The Banana Splits were a musical group of four animal characters; Fleegle, a beagle; Bingo, a gorilla; Drooper, a lion; and Snorky, an elephant; (played by actors in costumes), who starred in their own successful television series The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.
The Banana Splits' bubblegum pop rock and roll was provided by studio professionals, including Al Kooper ("You're the Lovin' End"), Barry White ("Doin' the Banana Split"), and Gene Pitney ("Two Ton Tessie") and Jimmy Radcliffe provided his songs ("I'm Gonna Find a Cave", "Soul", "Don't Go Away Go-Go Girl", "Adam Had 'Em" and "The Show Must Go On") but did not contribute vocals to Splits recordings. The music director was music publisher Aaron Schroeder who picked the songs created by his staff writers. The intended main theme song was to be the Ritchie Adams and Tony Powers song "We're The Banana Splits" but the television and advertising executives thought the "Tra La La Song", another Adams composition co-written with prolific songwriter and producer Mark Barkan, was a catchier theme. According to an interview in DISCoveries magazine, Adams and Barkan sang "Wait Til Tomorrow," "We're The Banana Splits" and "The Tra La La Song". David Mook produced all of the released tracks (co-producing the single sides Long Live Love and Pretty Painted Carousel with Aaron Schroeder), credited as "A Past, Present and Future Production by David Mook for Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc." (Mook also co-wrote the theme songs for Chuck Barris' The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game.) Arranger Jack Eskew also orchestrated some of the Splits' tunes. Three singles, "The Tra La La Song", "Wait Till Tomorrow", and "Long Live Love" were released by the Splits along with an album, We're the Banana Splits. Two 45RPM EP records with four songs each were available via an offer on the back of Kellogg's cereal boxes. Two of the three singles as well as both EPs were issued with picture sleeves.
A bootleg recording of all the released Splits recordings was made and released on CD in 1995 on the Hollywood Library label. (This CD was mastered from vinyl sources at a slightly increased speed, with excessive noise-reduction, resulting in a noticeable echo effect, especially at the end of songs.) One song, "Wait Til Tomorrow", later appeared on a various artists bubblegum hits CD, sourced from the Hollywood Library bootleg. Most recently, an unauthorized vinyl pressing was issued in 2007 by Ripped Couch Records in the UK. This pressing has a different track listing from the original album, consisting of the first 16 tracks on the Hollywood Library bootleg CD (one track from the original album, "Soul" written by noted soul singer songwriter Jimmy Radcliffe, is missing from this version despite its being listed on the front cover). The audio was sourced from the Hollywood Library CD.
The Californian punk band The Dickies released a sped-up version of "The Tra La La Song" as the "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" which entered the UK charts in 1979.
The Bob Marley and the Wailers song "Buffalo Soldier", from the 1983 album Confrontation, features a very similar melody to "The Tra La La Song" in its chorus.
The Mr. T Experience recorded "Don't Go Away Go-Go Girl" for a the 1993 Banana Splits Tribute album "Banana Pad Riot" on the Skull Duggery Label. Mr. T Experience also included "Don't Go Away Go-Go Girl", as a bonus track, on their 1997 Lookout Records re-issue of the 1989 release "Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood" and as a hidden track on the "Our Bodies Our Selves release also from 1993. "Banana Pad Riot" also featured recordings from punk bands The Vindictives ("Two Ton Tessie"), Boris The Sprinkler ("We're The Banana Splits"), and The Young Fresh Fellows ("Doin' The Banana Split").
Liz Phair and Material Issue recorded "The Tra La La Song" for the 1995 compilation album Saturday Morning. Their version was based on the Decca Records single version, with a different arrangement than the version used on the TV series, also including an otherwise unheard additional verse.
Ralph's World covered "The Tra La La Song" in 2001 on their album At the Bottom of the Sea.
In 2005, "I Enjoy Being A Boy" was covered by They Might Be Giants for their first podcast. The separate mp3 was released for free on their site.
Throughout the '90's power pop band Autumn Teen Sound played "The Tra La La Song" live. They also recorded it, but is was never officially released. It appears on the bootleg "Beaten Up By Rock & Roll."
In 1988, "I'm Gonna Find a Cave" was covered by Girl Trouble for the Sub Pop 200 compilation
Famous quotes containing the words banana and/or splits:
“I never liked bananas much anyway. Two-thirds of the way down even one banana I am willing to concede defeat smilingly and give the rest to the nearest monkey.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Family quarrels are bitter things. They don’t go according to any rules. They’re not like aches or wounds; they’re more like splits in the skin that won’t heal because there’s not enough material.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)