The Internet Home of Cleveland Record Label Banana Records

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.

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.

A New Album from Les Vincent
8-Song Disc Highlights Vincent’s
Past, Present and Future

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.

Banana Records is having a banner release year in 2023. In addition to the new Les Vincent album, two additional major releases are being worked on and are in various stages of completion.

First, Paul Nickels has been hard at work compiling another collection of songs for release as a follow-up to 2021’s “With Friends Like These”. Once again, this solo release will contain songs penned by both Paul, and friends in the music business that he has worked with over the years. As a preview to the album, Paul released “Renaissance Man’, written by fellow Banana Record artist Jim Butterfield. The single, available on all streaming services is a credit to Paul’s maturation as both producer and artist. The only definitive thing we can report about the new release (working title: “Honor and Doom") is that it will be available sometime in 2023. When reached for comment, all Paul would say was “…it definitely won’t be a 20-song album this time." Let’s hope it’s more than 20, because the world needs more from this eclectic artist.

Banana Records President Jim Butterfield is at it again. Jim is working on a new album for a release in 2023. He has stated that he wants to release one album per year for the foreseeable future, because, as he says “I’m not getting any younger."
When the release date gets closer, we will hold another contest on these pages to name the new album.

"Renaissance Man"
The new single from Banana Recording Artist Paul Nickels
Available now on all streaming services