A few years ago, when we still got Cartoon Network here in Amsterdam, I had problems sleeping. So I started flipping channels in the middle of the night and the only things still on were National Geographic and Cartoon Network. I would watch National geographic til it started to repeat itself and then I’d flip over to Cartoon Network to watch my favorite kids show at the time: The Banana Splits & Friends!
It was and still is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. It must have been from the early seventies or something, because it looked nothing like the other polished kid’s shows. It featured a bunch of guys in animal costumes who ran around the set, sometimes sliding down the giant slide. There was never a real plot and for some reason it was important that nothing worked the way it was supposed to: The trash can didn’t accept trash and the mailbox never gave them their mail.
The Banana Splits were also a band who played Monkees type pop songs that I always thought were really not bad at all! Of course it was 4 o’clock in the morning and I was severely sleep deprived. In between the main Banana Splits shows there were five-minute series, my favorite was the live-action show Danger Island. I’m still not sure what was going on on Danger Island, but that was the best bad TV ever. To all of you out there who used to watch this too, I just want to say “Uh, oh Chongo”.
I feel obliged to warn the public about The Banana Splits Theme or The Tralala Song, because it is really catchy and I think the lack of sleep made me extra susceptible. It used to, and often still does, get stuck in my head until I want to scrape it out of my brain with a spatula. Enjoy!
The Banana Splits – The Tralala Song
Filed under: Music, Soundtrack Day
