We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Dave Willemain feat. Scott Gilmore & Spence Holman - 'Dunk​-​A​-​Balls'

from Various Artists - Towson​-​Glen Arm Freakouts: 1992​-​1999 by Nuns Like To Fence

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $2 USD  or more

     

about

Recorded live at The Towson High School Coffee House; May 22nd, 1994; previously unreleased; audio from videography by Megan Carberry. Personell: Dave Willemain - oration, Scott Gilmore - bass viola, Spence Holman - percussion.

Below is a transcription of Dave Willemain's 5/22/94 reading of his original story 'Dunk-A-Balls' which was first published in the 1995 edition of Towson High School's "Colphon" literary magazine and appears here in a version slightly different from what Colophon eventually published...

THS English dept. head William Jones: One of the most distinctive voices in the creative writing class is the voice of a person who is very capable in both poetry and prose, but when he reads in writing class and we hear his prose I think he gets the strongest reaction: David Willemain.

(The crowd applauds. Dave Willemain steps up to the front of the room clad in thick dark rimmed glasses,a Bazooka Joe bubblegum t-shirt, and a gaudy pair of 1980's Jamz brand shorts. The applause dies down. Scott Gilmore and Spence Holman then carry their instruments into the room. Scott wears ragged earth tone clothes and a "crust punk" hairstyle while Spence wears a beret, a colorful t-shirt, and dark shorts. They assemble around Dave, with Spence at the left and Scott to the right. All of this inspires laughter from the crowd. Dave knods at the duo who then start to play. Dave then begins to read, clenching a piece of paper in his hands as he announces the story's title...)

"Dunk-A-Balls"(!)...

He gets on he bus with a box of cereal under his arm. "What's that?" I say. He answers me by holding up the box about three inches from my face. "DUNK-A-BALLS," it reads in dull orange letters. "Can I have some?" He pours about forty of them into my hand. "Mmm, these are good," I say, "Do you remember Gremlins cereal? That's what they taste like." He stares at me for about a minute, then says, "Like Batman cereal." "I've never had that before, but that's what I imagined it would taste like." I feel as though it sounds like I'm just trying to agree, but what I say is the truth. "It's actually kind of like Captain Crunch, just fluffier and lighter. "He nods.

"Hey, can I have some?" a voice cries from the seat behind us. He gets up and moves next to that person. He starts to pour more balls which miss their target of two cupped hands and fall all over my seat. As the bus leaves the school parking lot, I pick one up and throw it out the window at a fascist jock whom I recognize. He shakes his fist at me, while I shake my fist at him, mocking his macheezmo. "I hate imperialist muscleheads," I say to a friend. He nods and laughs with a mouthful of Dunk-a-Balls.

I am aware that the bus driver is aware of what I'm doing. I sit in the second three-seater in the front. She has been so nice to me all year; I wouldn't want to disrespect her. "Miss Bobbie(!), is it okay for me to throw Dunk-a-Balls out of the window? I won't cause any accidents." "I dont know," she says. "Last year at senior picnic, they threw marshmellows at the bus. I thought it was the funniest thing until the temperature reached ninety eight degrees and they melted." "But Miss Bobbie(!)," I plead. "These are just Dunk-a-Balls. They're harmless."

She sighs. "Miss Bobbie(!), could you slow down so that I can throw some at the other bus?" She nods. As the other bus passes, I see a guy who wanted to beat up my friend because he was wearing pink shoes. I aim and throw. The Dunk-a-Ball hits the window and explodes(!)...it explodes*...it explodes. Instead of shaking a fist and clenching his teeth, he just stares with his crony. We laugh and laugh; even Miss Bobbie(!) does.

When the bus reaches my stop, I give Miss Bobbie(!)** a handful of Dunk-a-Balls."Mmm," she says,"these look good."

(*Dave repeats the word 'explodes' while signaling to the band to make an "explosion" sound with their melodies)

(** the emphasis placed on the name 'Miss Bobbie' came from the fact that William Jones refused to let Willemain use the real name of the bus driver or anyone else in this true story, probably to avoid any libelous/slanderous complications. To show his disapproval for Jones' policy Dave uses an angry tone of voice every time he says the name 'Miss Bobbie'.)

Willemain's performance here is characterized by a palpable sense of excitement. While most of the other artists featured at this event received polite applause once their readings were finished, the reaction remained boisterous before, during, and after Dave's performance... That I know of, this reading of 'Dunk-A-Balls' represents the first time that a spoken word recording of Dave Willemain has ever been released. - Mike Apichella (note: the 40 pg. booklet and 11x17 insert that both accompany the cassette version of Towson-Glen Arm Freakouts both contain more info.on the Towson-Glen Arm literary movement.)

credits

license

all rights reserved

tags

If you like Nuns Like To Fence, you may also like: