"The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" is a 1968 pop song, which was the theme song for the children's television program The Banana Splits Adventure Hour . [1] Originally released by Decca Records on the album titled We're the Banana Splits, the single release peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 8, 1969, [2] and No. 94 in Canada, on January 20, 1969. [3] The writing of the song is credited to Mark Barkan and Ritchie Adams, who were the show's music directors.
However, there are claims that the theme was written by jingle writer N. B. Winkless Jr. of the Leo Burnett Agency, but was credited to Adams and Barkan for contractual reasons. [4] This was confirmed by Winkless’s son Terence, who played Bingo on the show, in his 2020 memoir From the Inside: My Life As Bingo of the Banana Splits. “In no uncertain terms, the Tra-La-La song was written by my dad on the slightly out of tune upright piano in our living room in Kenilworth, Illinois.” [5]
In 1995, Hollywood Library released the 1,000-copy limited-edition CD reissue We're the Banana Splits/Here Come the Beagles which, in addition to the original album version, included an alternate version of the song. [6]
American punk rock band The Dickies made the song a hit in the United Kingdom in 1979 with their cover version, marketed by A&M Records as "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)". The record reached No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart. [7]
A version by Liz Phair with Material Issue was the first track included on the 1995 album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, which peaked at 67 on The Billboard 200. [8] [9]
Bubblegum is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, that evolved from garage rock, novelty songs, and the Brill Building sound, and which was also defined by its target demographic of preteens and young teenagers. The Archies' 1969 hit "Sugar, Sugar" was a representative example that led to cartoon rock, a short-lived trend of Saturday-morning cartoon series that heavily featured pop rock songs in the bubblegum vein.
The Banana Splits is an American children's television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red helmets with yellow crests. The costumed hosts are Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper, and Snorky.
La Bouche is a German-American Eurodance duo best known for the hits "Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams", "You Won't Forget Me" and "S.O.S." La Bouche was founded in 1994 by record producer Frank Farian in Frankfurt am Main. He worked together with techno DJ Ulli Brenner and producer Amir Saraf to produce the music, while American singer Melanie Thornton and American rapper and backup singer Lane McCray fronted the act.
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album Gettin' Ready. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on the recording, which was produced by Whitfield. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded a version with The Temptations providing background vocals in 1966. It remained unreleased until 1997.
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a 1969 song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band Steam. It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a number-one pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969, and remained on the charts in early 1970.
"Witch Doctor" is a 1958 American novelty song written and recorded by Ross Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian sang the song, varying the tape speeds to produce high-pitched voices. The technique developed for the voice of the witch doctor was later used for the creation of the voices of Bagdasarian's virtual band Alvin and the Chipmunks. It became a number one hit and rescued Liberty Records from near-bankruptcy.
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States.
"Buffalo Soldier" is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Noel "King Sporty" Williams and recorded by Jamaican band Bob Marley and the Wailers. It did not appear on record until the 1983 posthumous release of Confrontation when it became one of Marley's best-known songs. The title and lyrics refer to the black US cavalry regiments, known as "Buffalo Soldiers", that fought in the Native American Wars after 1866. Marley linked their fight to a fight for survival and recasts it as a symbol of black resistance.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. The brother-sister duo Mac and Katie Kissoon also recorded a version in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered it in 1975; their version became a worldwide hit.
The Banana Splits are a fictional musical group of four animal characters; Fleegle, a dog; Bingo, a gorilla; Drooper, a lion; and Snorky, an elephant; played by actors in costume miming to music created for them, who starred in their own successful television series The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.
Terence H. Winkless is an American producer, director, actor and writer of motion pictures and television, and a cast member of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, playing Bingo the Gorilla, also a cast member in Trade Routes, and Goreyan Nu Daffa Karo, among others.
"Get Here" is a pop ballad written by American singer and songwriter Brenda Russell. The title track of her fourth studio album, Get Here (1988), it became a moderate hit on the US Billboard R&B chart after the album's successful first hit, "Piano in the Dark".
Xscape is an American girl group from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1990 by Kandi Burruss, Tamera Coggins, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, LaTocha Scott, and Tamika Scott. The following year, Coggins left the group and Xscape became a quartet. They were discovered by Jermaine Dupri who signed the group to his So So Def label. The group released their debut album Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha in 1993, which spawned two top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hits, "Just Kickin' It" and "Understanding". The album sold over one million copies in the United States, earning a platinum-certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked", is a 2008 song by Norwegian rock musician Ida Maria. Ten months after the UK release of the single, it was released in the US on May 26, 2009. The song borrows from The Banana Splits Adventure Hour's opening theme, "The Tra La La Song", and pays homage to them in its music video.
"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" is a 1962 single by Connie Francis, released in that December to peak at #18 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100. The song reached #22 UK in December 2008 via a remake by Gabriella Cilmi titled "Warm This Winter".
Marcus Barkan was an American songwriter and record producer. He was also a musical director for the television show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, which aired between September 7, 1968, and September 5, 1970, lasting two seasons, on NBC.
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realising that "it won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me."
"Reconsider Me" is a country/soul ballad written by Margaret Lewis and Mira Smith.
Howard Stanley Puris known as Tony Powers or Anthony Powers, is an American songwriter, recording artist, music video artist, and actor. He was responsible for writing or co-writing the hit songs "Remember Then", "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart", "98.6", "Lazy Day", and many others including "We're The Banana Splits", the Kiss songs "Odyssey" and "The Oath", and Powers' own "Don't Nobody Move ".
Richard Adam Ziegler, known professionally as Ritchie Adams, was an American singer and songwriter.