There’s always money in the banana stand. This, we know. What we might have overlooked, however, is the music of Arrested Development. Sure, there’s the obvious montage in “Making a Stand (Season 3, Episode 8),” where still shots of rival banana stands (Thanks for the great idea, Gob.) are accompanied by virtually every song ever featured on the show, but what about the separate, debut moments of those songs? Don’t fret, we’ve taken liberty of going back and hand selecting the best bunch of musical moments from Arrested Development thus far, because what else were we going to do until this Sunday when the show’s fourth, and highly-anticipated season is released on Netflix?
“Big Yellow Joint” – Jimmy Jane
(Season 1, Episode 10: “Pier Pressure”)
In the 1970s Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand was a popular meeting place for weed tradeoffs, and in capturing the zeitgeist, Jimmy Jane wrote “Big Yellow Joint” with the cadence of Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow,” in homage to the stand’s resemblance of a marijuana joint. This track and its connection to the banana stand blends perfectly in “Pier Pressure,” when Buster brings hundreds of dollars to George Michael in hopes that his nephew, the manager of the stand, can procure weed for his ailing girlfriend, Lucille 2. The track appears again with a modern twist in season three, when Michael and Gob go head to head with competing banana stands.
“All You Need is Smiles” – Jeffrey Tambor
(Season 1, Episode 20 “Whistler’s Mother”)
In a stunt to integrate the Bluthiverse into the real world, Oscar’s single success that can be spoken for is an early ’70s pop song that not only David Cassidy embarrassed to perform it in front of John and Yoko, but Joan Baez considered Oscar “the shallowest man in the world” because of the song’s naïveté. This track is mentioned as Oscar’s single success when he is first introduced in the show, which immediately illustrates his comically humble lifestyle in contrast to the successes of his brother, George Sr. Indeed, the excessively optimistic lyrics and simplistic musicality of “All You Need is Smiles” is one of the tongue-and-cheek, satirical running jokes for which “Arrested Development” is lauded. Despite the gut-busting reaction it received from avid fans, a generous amount of the humor lies in the idea that yes, the song’s sunny disposition is easily believable as a throwaway Partridge Family song.
“Bad Girls” – Donna Summer
(Season 1, Episode 20: “Whistler’s Mother”)
Only Lindsay could turn a protest into a cage dance, complete with a wet t-shirt style hose down that makes spring break look tame. Fittingly Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” plays while this is going on. Just like the song, Lindsay is upbeat and attractive, which makes it difficult to hate either. Really, “Bad Girls” is fitting not only in this instance, but as a theme song for the narcissistic, greedy and often horribly oblivious monster that we’ve all come to know and love. Go on wit’ your bad self, girl!
“Afternoon Delight” – Starland Vocal Band
(Season 2, Episode 6: “Afternoon Delight”)
Horrible misconceptions are the basis for any classic Arrested Development gag. What better horrible musical misconception could there be than being unaware of the virile, smarmy not-so subtle subject of The Starland Vocal Band’s most popular song? Insidiously catchy despite it’s thinly veiled support of daylight sex, the Bluth Family clearly never caught onto the song’s rampant sexuality. First at an (afternoon) office Christmas party, then at the (afternoon) redux of said Christmas party, Michael, Maebe, Lindsay and George Michael happily belt the soft-rock come-ons into their relatives eyes, unaware far too late that, again like all great AD punchlines, they’re being cringed at.
“It Ain’t Easy Being White” – David Schwartz
(Season 2, Episode 18: “Righteous Brothers”)
GEORGE BUSH DOESN’T CARE ABOUT BLACK PUPPETS.
That’s Franklin Delano Bluth simply being Franklin Delano Bluth. He speaks his mind, or Gob Bluth’s mind (while his lips are still moving) and he’s said some things Whitey just wasn’t ready to hear. On Gob and Franklin’s debut duets album, Franklin Comes Alive, the duo was looking for something that would “break down racial barriers and maybe be a crossover hit.” The lead single “It Ain’t Easy Being White” tried to do that by focusing on some of the harsher troubles both races face on a daily basis.
They made a huge mistake.
“Mock Trial with J. Reinhold” -William Hung & His Hung Jury
(Season 3, Episode 10: “Fakin’ It”)
Arrested Development’s doomed third season brought this idea to full bear with an episode involving a fake/real trial, two fake/real marriages and an utterly fake coma. But the show was also faking it. In an attempt to mollify Fox, they presented TV’s most dysfunctional family as a cohesive unit, and brought in former Fox and American Idol cash cow William Hung to soundtrack the fake/real Mock Trial with J. Reinhold. The real joke – Hung’s pretty much a fake/real singer, too.
