Deep Sea Skiving is the debut studio album by the English pop group Bananarama, released on 9 March 1983 by London Records.
The album peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart which were both subsequently included on Deep Sea Skiving. After hearing the Imagination song "Body Talk" (1981) and being impressed by its "slinky" sound, Bananarama sought to work on their debut album with the song's producers, Jolley & Swain. The duo would nonetheless be brought back as producers for Bananarama's next two studio albums, Bananarama (1984) and True Confessions (1986), and group members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward later acknowledged Jolley & Swain's role in helping the group hone their songwriting and arrangement skills during the Deep Sea Skiving sessions. Stereogums Robbie Daw later wrote that the album "stood out as a synth-pop and 1960s girl group hybrid", while Classic Pops Mark Lindores described its sound as "falling somewhere between the Slits and the Supremes" and noted that Bananarama "blended the notion of the classic girl groups of the 60s and the DIY ethos of the punk scene that spawned them".
Release
Deep Sea Skiving was released on 9 March 1983 by London Records, reaching number seven on the UK Albums Chart. Three further singles were released from Deep Sea Skiving: "Shy Boy", "Cheers Then", and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". While "Cheers Then" charted at a relatively low number 45, "Shy Boy" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" gave Bananarama two further UK top five singles, reaching numbers four and five respectively.
The sleeve artwork for Deep Sea Skiving was designed by Peter Barrett, while the cover photograph of Bananarama was taken by Bay Hippisley, who also constructed the underwater-themed set. The black tunics worn by Bananarama on the cover were sewn by the group members themselves. The six albums were reissued again by Edsel Records on 28 October 2013, each as a double-CD set with an accompanying DVD. The London label reissued the albums on CD on 20 July 2018, and on coloured vinyl and cassette on 30 November 2018.
Critical reception
Writing for Rolling Stone, Chris Connelly praised Deep Sea Skiving as sounding "like a great party" even without overt "conviction" or "soul", and commented, "Bananarama aren't the type to sing 'Come See About Me': they're hot stuff, they know it, and if you don't, that's your problem."
Bananarama
- Sara Dallin – vocals
- Siobhan Fahey – vocals
- Keren Woodward – vocals
Production
- Barry Blue – production
- Paul Cook (credited as "Little Paul Cook") – production
- Sara Dallin – production
- Steve Jolley – production
- Dave Jordan – production
- John Luongo – remixing ("Aie a Mwana")
- John Mackswith – engineering
- John Martin (credited as "Big John Martin") – production, piano arrangement ("Young at Heart")
- Squid Palmer – engineering (assistance)
- Tony Swain – production
Design
- Peter Barrett – design
- Bay Hippisley – photography
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col"| Chart (1983)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 85
|-
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 7
|-
|}