Mega Music Memories

Episode 7: Alida Swart (from Vanilla)

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Episode notes

We caught up with Alida Swart from the 1990s girlband Vanilla in the latest episode of Mega Music Memories.

Alida, alongside Sharon Selby and sisters Frances and Alison Potter, formed Vanilla in 1996 and gained notoriety a year later with their hugely memorable hit No Way No Way, which peaked at number 14 in the UK singles chart. 

A performance on Top Of The Pops, regular television appearances and a second top 40 single, True To Us, followed for the girls before they eventually went their own separate ways.

No Way No Way heavily sampled Piero Umiliani’s piece of music, Mah Na Mah Na, which is most closely associated with The Muppets. It was a divisive single and one that certainly captured people’s attention and is still very well-remembered and frequently played to this day.

Alida fills us in on what went on behind the scenes with Vanilla, clarifies some details and addresses various myths about the band and their music head-on. 

She also tells us what all the Vanilla girls are up to now and we even get to listen to snippets of some of the group’s unreleased tracks.