UK London Non-UK
Released: 1984
UK chart position: Non-UK

The Wild Life is one of the few Bananarama singles that does not appear on a standard-issue album. It was written exclusively for a movie soundtrack of the same name, after the release of the Bananarama album. The 1985 re-issue of the Bananarama album (driven by the success of Cruel Summer) in the USA and Canada included this track on the LP by replacing the seven minute long album version of Hotline To Heaven with an edit.

The Wild Life was only issued as a single in Japan, Canada, USA and Australia. The single peaked at #70 in the US charts, in November 1984, while the UK counter-part single Hot Line To Heaven peaked at #58 in England for one week and then slipped out of the charts.

"We were telexed through the story line of the film by the film company. They said that they really liked our records, and would we try to write a song for the film, so we thought 'it sounds good - we'll give it a try!'. We wrote and recorded it in two days flat because we had to go to Japan. Mind you, when I say two days, it was two 24-hour days! But it did come out very well. We were really pleased with it - and the film company thinks that we captured the feeling perfectly!" - Siobhan Fahey, (1984)

Up until 2002, The Wild Life was not available on CD, but a USA series "The Essentials" included it on its tracklisting, making this the only CD thus far to include the track.

Chart Peak: US #70
Written by: Sarah Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain
Produced by: Jolley, Swain
Published by: In A Bunch J&S Music
Copyright owned by: London Records 1984
Featured on: Single, Bananarama (North American Re-issue), The Essentials

Three versions of The Wild Life were released. There is the single version (3:17) which appears on the 7" singles and the north American LP issues, and The Essentials CD. A slightly longer version appears on the original motion picture soundtrack of The Wild Life (3:47) and this is also the same version that is used in the video clip that appears in the "And That's Not All" video collection. Unlike all other Bananarama singles, there is not a definite 12" extended version of this song, but the Canadian 12" of The Wild Life does include a Dub Version (7:07) that is not available elsewhere.

Bananarama Versions

The Wild Life (single version) 3:17
The Wild Life (album version) 3:47
The Wild Life (Dub Version) 7:07