On the Road Again: Bananarama returns to the USA

• The '80s dance-pop act hasn't played the States since 1989
• The duo's Hard Rock Cafe shows will raise breast cancer awareness
• The band's name has nothing to do with 'The Banana Splits'

Absent from U.S. stages since 1989, English girl group Bananarama returns this month for a two-week tour of Hard Rock Cafes. Founding members Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin, best friends since age 4, will reprise '80s dance-pop gems like Cruel Summer and I Heard a Rumourstarting Tuesday at the Hard Rock Cafe New York, with additional stops in Boston, Tampa, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Las Vegas.

One banana, two bananas: Bananarama last played the States during 1989's The World tour, when they were still a trio. (Original member Siobhan Fahey left the group in 1988; Woodward and Dallin kept the act a duo after replacement member Jacquie O'Sullivan departed in 1991.) "We're bringing our band, who are lovely," says Dallin, 50. "It'll be a bit less of an extravaganza than we did in '89, which was a full-on stage show with great big sets and costume changes. I'm not sure we can manage a costume change in mid-set this time."

Is it live? In the early part of their career, the members of Bananarama more often performed with backing tracks than with a full band. "It wasn't something that we thought would have longevity, that would be a career forever," Dallin says. "Keren and I were 18, and we thought this was really good fun. It was a good laugh. We had boys that came out on stage and danced with us." The group's creation coincided with the rise of MTV, which meant that a dance-oriented act like Bananarama could penetrate deep into the public consciousness without having to stage a full-scale touring production. "You didn't need to travel, although we did travel to do tons and tons of TV," says Woodward, 51. Since 2005, when Move in My Direction and Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango) returned Bananarama to the U.K. and U.S. dance charts, they've toured more regularly, and usually with musicians. "We don't really enjoy doing track shows as much," Dallin says.

Did they know where they were going to? Throughout Bananarama's career, the act has been known for high-energy covers of songs like Shocking Blue's Venus and Steam's Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye. Woodward and Dallin's very first recording was a cover, too -- Barbra Streisand's Evergreen, sung into a cassette recorder. "My mother thought it was fantastic and played it for everybody that came to the house," Dallin says. The two also appeared in school musicals together, playing hat-check girls in a production of Guys and Dolls. "I also played piano in Annie, Get Your Gun," Dallin says.

Breast efforts: The current tour is part of Hard Rock's Pinktober breast cancer awareness campaign. "I have a cousin who had breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy about 10 years ago," Woodward says. "She went through chemo, and it was just devastating for the whole family. Around that time, I had a scare myself and had to have a biopsy, but I was OK." Sales of Pinktober merchandise will benefit several breast cancer charities, including the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the U.K.'s Caron Keating Foundation.

Sometimes a Bananarama is just a Bananarama: No matter what you may have heard, the members of Bananarama did not choose their name by combining allusions to The Banana Splits Saturday-morning TV show and Roxy Music's song Pyjamarama. The Roxy Music part is correct -- it was one of Woodward and Dallin's favorite records -- but the "Banana" was simply a tropical-sounding word intended to complement the phonetically learned Swahili lyrics to 1981 debut single Aie a Mwana. Had they known that they'd sell 30 million records worldwide and stay together so long, they might have gone with another name. Although, Dallin says, "I don't even notice the word now. It's like saying 'the Tower of London' or 'Buckingham Palace.' It's just a word."