Who Sang The Spoof Banana Boat Song?

The Banana Boat Song, also known as Day-O, is a traditional Jamaican folk song. It was originally sung by dock workers who worked through the night loading bananas onto ships. The song was first recorded by Trinidadian singer Edric Connor and his band the Caribbeans in 1952. However, the best-known version was released by American singer Harry Belafonte in 1956. Belafonte's version reached number five on the Billboard charts in 1957. Since its release, The Banana Boat Song has been covered and parodied numerous times, including by Stan Freberg, Dutch comedian André van Duin, and German band Trio.

Harry Belafonte's 1956 version

"Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song, commonly classified as calypso music. It is a call-and-response work song, from the perspective of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. The song describes how the dockworkers want their work to be counted up so that they can go home when daylight comes.

Belafonte then recorded the song for his breakthrough album "Calypso". The song and the album helped to spark a Calypso craze in the U.S., with many artists using beats inspired by the genre in their pop tunes. Belafonte's version of "The Banana Boat Song" reached #5 on the Billboard Charts in 1957 and became his signature song. It has since been covered numerous times and has been referenced in numerous films and TV shows, including the 1988 film "Beetlejuice".

In a 2011 interview with Gwen Ifill on PBS NewsHour, Belafonte described "Day-O" as "a song about struggle, about black people in a colonized life doing the most grueling work... I took that song and honed it into an anthem that the world loved."

The Colgate Comedy Hour

One notable episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour was hosted by Donald O'Connor on November 22, 1953. This particular episode made history as the first color television broadcast in the NTSC color system.

Another memorable moment from the show was Harry Belafonte's performance of "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)" in 1955. The song is a traditional Jamaican folk song, commonly classified as calypso music. It is a call-and-response work song from the perspective of dockworkers loading bananas onto ships during the night shift.

For his performance on The Colgate Comedy Hour, songwriters Lord Burgess and William Attaway adapted some of the lyrics to "The Banana Boat Song." Belafonte's performance captivated the audience, and he went on to record the rewritten version for his breakthrough album "Calypso." The song's popularity helped to spark a Calypso craze in the United States, with artists incorporating Calypso beats into their pop tunes.

Belafonte's version of "The Banana Boat Song" became immensely popular and is often parodied and referenced in popular culture. It has appeared in movies like "Beetlejuice" and has been covered by various artists, including Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Bassey, Steve Lawrence, and Raffi.

The Calypso craze

Calypso music originated in Trinidad and Tobago and spread throughout the Caribbean during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals and was historically sung in French Creole. As English became the dominant language in the region, calypso migrated into that language and gained more widespread attention.

The craze for calypso music in the US was short-lived but intense, with many artists incorporating calypso beats into their pop tunes. Calypso's rise was closely connected with the adoption of Carnival by Trinidadian slaves, and calypso competitions at Carnival grew in popularity, especially after the abolition of slavery in 1834. The first identifiable calypso song was recorded in 1912 by Lovey's String Band, but the "golden era" of calypso came in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the style, form, and phrasing of the music were cemented.

Stan Freberg's parody

Stan Freberg was an American actor, comedian, musician, and radio personality, among other talents. He is known for his parodies, including his spoof of Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)", which he recorded in 1957.

Freberg's version of the song satirises Belafonte's original recording. In Freberg's take, the lead singer has to muffle the sound of his "Day-O!" by running down the hall and closing the door behind him because the beatnik bongo drummer complains that his voice is "too shrill" and "too piercing". When the singer gets to the lyric about a "beautiful bunch of ripe banana [s]", the drummer interrupts again, saying that he "doesn't dig spiders".

Freberg's parody of "The Banana Boat Song" is just one of many musical satires he recorded. Others include "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley, "Sh-Boom" by The Chords, and "The Great Pretender" by The Platters.

Freberg's parodies were often products of his collaborations with Billy May, a jazz arranger and musician, and Ken Nelson, his Capitol Records producer.

Osama Bin Laden spoofs

The Banana Boat Song, also known as "Day-O", is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song was popularised by Harry Belafonte, who released it in 1956. It has since been covered and interpolated many times, and has also been used in films and TV shows.

The song has also been spoofed and parodied on several occasions. One notable parody was by Stan Freberg and Billy May, released in 1957. Another parody, this time by Dutch comedian André van Duin, was released in 1972.

The song has also been spoofed in response to political events. During the war on terror, a spoof of the song circulated on the internet, poking fun at President George W. Bush, Colin Powell, and Osama Bin Laden. In 2001, the Rockin Roll Morning show on KOMP 92.3 created a flash video called "Osama bin Laden Nowhere To Run – Nowhere To Hide", featuring Colin Powell singing a parody of the song about Osama bin Laden getting bombed. In 2019, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert spoofed the song, modifying the lyrics to make fun of Mike Pompeo.

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