#7: Juanita Banana by the Peels

City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #39
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube: “Juanita Banana”
Lyrics: “Juanita Banana”

The Peels consisted of Gail Allan, Bill Spilka, Harvey Davis, and Harold Swart. They were a study group who were assembled by co-writer of “Juanita Banana”, Tash Howard. Bill Spilka was born in 1933. He attended Princeton. He played trombone while at Princeton with the Stan Rubin and His Tigertown Five from 1953 to 1955. Harvey Davis wrote and recorded one rock n’ roll single in 1959 titled “Come Back Baby”.

“Juanita Banana” is a novelty song adaptation from Mexican folk music by Tash Howard and Murray Kenton. The song, which tells the story of a Mexican banana farmer’s daughter with operatic ambitions. The chorus is an adaptation of “Caro Nome” from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. The father is so astounded that Juanita Banana has won the world’s acclaim that he burns down his banana trees, moves to the city, and buys a guitar.

Born Harold Temkin in Cranford, New Jersey, in 1943, Murray Kenton was one of his pen names. He also went by the pen name Gary Knight. He wrote “Too Many Rules” for Connie Francis, “The River Is Wide” for the Grass Roots, and “Breakout” for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Under another pen name, Gary Weston, he successfully wrote “Vacation” which became a Top Ten hit for Connie Francis in 1962. Under the stage name Gary Temkin, he had a minor 1961 hit in Philadelphia and Grand Island, Nebraska, titled “I’m Running Away”.

Born in 1941 with the birth name Howard Tashman, he learned to play the drums. He founded both Tash Music and Tash Music Co. Inc. Tash Howard died in 1977 at the age of 36. He is buried in the Jewish section of the Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey.

“Juanita Banana” climbed to #3 in St. John’s (NL), #10 in Springfield (MA), and Manchester (NH), 11 in Winston-Salem (NC), and #16 in Cleveland. The single stalled at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was covered in 1967 by Freddie & The Dreamers.

The Verdi-inspired chorus of the Peels recording was sampled later in 1966 on the Dickie Goodman record “Batman & His Grandmother”.

Tash Howard also wrote “Juanita Banana Part 2” for The Peels as a follow-up release later in 1966. After their brief moment in the spotlight, The Peels disbanded.

Bill Spika formed the Dixieland band Rowdy Rooters in 1978. They played for the New York Rangers hockey games at Madison Square Garden. Spilka became a well-known jazz and music photographer. What happened to the other three session musicians on the recording of “Juanita Banana” is lost to time.

April 29, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
John S. Wilson, “Jazz: Spilka Plays Dixieland,” New York Times, December 24, 1984.

Newfoundland’s Only Official Survey VOCM 590-AM St. John’s (NFLD) | April 15, 1966