We're The Banana Splits

One of the greatest things about the music of the 60's is how it accessible it was to just about anyone. The cool kids had the Beatles and the Stones; middle America watched the Monkees; the hippies had the Dead and Jefferson Airplane; even Mom and Dad could swing to a homogenized version of Lennon & McCartney done up by Enoch Light or Tony Bennett. And for the toddlers, there were these weirdos, the Banana Splits.

I was suprised at how good some of the songs on this hard to find LP are (thanks to my friend Gary who let me borrow his copy). I'm not saying the Banana Splits were the next Beatles, but compared to the kind of music they make for kids today (the Barney theme comes to mind) this stuff kicks ass. Let's hear it for Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper and Snork!

Fantastic memories.....along with The Animal
Kwackers - does anyone remember these guys? (11-15-2005)

Brad (Brad_Martin93@yahoo.com) says:
You can get BOOMERANG Classic Cartoons Cable Channel to watch the Splits, might try to get E-bay, OveStock.com, Amazon.com, etc.

To hear Song you go just copy and paste:

http://melaman2.com/cartoons/singles/banana.html

One banana,two banana, three banana, four
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.
Over hill and highway the banana buggies go
Comin' to bring you the banana Split show

(CHORUS)
Tra la la, la la la
Tra la la, la la la

Four banana, three banana, two banana,one
All bananas playin'in the bright warm sun
Flippin' like a pancake, popping like a cork
Fleegie, Bingo, Drooper an'Snork

CHORUS REPEATED

Two banana,4 banana, 1 banana, three
Swingin'like a bunch of monkeys ,hangin' from a tree
Hey there, everybody, wont you come along
How much like Banana Splits everyone can be

CHORUS REPEATED

Makin up a mess of fun
Makin up a mess of fun
Tra la la, la la la
Tra la la, la la la
Tra la la, la la la

(11-14-2005)

Kevin Hagen (tonn_mhara@yahoo.com) says:
I was sat down in front of the TV in the rec room every Sat morning, bowl of sugar coated cereal in my shaking little hands, ready for the Banana Splits. I especially dug that 6 wheeled amphicar they drove around in. They must have influenced me as I've always been a fan of psychedelic music and later on in my 20's I bought a Vox guitar just like Drooper's and started up a psychedelic rock band, no, make that two bands! We were the Petal Pushers in sun baked Florida, and The Romulans (of several others by the same name) of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
I'd be well chuffed if you'd host a few video clips from the show. Please? (10-27-2005)

Manny H (mannyher15@qwest.net) says:
Growing up the Banana Splits was one of the reasons to get up an saturday. I tell my friands about them when we all talk about growing up in the day. todays kids could learn a thing or two by watching them, like lets have a little fun and not to take things to seriously. (10-20-2005)

Benny says:
This was the first "real" album I ever had, other than the Jungle Book soundtrack, which was not all music. I remember my mom and dad bringing it home from work for me one day when I was staying at my mamaw's house, and I bet I was all of 5 years old. So that has to be one of the first memories of my life. I now have over 1500 albums, over 5000 Cds, and have made a career out of my love for music in radio and concert promotion. So I guess it was, and still is a "landmark" album for me. Thanks for the memories, and how I wish I still had my copy! (10-19-2005)

Snork Exposed! (noosic@hotmail.com) says:
Sorry Kimberly,
The person in the suit that played Snork the Elephant was actor Jay Larrimore. Tell your friend "T" some people check these things. Sowwy! (10-17-2005)

Jules (juliancito49@hotmail.com) says:
I loved The Banana Splits, growing up in Chile, South America. It was shown on Sunday mornings, just before Land of The Giants, around 1970. Would not miss one show.
Love all the characters, the music, the colour, the crazyness and the psychodelic settings.... and also all the shows within the B.S. show (Arabian Nights, Micro Ventures, etc.). I purchased sometime ago a Video of the show, here in Australia where I live.... my kids love them too. (10-03-2005)

Kimberly (Yeehaw777@earthlink.net) says:
I KNOW THE ELEPHANT!
I was @ a Bible Study and we were getting to know the other ladies and "T" stood up and said that she was the elephant on Banana Splits!!!!!!! I said, "I loved you and your were my fave!"

SO KEWL! (10-03-2005)

bill james (popewilly@yahoo.com) says:
just found your site and loved it. me and my wife enjoyed the tra la la song. my daughters thought we were nuts. kids have no taste in good music. (10-02-2005)

Feature Set says:
yeee-ess - an indelible mark on my life. we are putting together a student web site in Leeds UK and 2 nights back were batting around ideas for some audio clips - myself and the manager (Ian) are v late 30's, art director (Sash) is 26 - he wanted 'stop the pigeon' but all Ian had to say was 'size of an ELEPHANT' and we were rolling with laughter. Sash just looked puzzled, poor sap. look at tvcream.org for more Splits bits (09-30-2005)

Shannon (coastalchick@bellsouth.net) says:
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy! (Buffalo Soldier)

For all you Bob Marley fans as well...doesn't this sound familiar to The Tr La la song? My husband asked me how our 2 and 4 year old knew that song...I am curious. Which came first and how so that they are the same exact chorus...different lyrics? (09-20-2005)

Ulmo (ulmo2003@hotmail.com) says:
Nah... Today, even kids are victims of "National Security" BS! What a difference between those days and today, when kids are shown ware mongering stuff (fight this and that, good vs bad, conflicts, Goldorak, fight this and that and so on)... I wonder who is preparing our kids to go to war when they get older...

As Disney is preparing kids to only be able to whatch simple and binary hollywoodian movies (don't ask my neighbors to understand anything in a movie consisting of 8 characters mixed with a scenario not involving some war about "good vs bad")... Banana Splits Rocks! (09-19-2005)

Everette Dewaine Longus! (edlongus@aol.com) says:
I noticed reading the label of my copy of this album that "Doin' The Banana Split" was written by Barry White!! (09-10-2005)

Annette L. Orejuela (Menettie@yahoo.com) says:
"I Loved the banana split's show. I would like to find an updated version of the hit song; Tra la la. I know my kid would listen to it and myself, ofcoarse! (09-06-2005)

bent4toons (http://bentrecords.blogspot.com) says:
This is a great album, Frank, but you do your visitors a disservice to talk about The Banana Splits and not offer a sample of the uber-funken "Doin' The Banana Split" or the way out candy-psychedelia of "I Enjoy Being a Boy".

Were they on this Splits disc, or the other one? Luckily a friend hooked me up a year or so ago with a CD compilation of all the Splits stuff and included that "Beagles" album by the same guys on the burn. (09-05-2005)

Louis Joseph Hubbard (louisjosephhubbard2003@yahoo.com) says:
Boy oh boy does this take me back.
Believe it or not,I've got the vinyl album
of the Banana Splits.I know they were a
kid's saturday morning program,I can relate
to that,But four guys in animal costumes that
play rock N' roll....Man, I'll tell ya,
THEY KICK CAHOONIES. (09-04-2005)

tee says:
in days of much sadness worldwide... Its nice to think back to a time when the most I had to worry about was being able to run inside from playing outside in time to watch the splits (and all the others... kroft... b.bunch... starblazers...) As Archie Bunker sez: "Doze were the days!" (09-04-2005)

Matt Snell says:
I was born in 75. The show was something we watched on T.V.. It had cool
cartoons, but the music rocked! A very strange time,a wierd era! Now I work in a bank and play in a rock band. The Splits were very cool! (09-04-2005)

Andrea Polak (Andrea2tch@aol.com) says:
As I was checking out another site which was trashing the kid's show "The Doodle Bops" (Don't get me started...UGH!) one of the comments made reference to The Banana Splits. I couldn't fathom who they were. So I went to find out. I was born in 1966, so I thought after reading some of the previous comments, that maybe it came out just a little too early before I was born. I have a remarkable memory of things from long ago. OK, I even remember being bathed in my bassinette at 6 months. But I couldn't remember the Banana Splits...UNTILL I CLICKED ON TH.....Tra LA La song! NOW I remember! And yup, that song is now in my head.
By the way, to the person who meentioned HR Puff N Stuff, I'm picturing the characters as I type this. I have always held a fondness for the memories of that show!
Yes, my two favorite shows I would watch when I was 4 or five, were Sesame Street, and The Electric Company. They still have Zoom on, but it doesn't hold my five year old's interest the way it did for me. Maybe it has to do with the song that has changed! (09-04-2005)

Paul says:
I'm fortunate enough to work with one of the guys (Bob S.) who did some voice over work for the show as well as being a member of The sparkles. As a matter of fact, just today I asked him if he realized the impact he had on my generation. He is a very modest, laid back guy. (09-03-2005)

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