Synopsis

Bananarama endure a sweltering New York day while working around a gas station and wandering the city's streets. Their attempts to escape the oppressive heat turn into a comic road adventure when they climb aboard a truck and attract the attention of two bumbling police officers. The chase unfolds through Brooklyn's industrial streets, with the trio maintaining their cool, carefree attitude and even turning fruit into ammunition. The video gives the song's loneliness and summer misery a playful, distinctly 1980s visual treatment.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in New York City in June 1983, primarily around the Dumbo area of Brooklyn. The industrial streets, elevated structures, and waterfront surroundings give it an unmistakable early-1980s New York atmosphere.

• Its truck chase and comic police characters are a clear nod to the American television series "The Dukes of Hazzard."

• Bananarama later recalled that making the video was partly an excuse to visit New York for the first time. The production helped turn the city itself into one of the video's main attractions.

• The song was released in the United Kingdom in 1983, where it reached No. 8. Its appearance in the 1984 film "The Karate Kid" helped it become Bananarama's breakthrough in the United States, where it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

• Although "Cruel Summer" became strongly associated with "The Karate Kid," the group did not allow the recording to appear on the film's soundtrack album.

• The song's theme was intentionally darker than the usual carefree summer pop song: oppressive heat, isolation, and the absence of a loved one. The video's comic escape plot provides a deliberate contrast to that mood.

• The single later gained another life through covers, including Ace of Base's internationally successful version, while Bananarama's original remains one of the group's signature recordings.