"Young at Heart" is a song by British female music trio

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. Thei ...

, released from their debut album, ''

Deep Sea Skiving ''Deep Sea Skiving'' is the debut studio album by British vocal group Bananarama, released in 1983. The album peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Silver by the BPI. The inner-sleeve of the vinyl release contained nu ...

'', in 1983. The song was later recorded by Scottish pop group

the Bluebells The Bluebells are a Scottish indie pop, indie new wave music, new wave band, active between 1981 and 1986 (later briefly reforming in 1993, 2008–2009, 2011 and 2018). Career The Bluebells performed jangle pop, jangly guitar-based pop not dis ...

, whose version reached the top of 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 ...

after a re-release in 1993.

Bananarama version

Bananarama's version of the song is credited to

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 Keren Jane Woodward (born 2 April 1961) is an English singer and, with Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey, a founding member of the girl group Bananarama. In 1986, the trio reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with their version of "Ven ...

of Bananarama, and Robert Hodgens of the Bluebells, Fahey's then-boyfriend.

The Bluebells version

The song was reworked in 1984 by the Bluebells, a version originally credited to Hodgens and Fahey upon its re-release in 1993. In 2002, the session musician Bobby Valentino, who performed the violin solo on the Bluebells' version of "Young at Heart", won the right to be recognised as co-author of the song after taking legal action. The Bluebells' version of the song was a UK top-10 chart success on two occasions, first reaching number eight on the

during its original release in 1984. Almost a decade later, after the Bluebells had disbanded, the song was re-released as a single on 15 March 1993 after being featured in a British TV advert for the

Volkswagen Golf The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates ...

. It became a number-one hit on the UK chart for four weeks, leading to the band reforming temporarily to perform the song on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, 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 ...

'', on which they commented on the unexpected re-release by parodying various other famous acts of the time such as

Shabba Ranks Shabba Ranks (born Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon; 17 January 1966) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home cou ...

and

2 Unlimited 2 Unlimited are a Belgian/Dutch dance music act, founded by Belgian producers/songwriters Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. From 1991 to 1996, Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and Dutch vocalist Anita Doth fronted the a ...

Track listings

1984 release

7-inch single :A. "Young at Heart" :B. "Tender Mercy" Japanese 7-inch single :A. "Young at Heart" :B. "Everybody's Somebody's Fool"

1993 release

UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Young at Heart" – 3:27 # "I'm Falling" – 4:09 UK CD single # "Young at Heart" – 3:27 # "Cath" (remix) – 3:15 # "I'm Falling" – 4:09 # "The Patriot Game" – 4:14

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1984 singles 1993 singles 1983 songs Bananarama songs The Bluebells songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles London Records singles Songs written by Keren Woodward Songs written by Sara Dallin Songs written by Siobhan Fahey UK Singles Chart number-one singles