Cool Bananas is the first album by the New Zealand band DD Smash led by Dave Dobbyn, released in 1982. It entered the charts at number 1, purely on tour exposure.
In 2015, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the New Zealand Music Charts, Recorded Music NZ honoured Cool Bananas as being the first album by a New Zealand artist to debut at No.1 on the album chart.
Track listing
Personnel Personnel as listed in the album's liner notes are:
DD Smash Peter "Rooda" Warren — drums, vocals, percussion Rob "Revox" Guy — guitar Lisle Kinney — bass guitar Dave Dobbyn — guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
Additional musicians Red McKelvie — pedal steel guitar on "Blue Note"
Production Ian Morris — producer Paul Streekstra, Doug Rogers — engineers Wayne Robinson — cover artwork
Awards The album won Best Album at the 1982 New Zealand Music Awards. DD Smash won the same award the following year with their follow up live album, Live: Deep in the Heart of Taxes. The band also won top group of the year, and Dobbyn won Most Promising Male Vocalist and Top Male Vocalist.
| 1982 | Cool Bananas | 1982 New Zealand Music Awards – Album of the Year
| 1982 | Ian Morris for Cool Bananas | 1982 New Zealand Music Awards – Producer of the Year
| 1982 | Paul Streekstra and Doug Rogers for Cool Bananas | 1982 New Zealand Music Awards – Engineer of the Year
| 1982 | Wayne Robinson for Cool Bananas | 1982 New Zealand Music Awards – Sleeve Design of the Year
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1982) Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (1982) Position New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 29
References