/K. Woodward/I. Curnow *12-inch single #"I Heard a Rumour" (Horoscope Mix) – 5:57 #:Available on the CD album '' The Twelve Inches of Bananarama'' #"I Heard a Rumour" (Dub) – 5:06 #"Clean Cut Boy" (Party Size) – 4:22 #:S. Dallin/S. Fahey/K. Woodward/I. Curnow *2nd 12-inch single #"I Heard a Rumour" (Miami Mix) – 7:13 #:Also available for the first time on the CD album '' The Greatest Remixes Collection'' and the limited edition 2-cd version of ''

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 ...

'' #:Remixed by Phil Harding #"I Heard a Rumour" (House Mix) – 7:22 #:Remixed by Phil Harding #"Clean Cut Boy" (Party Size) – 4:22 *US 12-inch maxi single / cassette #"I Heard a Rumour" (Horoscope Mix) – 5:57 #"I Heard a Rumour" (Miami Mix) – 7:13 #"I Heard a Rumour" (House Mix) – 7:22 #"Clean Cut Boy" (Party Size) – 4:22 *Other versions #"I Heard a Rumour" (Corporation Of Bananarama Mix) – 5:40 #:From the single " Megarama '89" and " Cruel Summer '89" #:Remixed by Freddie Bastone #"I Heard a Rumour" (Corporation Dub) #:Remixed by Freddie Bastone #"I Heard a Rumour" (2001 Version) #:Taken from the album ''

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Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1987 singles 1987 songs Bananarama songs London Records singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Keren Woodward Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Pete Waterman Songs written by Sara Dallin Songs written by Siobhan Fahey