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“You guys have really taken it to your heart,” adds Dallin of Americans’ reception to the track, “I mean, it just seems, for me, it’s almost like it’s America’s song.”Forty years after its release, “Cruel Summer” has endured in popularity, from Ace of Base’s 1998 cover version to its inclusion in numerous movies and TV shows such as Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Cobra Kai and American Horror Story.

“They just love it so much and always play it and ask for it to be in Netflix things and films and movies, which is just great,” says Dallin. “It was such a one-off peculiar little song with the marimbas. I don’t know what caught the imagination, but it caught people’s imagination and really stood the test of time. It’s just a classic.”The track remains a staple of Bananarama’s live set over the decades and undoubtedly will be performed during the duo’s three-night run at London’s Palladium venue starting on April 3. The shows coincide with the group’s latest greatest hits collection, Glorious, spanning their classic ‘80s output and beyond with such popular tracks as “Venus,” “I Heard a Rumour,” “Love in the First Degree” and of course “Cruel Summer.”“There’s this absolute love for the ‘80s,” says Woodward. “I think there’s an individuality with all the different groups and you know immediately who you are listening to. There is some great music around now, but I feel like it was less homogenized in the Eighties, maybe because everyone had the freedom to explore and express themselves and dress how they wanted.

“We go and do shows [today] and you look out and you think, ‘They look a bit young for us,’” she continues. “And then they know all the songs. They know all the lyrics to all the songs. It’s just the decade that won’t go away. It’s brilliant.”