THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

908-Guy Marks-Loving You Has Made Me Bananas.

1968-It didn’t chart in the UK until 1978, when on it’s re-issue it reached Number 25.

Best Bit-At 0.58. The greatest compliment I can pay to this song, is to say it sounds just as authentic as the ‘Big Band’ radio broardcasts from the early 20th Century that it parodies.

Guy Marks was born Mario Scarpa on October 31st, 1923, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, he died at the ‘Atlantic City Medical Centre-Pomona,’ in Pomona, New Jersey, on November 28th, 1987, at the age of 64. Guy Marks who was the youngest of 11 children, was a very successful impersonator, comedian, actor, and singer, who appeared alongside all of the biggest American entertainment stars of the day, including regular appearances on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’ ‘The Dean Martin Show,’ and ‘The Joey Bishop Show.’ As part of his night club act, Guy Marks would do a routine where he would mimic a local radio broadcaster from the 1930’s era, and then go in to a routine where he would parody the singer of a Big Band. In 1968 Marks recorded the first of his two studio Albums,’Loving You Has Made Me Bananas,’ on the ‘ABC Records’ label, the other tracks on that Album including this songs ‘B’ side ‘Forgive Me My Love,’ are legitimate songs from an earlier era, also performed in the same 1930’s, and 1940’s style. Guy Marks would also release one further Album, ‘Hollywood Sings as impersonated by Guy Marks.’ Marks is considered to have been one of the greatest impersonators of all time, and is best remembered for his 1975 stand up routine ‘How The West Was REALLY Won? where he was critically acclaimed for his flawless impersonations of characters such as Humphrey Bogart, (1899-1957) Gary Cooper, (1901-1961) and Robert Mitchum (1917-1997.)

‘Loving You Has Made Me Bananas’ can be filed under the genre of ‘Novelty Songs.’A novelty song is a type of song that built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, or a piece of humour, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with ‘Comedy Songs,’ which are more explicitly based on humour, and with musical parody, especially when the novel gimmick is another popular song. ‘Novelty’ songs have always been a staple of the music charts, and dozens have been hits down the decades, including many that have reached the Number 1 spot. Some prime examples are ‘Patti Page, with ‘(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?’ (Billboard Number 1, and UK Number 9 in 1953) and Chuck Berry, with ‘My Ding-a-Ling,’ (Billboard and UK Number 1 in 1972) ‘Novelty Songs’ have also proved very popular when used in aid of charity, with one of many examples being the 1991 UK Number 1 hit ‘The Stonk’ by ‘Hale and Pace,’ which raised over £100,000 for the ‘Comic Relief’ charity. ‘Novelty Songs’ have also been very successful over the Christmas period, with the English ‘You Tuber,’ musician, and blogger Mark Hoyle, using his pseudonym ‘LadBaby,’ in collaboration with his wife Roxanne, having achieved five consecutive UK Christmas Number 1 ‘Novelty’ hit singles, from 2018-2022.

‘Loving You Has Made Me Bananas’ was the only hit single released by Guy Marks, where in America on it’s release in 1968, it peaked at Number 51 on Billboard. The song, and it’s parent Album of the same name, were both produced by Peter DeAngelis, (1929-1982) who also wrote the songs ‘B’ side ‘Forgive Me My Love.’ When the song became a surprise hit in the UK in 1978, Guy Marks was invited on to the music programme ‘Top of the Pops’ to promote it. This was one of the rare occasions where an act sang live, rather than the usual miming that was insisted on by the shows producers. When performing the song on ‘Top of the Pops’, Marks name checked Johnny Pearson (1925-2011) who led the ‘Top of the Pops’ orchestra for the performance. There were also three female singers providing the backing vocals live, and in a very comical moment, you can hear one of them singing ‘shop fitter blues,’ instead of the correct ‘ship fitter blues,’ which is followed by audible howls of laughter. ‘Loving You Has Made Me Bananas’ has nonsensical lyrics, with the only thing they have in common, being that they rhyme.

‘Oh, you burned your finger that evening, while my back was turned. I asked the waiter for iodine, but I dined all alone. Your red scarf matches your eyes, you closed your cover before striking. Father had the ship fitter blues, loving you has made me bananas.’