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Bananaphone
Studio album by Raffi
Released	1994
Recorded	March–June 1994
Genre	Children's music
Length	49:24
Label	Rounder Records
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Raffi chronology
Evergreen Everblue (1990) Bananaphone (1994) Raffi Radio (1995)

Bananaphone is a children's album^[1][2] released by Raffi in 1994. The title track's lyrics describes the bananaphone. The song uses many puns such as "It's a phone with appeal!" (a peel) and nonce words like "bananular" and "interactive-odular" as Raffi extols the virtues of his unique telephone.

Internet popularity

The song became an Internet meme when the flash animation "Banana Phone" was released on the web site Newgrounds. Since then, many fan-made music videos for the song have been created. The sped-up version has also been used in a flash movie featuring the badgers from another Internet meme, Badger Badger Badger.

On September 4, 2007, "Bananaphone" received what is thought to be its first ever full play on a commercial radio station when John Warburton played it on his breakfast show on 96.2 The Revolution with the promise that it would cheer people up. A snippet of the song had previously been played on the show after being found by production assistant Jim Hall. Prior radio exposure of the song occurred in snippet form only and usually in a sped up version (in the manner of, for example, Alvin and the Chipmunks). This version became a staple in 2004 on The Opie & Anthony Show and recurred with less frequency in subsequent years. Another snippet of "Bananaphone" is occasionally used at the end of some segments of The Colbert Report and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

The sped-up version has been played during Cincinnati Reds radio broadcasts, in the event that the play-by-play team needs to take calls from the audience to kill time during rain delays.

It is also in a Harry Potter Puppet Pals music video.

"Banana Phone" can be heard periodically in it's sped-up version on the Fan960's sports radio program show The Rob Kerr Program, hosted by Bob Kerr. The song is used for levity and spoofs.

Track listing

1. ”Bananaphone” (Creber, Raffi) 3:12
2. ”Shake a Toe” (Creber, Raffi) 2:20
3. ”The World We Love” (Creber, Raffi) 3:23
4. ”Slow Day” (Creber, Raffi) 3:25
5. ”The Changing Garden of Mr. Bell” (Hubbard, Silversher) 4:07
6. ”Naturally” (Creber, Raffi) 3:04
7. ”Spring Flowers” [instrumental] (Raffi) 2:40
8. ”C-A-N-A-D-A” (Connors) 2:50
9. ”Michael Row the Boat Ashore” (Traditional) 3:25
10. ”First Peoples” (Creber, Raffi) 4:37
11. ”Dee Myth” [instrumental] (Raffi) 2:59
12. ”Cowlit Night” (Raffi) 3:21
13. ”The Gorilla Song” (Knowles, Knowles) 2:10
14. ”Simple Gifts” (Traditional) 2:15
15. ”Down by the Riverside” (Traditional) 3:13
16. ”The Shmenge Polka” [instrumental] (Raffi) 2:07

^[3]

Cover Versions

The popular track "Bananaphone" has been covered in different musical genres, such as a country version by Rhonda Vincent and a heavy metal version done by the band Grim Saviour.^[4].

In Chile, the famous TV kids show "Cachureos" released a cover of "Bananaphone" -named "Teléfono"- for its album "La Mosca" (1996).^[5].

References