Song of the Day: 'He Was Really Saying Something' by the Velvelettes

Two-thirds of legendary British girl group Bananarama will tell their story in a memoir due out in this fall. Named after the girls' first top-billed hit, "Really Saying Something" was actually a cover of an old Motown song by the Velvelettes that surprisingly stalled at No. 64 on the Billboard singles chart. (It reached No. 21 on the R&B charts. Perhaps the book will explain how the Ramas ever came across it.) 

Super Deluxe writes that the memoir tells the story of how the two best friends arrived at the YWCA in London in the early 1980s, with their sights set on careers in journalism and the media. But with a vibrant social scene (!) and a chance meeting with former Sex Pistol Paul Cook, things changed. Working from Malcolm McLaren’s old office, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward started rehearsing and singing backing vocals for Paul’s new band, before teaming up with Sara’s college friend Siobhan Fahey, and forming their own group. The rest, as they say, is (pop) history as the girls become one of the most successful female bands of all time. The publishers say that "Really Saying Something" is the story of “two friends who continue to pursue their dreams their way -- and have a great time doing it.”

The book is due in October and is available for pre-order in many countries. Sadly, the U.S. is not one of them, at least so far.

The 1964 Velvelettes version.

A mashup of the original and the 1982 Bananarama/Fun Boy Three version