The Intro
If you liked a large helping of cheese with your pop, you were well served in the spring of 1982. Toppling Tight Fit’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight was the second German number 1 of the year – Goombay Dance Band’s Seven Tears. For a brief time, they looked like a Boney M for the 80s.
Before
Goombay Dance Band were an idea from the former child actor and singer Oliver Bendt, who had appeared in stage musicals including Hair, as well as releasing records in his home country. In the 1970s, he lived on the Caribbean island Saint Lucia, where he came up with the Goombay Dance Band, named after a small bay on the island. Bendt dreamt of combining calypso and western pop, much like Boney M.
The Goombay Dance Band proved to be an instant success. Their debut single Sun of Jamaica, released in late-1979 went to number 1 in many European countries, even though it didn’t break the top 40 in the UK. It topped the German singles chart for nine weeks and became the title track of their debut album. Their next single, Aloha-Oe, Until We Meet Again, did however make it to 22 here.
Although second album Land of Gold fared nowhere near as well in 1980, two singles, Eldorado and Rain, performed well in Europe, and peaked at 30 and 38 in the UK respectively. Seven Tears was the first single from their third LP Holiday in Paradise.
Review
Hmm, yeah. I recall Seven Tears stinking up the repeats of Top of the Pops on BBC Four years ago. I’m surprised to see it was only number 1 for three weeks, as the video seemed to outstay its welcome, massively. Coming hot on the heels of The Lion Sleeps Tonight really doesn’t help it stand out. That at least has production that still sounds great, and for me personally, is really nostalgic. Seven Tears comes over as a Eurovision runner-up, and is overblown and cheap by comparison to Tight Fit’s chart-topper. I’m more than ready now for more early 80s classics, that are thankfully just around the corner.
I’d put money on part of the reason Seven Tears did so well being their appearance on Top of the Pops, where Bendt did a spot of fire breathing. It could also be because it sounds very similar to Auld Lang Syne.
The video to Seven Tears showcases Bendt’s amazing perm and tacky golden outfit, as he slowly sways for what feels like seven years, interspersed with ‘moving’ shots of waves lapping against the beach.
After
That was pretty much all she wrote for Goombay Dance Band. They never charted again in the UK and had only one more hit in Germany (Christmas at Sea – 22). Non-album singles came and went without impact in the mid-80s. They released an album of remakes in 2009 called 30th Anniversary Collection.
The Outro
Bendt dissolved the Goombay Dance Band and retired soon after his 70th birthday in 2016.
The Info
Written by
Wolff-Ekkehardt Stein, Wolfgang Jass & Ian Cai Mercer
Producer
Jochen Peterson
Weeks at number 1
3 (27 March-16 April)
Trivia
Births
5 April: Actress Hayley Atwell
7 April: Liberty X singer Kelli Young
Deaths
27 March: Writer Ted Lewis
31 March: Footballer Dave Clement
2 April: Anglican clergyman EJH Nash
12 April: Writer Norman Denny/Labour MP Tony Greenwood, Baron Greenwood of Rossendale
13 April: Peer John Drummond, 15th Baron Strange#
15 April: Actor Arthur Lowe (see ‘Meanwhile…‘)
Meanwhile…
2 April: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, and the Falklands War officially begins.
4 April: The British Falkland Islands government surrenders, which puts the islands in Argentine control.
5 April: A Royal Navy task force sets sail to the Falklands from Portsmouth.
7 April: Britain declares a 200-mile “‘exclusion zone’ around the Falklands.
15 April: Beloved comic actor and Dad’s Army star Arthur Lowe dies suddenly of a stroke, aged 66.