April March - Voodoo Doll
April March - Kooky
The vocals and lyrics are ace and April March is obviously a hip lady - but who's the creepy bloke she's duetting with on "Kooky"?
That's Tim Hensley, at that time going by the name Vic Hazelnut, who wrote and arranged the songs.
That was in 1992. At that time I was totally obsessed with Daniel Clowes amazing comic, 'Eightball'. Truth be told, I'm still obsessed with it. Great artwork, twisted stories - you probably know that this is where "Ghost World" started and Clowes co-wrote the screenplay for the film.
In the first 10 issues the main story was "Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron", the story of a guy called Clay who was looking for his wife. Along his travels, amongst other things, Clay joined a Manson-cult; was attacked and left for dead by the police; befriended the lovely Tina (above); looked after Laura, a dog without eyes, ears or a mouth who was fed by syringe. Eventually Clay stumbled across a 'gentleman's club' where he saw a snuff movie starring (ta-daahh!) his wife. It was hardly "Peanuts".
When the story finished, Clowes announced that he was selling the soundtrack album (for a comic...). And guess who was doing the creepy vocals?
Victor Banana - Slumber, Precious (from "Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron" OST)
Yep, Tim Hensley is Victor Banana. He uses the same band and April March even does some of the vocals on the album. Hensley is perfect for this - the hipster 50's style with a deranged edge, like a decomposing crooner that's been dug up.
At the time Ox and I were sending some early Johnny Domino demo tapes around and decided to send one to Jenkins Peabody, the label that had released the "Velvet Glove" soundtrack. We wrote this long letter saying what a genius we thought Hensley was, which made it quite embarrassing when he wrote back - Jenkins Peabody was his own label.
He was cool and said some nice things about our stuff, and, as we'd sent our latest demo, he returned the favour with his latest CD. Anagram fans will approve of the new moniker under which he released the incredible "Refrains" CD in 1995. I love the way that these songs use the sounds of Easy Listening and 50s and 60s pop while still creating something really "other". Lyrics about onions, teen runaways (why ARE the vocals on "Teen Hobo" like that?), shoulder pain; songs that sounds like Pixies-pastiches and inappropriate bursts of foul language, I will let you discover for yourself.
Neil Smythe - Onions Make Me Weep
Neil Smythe - Teen Hobo
Neil Smythe - I Wanna Be A Dummy
Neil Smythe - Peace, It's A Gasser
Neil Smythe - My Shoulder
Having said that, a quick glance at the Jenkins Peabody site shows that Tim is now going by the name TOM Hensley...
Buy "Refrains" by Neil Smythe from CDbaby.com
Visit April March
Visit Jenkins Peabody
from the 9 comments from the original post:
Oxbow
Well, I am very keen on this bizzare and original artist. The arrangements and playing on these tunes is just great. However, it could give you nightmares if you go to bed on it!
Scumbalina
it's almost been a year since this post was made, but I've stumbled upon it several times in my victor banana/tim hensley/vic hazelnut/neil smythe hunt. I've seriously been looking for his music for YEARS. I'm 20 years old and read like a velvet glove cast in iron when I was 16. SHortly after, I found out about the soundtrack and I've been looking for a copy ever since. My search for that is finally over! I found a used copy of the cd version {though I'd prefer lp, I'm not going to get picky about this} on GEMM for $20 {$10 shipping because it's coming from australia}. I couldnt be happier!
But I still cant seem to find much else music by this guy. I've been able to find Refrains and the compilation "place of general happiness", with one track of his. I want to know more aboutthis mystery man! and dammit, I want more of his music!
thanks for making this great post, it's aided me in my hunt.
Anonymous
Oh my! VICTOR BANANA's got another amazing LP entitled "Split" on Splat-Co. Records from 1989. Perhaps marginally less twisted (although that's certainly debatable), it was a fave of Dr. Demento for a while - but don't let that stop you from finding it. Dan Clowes did all the artwork for that one, too. It's fairly hard to find - although it does pop up for cheap now and again around Southern California. Long live Jenkins Peabody!
3GT
Wow, how wonderful to discover a tiny Victor Banana enclave -- great band, great songwriter! I'll just chime in to the folks here who appreciate same that Tim and Tom Hensley are in fact two different guys; Tom's Tim's dad and has a musical career of his own. It's a pity Tim no longer puts his unique genius out there for others to hear!
stevedomino
fantastic to get some more comments here - thanks a lot!
anonymous - i had heard about the "Split" LP, but i haven't been able to find it online. thanks for the info - if anybody is planning a trip to Southern California anytime soon, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!!
3gt - many thanks for the extra information about Tim and Tom. it is such a shame that Tim doesn't record any more.
maybe we could start a petition?
Anonymous
Not sure if anyone's still reading these comments . . . but I just now stumbled across a guy who's "trading" professionally-transferred CDRs of VICTOR BANANA's "Spilt" LP! Here's the link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ironybread/
I've got the LP, but I'm tempted to get the CD too, if only to load onto my I-Pod.
stevedomino
anonymous - you are a LEGEND! i've already put in a request, so there may be another hensley related post coming soon. thanks for the tip-off!
Scumbalina
it's almost been a year since this post was made, but I've stumbled upon it several times in my victor banana/tim hensley/vic hazelnut/neil smythe hunt. I've seriously been looking for his music for YEARS. I'm 20 years old and read like a velvet glove cast in iron when I was 16. SHortly after, I found out about the soundtrack and I've been looking for a copy ever since. My search for that is finally over! I found a used copy of the cd version {though I'd prefer lp, I'm not going to get picky about this} on GEMM for $20 {$10 shipping because it's coming from australia}. I couldnt be happier!
But I still cant seem to find much else music by this guy. I've been able to find Refrains and the compilation "place of general happiness", with one track of his. I want to know more aboutthis mystery man! and dammit, I want more of his music!
thanks for making this great post, it's aided me in my hunt.
Farm Inmate
The truly obsessed may wish to know that Tim Hensley has recently uploaded TWO vintage Victor Banana videos on Youtube.com -- these are done by the SPLIT album band. One is a song not included on the SPLIT album. The video quality is excellent and weird, just as you'd expect.
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