Harry Belafonte/Michiko Hamamura -- Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)

 

I was sorry to hear that singer-activist Harry Belafonte had passed away earlier today at the age of 96. His name and face were familiar to me when I was a child since I remember him appearing on a number of variety shows on American television. For that matter, he also used to show up on a number of those K-Tel record compilations. 

The legendary Belafonte has had a long discography but of course, I will always know him for "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)". I didn't know the song's origins as a Jamaican folk song which possibly go all the way back to the beginnings of the 20th century with it being covered by various artists over the years. However, it will always be the Belafonte cover that I know best when it was released in 1956 (it premiered several years before my time so it's not a ROY article).

"Day-O" had already reached immortal status by the late 1980s but it incurred further pop culture legend status when it was used in "Beetlejuice" in 1988. The Halloween-themed classic was filled with hilarious scenes so it says something when much of the cast was induced to sing and dance to Belafonte's trademark song to become the standout scene of the movie. Catherine O'Hara can make everyone laugh (and has shown to be an adept dancer as well on "SCTV") but I was stunned to see famed television interviewer Dick Cavett in on the joke, too.

All the way back in the 1950s and 1960s, it was common for Japanese singers to cover the hits from the West, and so was the case with "Day-O". Known as "Banana Boat" in Japan, it was released in March 1957 as sung by 19-year-old Michiko Hamamura（浜村美智子）from Kagoshima Prefecture as her debut single. The Belafonte version had lyrics written by Lord Burgess and William Attaway, but the one for Hamamura who sang it in both Japanese and English had the Japanese portion provided by Seiichi Ida（井田誠一）. Although other versions of the song were released at around the same time, the Hamamura cover was the one that had the most success by selling around 300,000 copies; she would appear on the Kohaku Utagassen that year to perform it. She even became known as either "The Banana Boat Girl" or "The Calypso Girl" because of "Day-O", although in her J-Wiki file, she admitted at one point that she really wasn't into calypso but was more of a jazz fan.

Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）also contributed her vocals to the song at least once. My condolences to Belafonte's family, friends and fans.