Age doesn't bother us.. we're not trying to be teenagers; EXCLUSIVE: The backcombed hair and dungarees have gone, but Bananarama are back with a new album and a refreshing take on the pop business.

Byline: Sue Carroll

Bananarama girls Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward are slightly miffed.

To launch their new album, Viva Bananarama, the pair are spending a day packed with meetings at the record label's flash London offices.

The other girl band in the Fascination Record stable is Girls Aloud and there's a suspicion that's why only 10 minutes for lunch has been factored into Sara and Keren's schedule. "TEN MINUTES,'' explodes Keren. "FOR LUNCH! I've never heard anything like it. Other groups may not eat but we do. It's essential.

"There are more important things in life than being thin, anyway men prefer women with a bit of meat.

"I've never been on a diet that lasted more than a day. When we were kids at school together in Bristol, Sara and I would save a bit of our dinner money every day so we could buy a chocolate cake at the end of the week. I still love a chocolate eclair and a glass of wine before bed.

"People get obsessed about exercise, dieting and eating what's good for you.

"There's a lot to be said for doing what you want in life. Yes, it's fair to say we both enjoy a drink and the occasional cigarette."

These refreshingly unpolitically correct views hardly come as a shock. Long before the aforementioned Girls Aloud, the Spice Girls and All Saints, we had the couldn't-care-less chart-toppers Bananarama.

Back in the 80s three stroppy girls ruled the charts relentlessly churning out hits for over 10 years and making Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye), Robert De Niro's Waiting, Love In The First Degree, Venus and Cruel Summer the soundtrack of so many teenage lives.

They have sold more albums than girls Aloud, and had more hit singles than The Supremes.

Sara, Kern and siobhan Fahey - who left to form Shakespears Sister - were scarily outspoken, independent, non-conformist and not bothered about the trappings of fame.

Nowadays it's hard to imagine any self respecting girl band daring to set foot on planet Celebrity without an entourage of hairdressers, stylists, security guards and an army of make-up artists to fix their false lashes.

Bananarama employed none of the above, preferring to roll out of bed, sling on a pair of dungarees or ripped jeans and face the world bare-faced with dragged-through-a-hedge-backwards hair.

"We never mastered the niceties. We didn't mean to be stroppy or awkward, we just had opinions and wanted our own way. If we'd been blokes that would have been perfectly acceptable.''

Being controlled or groomed certainly wasn't on their agenda. "You look at the level of grooming now,'' says Keren, whose partner is Wham's Andrew Ridgeley. "It's so high maintenance. I'd go ballistic. How we looked on TV was exactly how we looked during the day.

"Oh God, imagine having to get up and coiff your hair for half-anhour. Even now I don't go to the hairdresser. All that sitting around looking at yourself in the mirror bores me. Our joy was writing, and dancing like lunatics.''

And nor, adds Sara, were they in it for the fame. I'm tempted to believe her. She and Keren are the absolute antithesis of divalike pop queens. They may have sprung from the same era as Madonna but there's nothing holistic about them.

They drink green tea only if accompanied by bread and jam.

Neither goes to the gym.

"I'd rather have a life and glass of wine,'' admits Sara, who shares her North London home with her 17-year-old daughter Alice, by former Bananarama dancer Bassey Walker, and quite frequently Keren when the pair are working.

They've lived cheek by jowl since they were four-yearolds growing up in Bristol. Later on they shared a council flat where they ran up outlandish clothes on their grannies' sewing machines and wrote the songs that would give them more chart entries than any band in history.

They recognise they're lucky to have such a solid friendship and it's touching to see, sparring and joking and never taking themselves too seriously. They're great company.

"I could never have worked in this business without Sara, I'd have gone bonkers. When you're working full-on, like we were for 10 years, you need support. We're like Morecambe and Wise. She's Ernie, definitely. I'm more laid back while she's so impatient it drives me mad.''

It was while the band were at the height of their fame and touring America that Keren discovered she was pregnant by her then partner David-Scott Evans. "I was 25, but I felt I was just a kid. The idea of my son, Tom, who's 22, becoming a father is just scary. I lecture him almost every day: 'Don't you dare do what I did.' Not that there was ever any question of me not going through with the pregnancy.''

Keren now enjoys a life that sounds pretty close to idyllic. She has a farm in Cornwall with Andrew - who moved out of the media glare when he realised the royalties from Careless Whisper meant he'd never have to work again.

"I love to walk the dogs and we go to the pub. You can be normal if you choose to be. Andrew has a charmed existence, he plays golf and surfs. I'm just not ready to retire.''

Occasionally, George Michael helicopters down to share a day of rural tranquillity.

"He popped down about six weeks ago and gave Tom, who works for a film company in London, a ride home. But he doesn't fly himself you know,'' Keren laughs, mindful of the singer's recent motoring prang. "I don't think I'd have been keen on Tom being on-board if he did. Not that I can talk, I've got a knack of crashing cars.''

For all their talk of shunning diets, both Keren and Sara are stunning at 47.

"Age doesn't bother us at all, we're not trying to be teenagers. When we found out we were going to be on the same label as Girls Aloud we were thrilled.

"We've met them and they're lovely. All we'd tell them is enjoy it while you can, at the end of the day it's pop music.

"You work so hard to have a life then suddenly the time comes when you've got time on your hands. That's what happened to us. We worked flatout during the 80s but the 90s were leaner. It was nice to get away and have a life outside of the band but you can't help feeling slightly hurt that people don't want to buy your music. That's why, when we did the Isle of Wight Festival in June, we were chuffed to see how many people knew every word of our songs.''

Meanwhile Sara has another new interest, the man she's just started dating.

"I'd tell you his name,'' she says, "but it's early days and I don't want to jinx it. It's strange going on dates because when we were younger we just went out with the people we hung out with.''

So who would they like to hang out with now?

Keren laughs: "Right now we're liking the actor Tom Hardy. And Joaquin Phoenix, oh yes. John Nettles is my naughty pleasure. I love Midsomer Murders.

"I've also got a thing about Gyles Brandreth - twinkly. And Stephen Fry - appealing brains. I wouldn't mind flirting with Bill Clinton - you know, when he was in his prime.

"Oh yes, and James Purefoy in the TV series Rome, fabulous. We were both loving that, weren't we, Sara?''

So there you have it. What Bananarama's idea of a good night is... wine, chocolate eclairs, an epic TV drama and a man in a toga. Bit like the rest of us really.

! BANANARAMA'S ALBUM VIVA IS OUT NOW.

CAPTION(S):

BACK TO TRACK: At Retro Fest 2007 LOUD GIRLS: Siobhan, Keren & Sara in 1982 NATURAL TALENT: In 1988 VIVA THE NONDIVAS: Sara and Keren launch their new album