The Banana Splits - "That's the Pretty Part of You"

Oh, so you think this is FUNNY BINGO?

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (or The Banana Splits and Friends Show, as many people know it) was a children's program that ran from about 1968-1970. The show was about a band of animals, supposed to be reminiscent of bands like the Beatles or the Monkees, who played disturbingly good children's music. Of course, they would get into some kind of hijinks that allowed for comedic results in funny animal costumes, but it was really the music that made the Splits relevant and kept them there.

Michael Stipe once said that the Banana Splits music was more influential for him than anything the Beatles ever wrote. While I never really got into REM, I was always kind of impressed by this, mostly because I never saw anything great in the Beatles. I understand what they did for pop music, especially the three minute, guitar pop song (they basically invented it), but I didn't much care for their music. When I finally came across a Banana Splits record on the intarwebs the other day, I had to hear it.

Upon further inspection, it turns out there was a reason for the Banana Splits' music being so good. The songwriting was handled by studio musicians, many of whom later became very important in the pop music world. Joey Levine, one of the most influential jingle writers of all time, wrote a few of the songs (Joey Ramone named himself after Levine, if you're wondering why a jingle writer was so important). Al Kooper wrote one of the songs (most notable for his work with Bob Dylan, basically inventing the "rock organ" part on "Like a Rolling Stone") and freaking Barry White wrote another song. The cavalcade of songwriting stars before their respective peaks were in full force with the Splits, and it shows.

The music is pretty much what you'd imagine. It's sort of bastardized, late 60s sunshine pop with great instrumentation that probably shouldn't be in such a low budget children's television show soundtrack. The Sing 'n Play EP was one of the first releases. Apparently, it came with cereal of some sort, or it was a reward for eating a certain amount of cereal. The theme song appears, as well as three other songs. The second song is easily the most notable; it's called "That's the Pretty Part of You." I often forget the "politically correct/incorrect" didn't really exist in the 1960s because the first time I heard the song, I couldn't stop laughing. The song is addressed to a girl who isn't particularly good at anything and isn't good looking either; her "personality" is what makes her pretty, which is code for, "You lead an unfulfilling life, according to my standards, and no, I probably wouldn't date you, but it's cool, we can still be friends." Something about rolling that up into a pop song screams genius to me.

The Banana Splits - "That's the Pretty Part of You"