The recent death of the gifted Jamaican-American singer Harry Belafonte at the age of 96 inevitably sparked memories of when his biggest hit "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" swept the globe, including Britain.
It was 1957 and I recall on the bus to school along with other children trying to sing the tricky but very catchy "Day-O" bits from the song and totally wrecking it in the process. It's scary to think that was more than 60 years ago.
I vaguely recall seeing Belafonte on black and white television singing the song with people in the studio dancing around rather sad-looking fake banana palms. I admit to not fully understanding the lyrics at the time and had no idea what a "tally man" was.
