Nathan Jones (song)

"Nathan Jones"
Single by Bananarama
from the album Greatest Hits Collection
B-side	"Once in a Lifetime"
Released	November 7, 1988
Recorded	August 1988
Genre	Pop synthpop[16]
Length	5:12 (album version)
Label	London
Songwriters	Kathy Wakefield Leonard Caston
Producer	Stock Aitken Waterman
Bananarama singles chronology
"Love, Truth and Honesty" (1988) "Nathan Jones" (1988) "Help!" (1989)
Music video
"Nathan Jones" on YouTube

"Nathan Jones" was covered in 1987 by the English girl group Bananarama on their album Wow!, and was released in 1988 as the second single from their first compilation The Greatest Hits Collection, on which it appears in a different version from the previous album's one.

There are three distinct versions of Bananarama's rendition of the song.^[17]

The first version was released on their 1987 album Wow!, with their original line-up. This version was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1988 film Rain Man. Some of the vocals were sampled on their "I Heard a Rumour" B-side song "Clean Cut Boy".

After Siobhan Fahey was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan, Bananarama re-recorded the song (with completely new vocal and instrumental arrangements), dubbed the Psycho Mix. This new version was initially included on vinyl and cassette issues of Greatest Hits Collection. It was then remixed and released as a single, peaking at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.^[17] This version is considered the "official" version of the song, and is the version used for the accompanying music video.

A third version of the single, the Dave Ford Mix, while similar to the Psycho Mix, opens with a staccato synthesiser instead of the single-note of the Psycho Mix, and includes more prominent synthesiser throughout. It uses the vocals from the Psycho Mix, although brought more to the front of the instrumentation. This mix appears on the Canadian version of Greatest Hits Collection, and is the version which most closely resembles how it is heard when Bananarama plays live. (This mix is alternatively known as the "Analogue" mix, as it was never issued on CD until the "Megarama" compilation in 2015).

All three versions have 12″ remixes available.

Upon the single release Jerry Smith of British magazine Music Week expressed the assurance that Stock Aitken Waterman treatment of one of finest hits of "The Supremes as the most successful all girl group" will continue the success of "Nana girls."^[18]

Retrospectively, in 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked the song number 12 in their list of 'Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs'.^[19]

The music video, directed by Andy Morahan, featured the girls performing the song with vogue-style choreography with four male dancers dressed in British-style suits, hats, and umbrellas. Their performance is interspersed with shots of them strutting down a fashion catwalk in three different outfits, reflecting the three different seasons mentioned in the song (winter, spring, fall/autumn), and performing the main choreography in yet a fourth change of wardrobe. Sara and Keren are seen sharing the same black-with-copper-coloured-leaves jacket throughout.^[20]

Individual shots of the girls are accompanied by floating images of fruits and art objects, such as vases and statues.

The video was nominated for British Video of the Year at the 1989 Brit Awards, but lost to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal".

The group performed the song on several popular shows of the day, including Top of the Pops, The Great Big British Pop Machine, at the 1988 Royal Variety Performance in the presence of the Queen Mother and, famously, on the Terry Wogan show, in which Keren is seen doing the first verse choreography during the second verse. None of these appearances feature live vocals.

• 7-inch single / Japanese 3-inch CD single

1. "Nathan Jones" – 3:18
2. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• 12-inch single

1. "Nathan Jones" (Extended Version) – 5:12
2. "Nathan Jones" (Instrumental Dub Mix) – 3:18
3. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• US 12-inch single

1. "Nathan Jones" (Psycho Mix) – 6:27
2. "Nathan Jones" (Instrumental Dub Mix) – 3:18
3. "Nathan Jones" (Bass Tone Mix) – 5:07
4. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• UK CD single / Japanese CD mini-album

1. "Nathan Jones" (Extended Version) – 5:11
2. "Venus" (Extended Version) – 7:25
3. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:04

• Japanese CD mini-album (remix)

1. "Nathan Jones" (Psycho Mix) – 6:24
2. "I Want You Back" (Extended European Version) – 7:55
3. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• Sara Dallin – vocals
• Jacquie O'Sullivan – vocals
• Siobhan Fahey – vocals
• Keren Woodward – vocals, bass guitar

1988–1989 weekly chart performance for "Nathan Jones"

Chart (1988–1989)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[21]	59
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[22]	22
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[23]	49
Europe (European Airplay Top 50)[24]	39
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[25]	3
Ireland (IRMA)[26]	16
Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)[27]	9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28]	73
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[29]	22
UK Singles (OCC)[30]	15
UK Dance (Music Week)[31]	10

"Nathan Jones" has also been remade by:

• Paul Davis (album Cool Night, 1981)^[32]
• Nicolette Larson (album All Dressed Up and No Place to Go, 1982).^[33]