Where Yellow Turns
To Gold!
in the great music city
of Cleveland, Ohio
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Banana Links: |
Welcome Discerning Music Fans! To the World Wide Web home of Banana Records! Banana
Records released its first record in 1982 - long before the debut of
that entity known as the internet - but here we are! Banana Records traces its history in Cleveland to as far back as 1973, when it emerged as a concept in the heads of a few music heads plying the scene in those long ago times. Please feel free to explore these pages. You'll find a concise history of Banana on the about page, you can explore the Banana stable of artists, and purchase their material. You can also check out Mab Zab Music publishing, which continues to be operational and can handle your music publishing needs. (Protect that intellectual property, folks!) And of course, there is the Banana Store, where you can buy select titles from archived and current Banana artists. Thanks for visiting, and
send us email
with any questions/additions/subtractions.
What's New at Banana Records:
The First 2024 Banana Release Available for Streaming Now
"One Hand Clapping," by Banana recording artist Paul Nickels, is now available for streaming on all services, and also as a hard CD in the Banana Store. The 14-song record is a follow-up to 2021's "With Friends Like These." Hard CD copies are on order and should be available in early March. "This record is a tribute to my roots as a member of The Backdoor Men, the band I was privileged to drum for in the late 70s through 1987. That band included two great songwriters - Terry Hartman and Dan Cook - to whom I've dedicated it. Fully half the album was written by them, and it was a joy to revisit our "garage band" sound and finally get some of that band's classics recorded properly," says Nickels. "I also had contributions from some associates of the band, and one by Butterfield 8 member and Banana Records head Jim Butterfield." "Clapping" is the first release of 2024 for Banana Records. * * *
Best Guitar Player: Rick Christyson Best Bassist: Bryant Zowie Best Drummer: Rock Handsome Best Keyboardist: Leen Hoban-Gallagher Best Male Vocalist: Les Vincent Best Female Vocalist: Jinni Fontana Best Band: Butterfield 8 Best Producer: Paul Nickels Best Album: ”It’s Hardly Ever Just Black & White” – Les Vincent and MZ7 Best Song: ”Point of No Return” (Butterfield 8) Best Mansion: Ryel Parma Mansion
Best Bar: Last Cast Lounge (Dewittville, NY) Biggest Disappointment: LNo Banana Artists Inducted into Rock Hall (again) Comeback of the Year: Joe Flacco Best Couple: KBill & Peggy Hayes Handsomest Man: Gage Surratt Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Katie
Butterfield Most Extravagant Lifestyle:
Suzie McLaren * * *
New Album from
Butterfield 8
“Broken People” is
the Group’s 3rd Album in 2 Years! Once again, Paul Nickels performed the pivotal
role of producer for this album.
He also plays drums on all the tracks (save “Rings of Saturn”,
which features Jim on the Baby Rattle…a trick that Jim borrowed from
Mick Ronson). Speaking of
Mr. Ronson, the sing-along anthem “Point of No Return” owes a major
tip-of-the-hat to Mick’s work on Bowie’s “Starman”.
Jim asked longtime collaborator, Rick Christyson, to
channel Mick’s Starman style for the ending guitar solo.
Christyson also lends his mandolin talents to the same tune. Also prominently featured on the new album are the
vocal stylings of long-time BU8 member Les Vincent.
Les was noticeably missing from the last trilogy album, “Another
Day In Paradise” due to scheduling conflicts.
He makes up for that by appearing on half of the new tracks here.
In fact, Les is the only backing vocalist utilized, other than
Jim. The album is available on all streaming services, and
the physical CD is also available direct from this website (Discography/Store
page) for $12.00 including shipping and handling.
You can also listen to the album on bandcamp.com under the artist
“butterfield81”. There are also rumors that the band may be
contemplating live performances.
That would be a pretty big deal considering the fact that the
last time Butterfield 8 performed live was 1990!
We’ll keep you posted.
* * *
A New Album from Les Vincent
Les Vincent (aka Tom Richissin) has
finally released his long-awaited album “It’s Hardly Ever Just Black &
White” on Banana Records.
The eight songs are available on all streaming services, and the
physical CD is also available direct from this website
(Discography/Store page) for $12.00 including shipping and handling.
This album was a long time in the making,
as Les has been busy raising a family and “Taking Care of Business” in
his beloved Boston, MA.
However, when he finally decided to get back to his passion of
songwriting and singing, it was a very quick turn-around to produce his
Freshman Foray into the world of recording.
As most Les Vincent fans are aware, he was the driving force
behind numerous iterations of the wildly popular Les Vincent & The Tree
Toads back in the day. Les’
reputation for being the catalyst behind (and in front of) that
legendary concept/party band left many a fan yearning for Mr. Vincent to
release his music in recorded form for all to enjoy any time they felt
the need for a “Tree Toad Fix.”
Les was assisted in the recording effort
by his long-time friend, Jim Butterfield, and his newfound friend,
producer Paul Nickels. Les
had worked with Jim and Paul as a backing vocalist on Butterfield 8’s
recent releases. Once Tom
(as his family and close friends know him) was ready to record his own
collection of tunes, he knew who he wanted to work with.
Most of the album was recorded remotely, with Les recording the
basic tracks in his home studio in Boston, Jim adding instruments from
his Florida studio, and Paul bringing it all together in Cleveland at
his Bay Village Handsome Studio.
Paul also played drums on all of the tunes, and added guitars on
select songs. The billing for the
album is actually “Les Vincent and MZ7” because Tom wanted to stress the
fact that this was a “group effort”. The eclectic collection of songs range from new compositions that address subjects very important to Tom, as well as select covers of songs by The Kinks and The Leisure Set. As anyone who reads this website is aware, The Leisure Set was the brainchild of Jim Butterfield and Bob Burford. Burford lends backing vocals here on his own composition, “There’s No Teardrops." "It's Hardly Ever Just Black & White" is a welcome addition to the Banana Records catalog, and we hope this portends future releases from Les Vincent. Click on the store page if you'd like to get your own copy. New Les Vincent Record is Making Waves Les Vincent was interviewed recently in the The Reading Post, a local Boston area newspaper. We can confirm that he is, in fact, working on a new album, and recording vocal contributions for the next Butterfield 8 release. That boy really does ROCK!!! Click on the picture of Tom to read the story.
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2023. Content may be reproduced or shared with permission only.
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