YOU CALL
THAT NEWS?
(Hot Poop,
Lukewarm Poop
…final poop)
(Last updated 17 September 2021)
|
|
Hot
Poop
·
To celebrate
the 50th anniversary of 200 Motels, I have put together a
sort of true story of the making of the fillum by
those involved. It includes a few previously unpublished quotes. I have also
reposted my interview with Martin Lickert and The Idiot Bastard Shop is offering a modest
discount on the Would You Like A Snack? CD (all
orders come with a free ‘auto-rip’, including a mystery bonus track not on the
album and digital booklet); follow the links at the end of my article. [Added: 17
September 2021]
·
Finally,
confirmation that Zappa Records, UMe and MGM will
present an extensive 7-disc 200 Motels box set next month. It
contains the original soundtrack remastered by Bernie
Grundman along with never-before-heard demos, studio
outtakes, work mixes, interviews and movie ads. Also included is a Blu-ray disc featuring the film in 1080p high-definition
with its intended screen-crop-ratio and the digital premiere of the 1987 documentary
The True Story Of
200 Motels. Finally, the package contains a replica of the movie poster, a
custom motel keychain, Do-Not-Disturb motel door hanger and the original 1971
soundtrack packaging along with new liner notes by Pamela Des Barres, Ruth
Underwood and Joe Travers. (This
info popped up on Amazon, then swiftly disappeared. Fortunately a Zappateer copied it. You can see the full spiel with tracklist here.)
[Added: 17 September 2021]
·
As noted down
below, The Zappa Band, with special
guests, will play at the Baked Potato in LA this Halloween. The dates are 28-31
October. [Added: 17 September 2021]
·
Tower and
HMV in Japan are listing a 6CD version of 200 Motels, to be released on 29
October. (And yes, there are vinyl and 2CD editions too!) As reported below, Pamela Des Barres has written the liner
notes for this 50th anniversary reissue. More as and when. [Added: 10 September 2021]
·
Italian
guitarist/songwriter Marco Mattei releases his debut solo album, Out Of Control, in November. It features
Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Pat Mastelotto and Chad Wackerman. [Added: 10 September 2021]
·
Ike Willis, courtesy of Dr Dot, gives us an update on his
battle with prostate cancer here.
(Winning!) He also reveals that he has been asked to guest with the
(unbanned-from-utopia) Zappa Band in LA later this
year. Good news all-around! [Added: 07 September 2021]
·
As well as
catching up with Ike, Dot also had a Zoom chat with the always healthy Robert Martin. Robert reveals that (all
being well) Ike will guest with the Zappa Band at one of its four shows at the
Baked Potato this Halloween. And the pair also have a
burp-off! Check that one out here.
[Added: 07
September 2021]
·
The Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra has
mixed, mastered, sequenced and shipped off to Cordelia Records its fifth album,
called Make An Arf Noise Here. This features many of the usual
suspects, including Prairie Prince, Ike Willis, Sandro Oliva, Fred Händl – and even yours truly – plus the latest stellar addition to the ZERO auxiliary, Randy Hansen!
[Added: 07
September 2021]
·
The Zappa Band (currently on tour with King Crimson) is capturing performances
in hi-res quality. You can stream (or download, without subscription) a live
album from Saratoga Springs right now, from Qobuz.
Says Mike Keneally, “More shows coming soon! Follow the sound from town to
town! No post-show mixing or fixes possible! Hear the unalloyed reality of the musics we are creating on this very tour at this very
moment!” [Added: 05 September 2021]
·
Zappa book
news: Podmeister Scott
Parker's PREPOSTEROUS! Frank Zappa On
Stage 1977-1978 should finally start shipping in September; Peter Van Laarhoven's The Others Of Invention books are now readily available via
print-on-demand through Amazon; Candy
Zappa is writing a book about her time with Nolan Porter, called If I
Could Only Be Sure, which will be published by Crossfire Publications
(Crossfire will also be reissuing updated versions of Candy's My Brother Was a Mother (Take 4) and Greg Russo's Cosmik Debris in December); the Chicago Press Review has now cancelled
publication of Paul Zollo's Zappa On Zappa tome; and finally, out next month is the affordable softcover version of FZ88 (the visual documentary of FZ's
final tour) – pre-order now,
and save a fiver! [Added: 26 August 2021]
·
Ed Mann recently removed his Facebook posts about his two Gonzo Today articles, commenting that he was going away for a while
as he was "stunned" about
something. It very sadly transpired that his 27 year old daughter Anaïs had passed away. My sincere condolences go to Ed and
the family and friends of Anaïs. How terrible. [Added: 26 August 2021]
·
More sad
news: those of you who attended Frank’s 1984 shows at London's Hammersmith
Odeon will know of PR man Roland Hyams. (You can hear FZ's opening spiel about him from
the 24 September late show here;
this followed an article by Alan Rusbridger in the Grauniad.) Well,
poor Roland today really is in deep shit – his wife posted on Facebook: “Roland was diagnosed
with cancer last year. He had his cancer operation March this year and was
making a remarkable recovery. He went into hospital two weeks ago for a small
procedure. Two days later he had a cardiac arrest and a massive stroke. He
won’t be able to walk again. All we can do now is pray. I am devastated and
heartbroken.” Here’s hoping for a recovery of some sort for the poor
chap. [Added: 26
August 2021]
·
The Specials will release a new album, Protest Songs – 1924-2012, on 24
September. It includes 12 new versions of protest songs by artists like Bob Marley,
Leonard Cohen, and...FZ's Trouble Every
Day! [Added: 19 August 2021]
·
Chapter Two
of Ed Mann’s Hired by Frank Zappa tale is here.
A great read. [Added: 19 August 2021]
·
The 15-piece
Stinkfoot Orchestra has re-scheduled it’s San
Jose gig, with special guest Napoleon
Murphy Brock, which was planned to celebrate Frank's 80th last year: it
will now take place on September 11. Read a new interview with Napi here,
and visit the ensemble’s website
for more. [Added: 19 August 2021]
·
The virtual
Zappanale has been…but it’s not gone. If you want, you can still check out my
personal highlight: Patrick O’Hearn‘s solo
bass rendition of Twenty Small Cigars
– here! [Added: 14 August 2021]
·
Interesting
new article here
about Tom Wilson and his move to
MGM/Verve and working as producer on albums by the Mothers, The Animals and The
Velvet Underground. And who can forget Pamela
Zarubica's
reminiscences here? [Added: 14 August 2021]
·
Australian
pianist Michael Kieran Harvey, who
previously recorded Ruth Is Sleeping and 48 Fugues For
Frank: A Homage To Frank Zappa, has a new FZ influenced project. Catalogue des Errances
Bibliques/Bible Stories, for eight keyboardists
and four percussionists – together with spoken narration, written and spoken by
Arjun von Caemmerer
– has just been released on CD. Check it out here
– and over here
also. “The influence of Zappa – both on the music
and text – exceeds that of frozen beef pies,” says Arjun.
[Added: 14
August 2021]
·
Cherry Red
subsidiary él Records will release I’d Love to Turn You
On, Vol. 2, a 4-CD set, in October. It “explores
the relationship between 60s pop and classical music, free jazz and the
avant-garde; providing many examples of how popular music evolved, matured and
became liberated under the influence of apparently deeper, more expansive
genres.” Representing FZ's influences, it collects together Igor Stravinsky’s L`Histoire du Soldat, Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 by Arnold Schoenberg and selections from Music On The Desert Road: A Sound Travelogue
by Deben Bhattacharya. (Vol. 1
included Varèse's
Hyperprism.)
[Added: 14
August 2021]
·
Check out
this behind the scenes footage
of preparations for the 2019 Bizarre
World…/Hologram tour, featuring Frunobulax - and
FZ, in many animated forms! [Added: 30 July 2021 / Spotter: Corné
van Hooijdonk]
·
Typically
gonzo article
by Ed Mann about how he finally got
hired by the ‘evil and demonic’ FZ. [Added: 30 July 2021]
·
Ben Watson played three tracks from the Would You Like A Snack? album
on his 30-vii-2021 OTL Show on Soho
Radio. Check it out here.
[Added: 30
July 2021]
·
Read about
an almost lost episode when in 1974 Frank and the Roxy band went to Westminster College in Salt Lake City (where Albert Wing and Walt Fowler were students) here.
[Added: 24
July 2021]
·
The Ed Palermo Big Band's full headlining
set from Zappanale 2019 – with special guests Napoleon Murphy Brock and Candy
Zappa – is now up on YouTube
with remastered audio. Give you eyes and ears a
treat. [Added: 24
July 2021]
·
Chato: “This
Sunday (25/07/2021) at 7pm German time, my composition In Memoriam, Frank Zappa will be released on YouTube as a premiere!
It's my tribute to my greatest hero Frank Zappa. Because of him I wanted to
compose and it's no wonder it's in a similar style as his. I had the post-solo
section of Sinister Footwear Mvt. 2 and Black
Page #2 in mind when I wrote this. It would be great to watch this
together, so here is the link.”
[Added: 24
July 2021]
·
The Spanner Big Band livestreamed
their gig at the Gunners Pub in North London last week, and paid tribute to the
then imminent virtual Zappanale
festival by playing a splendid version of Waka Jawaka. Check it out here. And don't forget you
can listen to their version of Son Of Mr Green Genes over here (full album available from my webshop!). Oh, and Dan
Spanner’s solo rendition of Daddy,
Daddy, Daddy from the new Would You Like A Snack? album
was part of the virtual Zappanale
too! [Added: 24
July 2021]
·
Suddenly available
(in good time for the 50th anniversary): Would You Like A
Snack? – an album of choice cuts from 200 Motels, as performed by a bunch of
my Zappa friends. Buy it here.
Read all about here.
Listen to the title track here.
[Added: 14
July 2021]
·
A number of
you responded to the quiz below re. the FZ references
in Simon Prentis's book promo vid. I can
now reveal the winner. Step forward Corné van Hooijdonk. And here is what Corné
spotted (in order of appearance in the video):
o Arf! (The ever
recurring theme of the dog barking)
o Stinkfoot: "Here
Fido!" and "This is the dog talking now"
o I'm So Cute!
o Stinkfoot: "Bring the
slippers!"
o Arf Arf Arf!
o Arf?
o Honey Don't You
Want A Man Like Me: "She had an Irish setter!"
o The Poodle
o The Radio Is Broken
o Muffin Man
o I'm Using The
Chicken To Measure It
o Greggery Peccary, little
pig.
o Penguin In Bondage:
stitched up little penguin.
o Lumpy Gravy:
"I hear you are having trouble with Pigs & Ponies!"
o The back-cover of
One Size Fits All
o Mudd Club: "And
all the rest of whom for which to when
o So ever of
partially indeterminate bio-chemical degradation
o Seek the path to
the sudsy yellow nozzle of their
o Foaming nocturnal
parametric digital whole-wheat
o Inter-faith
geothermal terpsichorean ejectamenta"
o Fido again.
o Scratch & Sniff
o Florentine Pogen: Chester's Gorilla
o The Blue Light:
"You can't even speak your own fucking language"
o The adventures of greggery peccary: "What?"
o The Grand Wazoo
o Inca Roads:
"Did a vehicle come from somewhere out there?"
o Shall we takes ourselves seriously?
o The Crystall Ball sound from "Cosmik
Debris"
o Dinah Moe Humm: Do you know what I'm really telling you - Is it
something that you can understand
o Fido - again
o I ain't got no heart: "There Ain't
No Such Thing As Love"
o Jumbo Go Away
o The whistle in the
beginning of "Find Her Finer" (Which I inserted during the Rotterdam
May 3rd performance, that caused FZ to give me a fowl look)
o I Don't Even Care
(from FZ Meets The Mothers of Prevention)
o The Air (we
breathe)
o Sofa: "FZ: A
light shines down from Heaven, a dense ecumenical patina at the right hand of
God's big sofa."
o Church Chat (the
organ sound)
o The Poodle Story:
God created man, wooo-man, and the poodle.
o Bobby Brown:
"Women's liberation, came creeping all along the
nation".
o The Big Note: FZ's
take on the Big Bang theory.
o Ding-Dong: the
doorbell from "The Perfect Stranger"
o The Illinois Enema
Bandit: "No pooh-pooh jokes!"
o Wino Man
o The Poodle
o In France
o Greggery Peccary: The
construction of a thrilling new trend: The Calendar! Monday, etc.
o Punky's Whips:
""He's a little fond of chiffon in a wrist array-ee-ay-ee-ay"
o Ko-Ko the female gorilla
was also able to communicate. FZ dedicated TRFZ book to her.
o Bark: Barking
Pumpkin Records
o Gibson SG guitar on
stage
o Sound of a cow:
used in the Yellow Shark
o 1348: the year of
the plague, on the skull of the backcover of Uncle
Meat
o Bamboozled:
"Bamboozled By Love"
o Aura: Dinah Moe Humm
o Bizarre: "Our
Bizarre Relationship", "Bizarre", the record label.
o Wazoo: "The Grand Wazoo"
o Yellow Snow (Dog on
the brink of peeing in the snow)
o What's The Ugliest
Part Of Your Body: "Some say your toes"
o "We Are Not
Alone", Man From Utopia
o "Hope you
enjoyed the show!": many times, FZ ended a
concert with those words, or similar.
Simon sez,
“He pretty much spotted everything (and a few I hadn’t
noticed myself!) – the only notable lacuna in his list being that the Morse
code message being tapped out at 0.26 actually spells F-R-U-N-O-B-U-L-A-X. Of
course it does!” Very well done, Corné. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
Chato’s performance of Marque-son’s Chicken at Zappanale in
2017 can now be obtained via Bandcamp. And here’s the video of said performance. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
Ed Palermo (of Big Band fame): “I’m so happy to announce the release of our 2019
headlining performance at the Zappanale Festival in Germany. We'll premiere the
entire gig (with newly remastered audio) on the 2nd
anniversary, Tuesday, July 20th, 2021. Meanwhile, enjoy a stroll down Inca Roads
with our special guest, Napoleon Murphy
Brock. Crank it up, the sound quality is out of
this world!” [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
The 2012 remaster of Captain
Beefheart & His Magic Band’s Trout
Mask Replica is finally being unleashed on streaming services. To tie-in
with this, the Duck Foot Brewing company has produced
a limited edition (wait for it) Stout
Mask Replica beer. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
Interesting li’l nugget for yez: the Bruce Bickford exhibition currently
happening in New York (see below) is curated by
artist Eric White. Some time after FZ passed, Eric befriended Gail Zappa and she wrote an essay for
his book of paintings, It Feeds Itself
(2003). He in turn provided the cover artwork for the posthumous Zappa
releases, Trance-Fusion (2006) and The Dub Room Special (2007). Eric today
is the boyfriend of actress Patricia Arquette. I just felt you needed to know this. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
A couple of
people have written to me to point out that Zappa
88: The Last US Show went straight into the German album
charts at number 9. How mad is that? I seem to recall Ahmet
commenting on the number of sales of some of the other recent releases too.
There’s hope for the future! [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
The Married Widow: My Journey With Bob Zappa by Diane Papalia Zappa is now available from Amazon (in
paperback and on Kindle). It includes a chapter on 'Frankie And
Bobby' as well as one on 'Hanging with Moon and Dweezil'. Says Dick Barber, “Read
how Diane was able to cope with a cruel turn of events and turn her life from
loss to a loving memory of her husband Bobby.” [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
From the Zappanale website: “What can you expect next year at Zappanale #31? Here are
some clues: Co de Kloet
... Lisa Popeil
... Valentina Ciardelli
... Marco Paccasoni
Group ... John McLaughlin ... Mike Keneally ... Robert Martin & Zappa All Stars Band ... HILO feat. Dweezil Zappa.” See you there? [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
The Muffin Men: “Roddie is taking
a break from gigging this year. He’s having a bit of trouble getting his kex on, so in the interest of public decency, we’ve got new
boy Phil Oakes to stand in for him.
Phil’s a great player and a massive Zappa fan, and he jumped at the chance to
play with us. We’ve been rehearsing all through spring and are very much
looking forward to playing some old favourites and some new stuff at the few
gigs we'll be doing this summer.” Keep checking the Bastard’s Diary
for the dates. [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
Here's a
little ditty from my tenth collaboration with Cordelia Records – the title track from the Would You Like A Snack? album, a selection of
choice cuts from 200 Motels recorded
by friends old and new. The track is performed by Johnny Hawk & The Pavement Oysters, and features Sam Ward (guitar/engineering), Kevin Crosby (bass), John Parkinson (drums), yours truly
(vocals/whistling), and artwork by ArtForDinosaurs. The full album will be available from the Cordelia
Record Shop next week. Full details on the album can be found here. [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
Chanan
Hanspal: “I've just uploaded a video to YouTube on Zappa's concept of time and
space in which I talk about xenochrony, fractals and
the subliminal, I thought it might be something of
interest to you and your readers. I've also recently completed an album called Culture Sculpture which follows a
similar conceptual framework to Lumpy
Gravy. It can be downloaded from Bandcamp where the buyer can nominate the amount they
wish to pay for it. It features jazz musicians John Medeski and Jeff Lorber.” Impressive stuff! [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
Dweezil will be uploading a live album –
“Dweezil Kn'Evil”
LIVE in Kansas City 2018 – to his website.
Pre-order it now to save $10, and at the end of July you'll have access to 32
songs – both audio and video. [Added: 04 July 2021]
·
The virtual
Zappanale later this month will include three bands (Jazzprojekt Hundehagen Trio, Die Reise and Coogans Bluff) performing live in front of an audience in Bad Doberan. The
online programme is divided into pre-recorded videos (throughout 16-18 July)
with the live concert taking place on the Saturday evening. Some info can
already be found on the revamped Zappanale website here, with more detail to
follow. [Added: 04 July 2021]
·
You can now
watch the Don Preston Trio
performance mentioned below on YouTube.
[Added: 04
July 2021]
·
The Uplands, Bruce Bickford’s first ever solo exhibition in New York, opens on
12 July at the Andrew Edlin Gallery & Electric
Lady Studios. [Added: 04 July 2021]
·
Earlier this
week, I conducted a short
interview with the director of 200
Motels, Mr Tony Palmer. [Added: 30 June 2021]
·
The Don Preston Trio will play a virtual
concert at The World Stage on 2 July 2021. Read all about it here.
[Added: 30
June 2021]
·
Listen to Umphrey’s McGee playing Dirty Love at the Red Rocks Ampitheatre
on 19 June 2021 here.
[Added: 30
June 2021]
·
Fred Händl, best known for his unique
renditions on solo piano of the works of FZ, has just “launched
a Kickstarter campaign for my new solo piano album, TOVARISHCHI. My goal is to raise €1,900
which will allow me to fund production, artwork and sound engineering.”
See if you can spare him a dime. [Added: 30 June 2021]
·
Adam Minkoff, and three other members of Dweezil's Hot Rats Orchestra, have made
an EP in honour of the late great Bernard Herrmann’s 110th birthday. Check out
Citizen Herrmann here.
[Added: 30
June 2021]
·
Some of you
older folk may remember an image of FZ as Batman that I provided for the back
cover of Issue 10 of the British Zappa Fanzine, T'Mershi Duween, in November 1989. Well, I have
just recycled it for use on the front 'cover' of Fred Händl's
new ‘single’ on Bandcamp. This is a revised reading
of FZ's little known gem, Boy Wonder, I
Love You. This version, unlike the one on the Lost Meat album (currently on sale at a modestly discounted price
in The Idiot
Bastard Shop!), features lead vox by the
affable Mark Watson. The Idiot also
makes an appearance. Check it out here
– and buy and download a copy too! [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
Dutch
newspaper Het Parool
recently spoke with Ahmet Zappa who
revealed that as well as the 200 Motels
set scheduled for later this year, there will also be a Bongo Fury box (“ear melting stuff”),
a Synclavier project (“with a visual component”)
and much more. Says Ahmet, “I could easily spend
the rest of my life doing this!” (Thanks to Daniël
Janssen for this.) And you can watch Mark Ellen and David Hepworth ask Ahmet, “What's life like when Frank’s your father?” here. [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
The
long-awaited official FZ bio may finally appear in June next year. The working
title ('Project X') seems to have been replaced by Mother Superior: The Saga of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention:
The Authorised Biography. 320 pages written by Alan Clayson. Keep them fingers crossed. [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
As we
cautiously but irreversibly emerge from lockdown, I have been able to update
the Bastard’s Diary a
tad. [Added: 20
June 2021]
·
Dweezil has recently added a bunch more
songs on his website,
including a few from his Hot Rats Live!
tour. [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
The latest
episode of the ZappaCast
features an incredibly revealing interview with the wonderful Chad Wackerman
– ahead of the imminent release of Zappa
'88: The Last U.S. Show (here's another preview track, by the way: I Am The
Walrus). Chad mentions that Frank allowed Allan Holdsworth to use UMRK where Mark Pinske
remixed three of his Road Games
tracks; these can be found here.
[Added: 13
June 2021]
·
French FZ
tribute band Zappy
Birthday Mister Frank are playing two FREE concerts this summer:
July 2nd at La Guinguette Blois (41) Loire Valley,
and August 14th at Longwy (54) North East. Get there
if you can. [Added: 13 June 2021]
·
“King Crimson will be accompanied by the
Zappa Band for the whole of the
second leg of the tour from 22nd August-11th September, and also for the
concerts in Concord and Los Angeles on 5th and 6th August.” Details here. [Added: 09 June 2021]
·
Watch Alice Cooper and Pamela Des Barres take part in a discussion
about Miss Mercy's new book,
Permanent Damage: Memoirs of An Outrageous Girl. (My review of the book can be found here.) [Added: 09 June 2021]
·
Simon Prentis, ‘The Semantic Scrutinizer’ (see
Läther, The Crux Of The
Biscuit), has a new book: SPEECH! How
Language Made Us Human. Check out this promo video and see how many FZ references
you can spot. (Send your lists to me and I'll forward them to Simon – the one
who spots the most will get a free signed copy of the book!) [Added: 09 June 2021]
·
GoldmanT
at Zappateers has posted a lovely bunch of high
school snaps of Zappa alumni here. (Tap and scroll up –
or click and select i – to reveal the names of any
you're unsure of.) [Added: 01 June 2021]
·
Zappawoman
Valentina Ciardelli
now has some v nice FZ shirts for sale, here.
[Added: 01
June 2021]
·
Dweezil has just revamped his website, adding new music (including
tracks featuring Ray White) and merch. He has also announced a new series of audio
documentaries about his own albums and music – coming soon. [Added: 01 June 2021]
·
L. Shankar: “Darlene is a song I wrote for my solo
album Touch Me There in 1979,
produced by Frank Zappa for Zappa
Records. This is a different
version I recently did.” Three more 'different versions' of songs from Touch Me There can be found on the
Cordelia Records album, Lost Meat
–available here!
[Added: 28 May
2021]
·
Listen to Dr Dot (a member of The Long Island
Ballet Company!) in conversation with Ray
White here.
Ray answers questions from, inter alia, Scott Thunes, Robert Martin, Steve Vai and the Idiot Bastard (although he didn't actually
have an answer for me). He also chats about the song he wrote for FZ’s
children. Great listen. [Added: 28 May 2021]
·
Hear Mike
Keneally and Joe Travers talk
about the imminent Last US Show album
– as well as the fact that the Trust is working on two anniversary releases for this year (we know about the 200 Motels set, for which Miss Pamela has written liner notes:
could t'other possibly be Fillmore East related? I
expect we'll learn more after 18 June. [Added: 28 May 2021]
·
You can now
pre-order Podmeister Scott Parker’s next book here.
Says Scott: “This one follows the exploits of the
beloved Baby Snakes/Sheik Yerbouti
band as they levelled North America and Western Europe with some of the
greatest live performances of Frank Zappa’s (or anyone else’s) career. This was
an amazing era for Frank, who triumphed despite nearly drowning in legal
troubles during this period.” [Added: 28 May 2021]
·
Here’s my review of former GTO Miss Mercy’s book, which is due out
next month. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
On Sunday
May 23, Radio Venice does Zappa!
Guests include Chris Opperman,
André Cholmondeley
and Gerry Fialka.
Go here.
[Added: 22 May
2021]
·
Chad Wackerman has just been interviewed for a
future ZappaCast episode. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
To celebrate
next month's release of Zappa '88: The Last US Show, I am
offering some modest discounts on ‘Broadway’ products at my webstore. You can also now get another taster from the
album here. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Double-bassist
Valentina Ciardelli
now has just launched her new range of Zappawoman
t-shirts, here.
More will be added soon. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
I am very
excited to announce that this Idiot has been invited to take part in this
year’s virtual Zappanale (#30.75) – by two different bands! Stay
tuned for more closer to the time. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Vinnie Colaiuta has released another
streaming-only album via Extreme Music
– this time in cahoots with film composer Mark
Isham. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Everybody Loves Me is a book of photos taken by
bass legend Leland Sklar.
It features – among many, many others – Michael
Brecker, Dweezil
Zappa, Steve Vai
and Howard Kaylan,
all flipping Leland the bird. For those of you who might not know, Sklar's first band, Wolfgang, featured one Ricky Lancelotti.
You can hear Leland reminisce about Ricky here.
And if you’re interested in Zappa-related artwork, check this piece
out by ‘Mr Natural’! [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Dweezil says he “was
forced to re-invent my whole approach to creating a sustainable way to support
my family” as a result of the pandemic. He writes in a new blog
that he will soon have his own ‘Sound Laboratory’ that will enable him to “create new music, collaborate with different artists,
perform live stream concerts and one off events with multi-camera set ups
paired with studio quality audio.” He also says he'll “be able to mix live concert audio like never before and
create Live Concert Specials (the equivalent of DVDs) from years of filmed
shows. I'll also be able to complete What The Hell Was I
Thinking?” Here’s hoping he finally does! [Added: 08 May 2021]
·
You can now
pre-order the softcover version of FZ88:
A Visual Documentary (Zappa's Final Tour) here
– and save a fiver! [Added: 08 May 2021]
·
Last
September, I mentioned 3DD Entertainment’s Birth
Of Invention TV programme (go on, have a look
below). Well, Sky Arts finally aired it for the first time in the UK on
Thursday 6 May 2021. For those critical of Alex Winter condensing FZ’s life in
his two hour movie, compare it to this half hour programme which additionally
covers the work of Captain Beefheart
and King Crimson . Contains nothing we didn’t
already know (as well as a few factual errors); you can check it out again on
Sunday. See here
for more. [Added: 08 May 2021]
·
The June
2021 issue of Guitarist magazine
celebrates the life and music of FZ (across eleven of its pages), with the help
of Ahmet, Alex Winter, Guthrie Govan,
John Etheridge, Steve Vai and Mike Keneally. And here’s a bonus article
from Co de Kloet.
[Added: 02 May
2021]
·
On June 18, Zappa
’88: The Last U.S. Show will be Official Release #119. The 2 CD/4LP
180-gram vinyl box set features Frank's final American show at Nassau Coliseum,
Uniondale, NY on March 25, 1988. The renditions of Whipping Post and Stairway To Heaven with Dweezil
as special guest have been replaced by earlier recordings from the tour; the
Trust says, “We honoured Dweezil's wishes to remove
his performances.” (Brother A West’s monologue during Pound For A Brown
has gone AWOL too – more can be found on him in Zappa The
Hard Way.) The album is notable for containing the first
official release of The Beatles Medley,
and also includes liner notes by Chad Wackerman (who celebrated his 28th birthday on stage
that night). Having written two books (ZTHW
& FZ88)
and curated an album (On Broadway:
Covers Of Invention) commemorating the
tour, I can say I am officially excited! Here’s the press release.
[Added: 24
April 2021]
·
“One
thing that can be said about the Ensemble
Modern is that there hasn't been anything that I've presented to them which
they can't play. And that's amazing.” So said FZ at the press conference launching The Yellow Shark concerts in 1992. I have just interviewed five
members of Frank’s last ‘band’ about their time working with the maestro. Wanna
read it? Answer Yes or No. Well, it's here.
[Added: 20
April 2021]
·
Here’s my review of the fab second album from Orange
Claw Hammer. [Added: 20 April 2021]
·
With the
paperback version of FZ88 coming out later this year, Wymer has now sold out of its limited edition hardback
version (in custom-made presentation box with a set of prints). The Idiot Web
Shop still has a few left if anyone is interested. [Added: 20 April 2021]
·
Drumbo's marvellous book, Beefheart: Through The
Eyes Of Magic, is being reissued in hardback and digital formats on
April 23. His City Of Refuge solo album
(featuring ex-Magic Band members Bill Harkleroad, Mark
Boston, John Thomas and Greg Davidson) is also being reissued
with new artwork – including on vinyl, for the first time. [Added: 20 April 2021]
·
Sadly, Zappanale #31 has again had to be
postponed. “Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain
all the necessary permits. However, we are working for you on “Zappanale #
30.75” in July.” All being well, the next Zappanale-proper will happen
on 15-17 July 2022. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Ahmet and
Travers reveal a little more-a about the hi-res re-releases of 29 official
Zappa albums currently appearing on Qobuz here.
[Added: 04
April 2021]
·
An update on
Ike Willis' prostate cancer
diagnosis from his manager, Hank: “Ike has been to
several doctors and has been told that this is not a terminal condition. Ike
will be taking medication as directed. The need for radiation or chemotherapy
is also not required. Ike is however experiencing some body pain and is taking
steps to relieve the pain and discomfort. Ike would like to thank Dr. Dot for
her help with the recent Go Fund Me drive on Ike’s behalf. The drive was a
great success and Ike thanks each of you who contributed. Also Ike wants
everyone to know that all of your best wishes and kind words are uplifting and
positive, giving him support in this time of need. He is resting, and anxious
to return to the road as soon as possible.” [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Scott Parker's new book will be coming out in
June. The title is PREPOSTEROUS! Frank
Zappa On Stage Volume 8, 1977-1978. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Co de Kloet's Frank
And Co is now available as an eBook.
My review of the book is here. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Mats Öberg's Frankful is now available on double vinyl as a numbered
limited edition. Grab one here.
[Added: 04
April 2021]
·
Ike Willis needs our help: he has just been
diagnosed as having prostate cancer. He obviously hasn't been able to tour for
over a year and has no funding to buy the medication needed to fight this. Please
contribute what you can here.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
Ronnie Williams, the man who saved his numies on a window in his room and introduced FZ to Paul
Buff, has sadly passed away. He latterly became a Tik-Tok
sensation it seems – here’s some
highlights from his grandson. Find more here.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
ZappaCast #49 features
the wondrous Robert Martin
reflecting on his early career playing classic Philly soul, his audition for
Frank, the 88 tour and more. [Added: 26 March 2021]
·
There has
been a lot of confusion and misinformation about the Zappa movie from the
get-go, and that seems to be continuing right up to the end. For your info, the
bonus material on the backer DVD/Blu Ray comprises:
four Vault nuggets (FZ demonstrating the Synclavier, Haskell Wexler & Uncle
Meat, Frank and the pig, and The Way It Was); three interview outtakes
(with Mike Keneally, Steve Vai and Ruth Underwood);
the TV ad for Apostrophe ('); and a
Q&A Zoom session featuring Alex
Winter and associate producer Mike Nichols, moderated by “Weird Al” Yankovic.
And here,
from our friends at IINK, is a breakdown of the various soundtrack releases.
Hope that helps clear a few things up. [Added: 26 March 2021]
·
Later this
year, Wymer UK plans to issue in paperback the visual
documentary of Frank's final tour, FZ88, featuring ooodles of previously unseen photos by Sergio 'Milo' Albonico. But you can still get the original limited
edition hardback (in its custom-made presentation box and a set of prints) for
just £30 here.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
Hi-res
versions of the 2012 UMe Zappa albums are now
appearing on HDtracks and Qobuz.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
Serious FZ
45 collector (and former Chicago guitarist), Dawayne Bailey, has revealed his part in the Cucamonga-era compilation, Rare
Meat: “Harold Bronson, the president of
Rhino, called me explaining that they had just acquired Bob Keane’s archives,
but couldn't find the master tapes for the early Zappa stuff. They knew I had
the cleanest 45s and asked if I would take those to a studio in Redondo Beach
to have them recorded so they could release them. I did as they asked, but I
told Harold to not include my name on the back cover in the credits because I
had just been to Zappa’s home and his rehearsals and I did not want to burn a
bridge with him as I had a feeling Zappa was going to sue Rhino as soon as that
album came out.” Which of course, he did – but for using artwork by David McMacken
(who did the illustrations for Over-Nite Sensation & 200 Motels, and sadly
passed away a couple of years ago), creating an album cover that looked too
much like an official Zappa release. For those of you
who might not know the full story, look here.
[Added: 20
March 2021]
·
While
recovering from trigger finger surgery, Steve
Vai decided to write something for one hand only.
His new song, Knappsack,
is here. [Added: 20 March 2021]
·
The latest
in the Allan Holdsworth
live series features Allan at the Leverkusen Jazztage
Festival in Germany on October 16, 1997, accompanied by drummer and long-time
collaborator Chad Wackerman.
Chad also wrote the liner notes for Leverkausen '97,
and is featured in a bonus
interview on the DVD. [Added: 20 March 2021]
·
The bonus
material on the Zappa movie backer DVD/Blu Ray
comprises four Vault nuggets, three interview outtakes (with Mike Keneally, Steve Vai and Ruth Underwood) and the TV ad for Apostrophe ('). Hope to get my copy real soon. [Added: 09 March 2021]
·
You may have
heard FZ read The Talking Asshole
from William Burroughs' 1959 novel, Naked Lunch, But
have you actually seen him read it?
You can now.
[Added: 09
March 2021]
·
The Arf Society is still planning for a 'live' Zappanale in July. “At the end of March, the board will meet to be able to
react early to the current situation. After this meeting we will inform you.”
Realistically, should the event go ahead, it is unlikely to have any overseas participants. But I live in hope. [Added: 09 March 2021]
·
I have just
interviewed Karen Sperling,
who had a relationship with Frank between 1971 and 1975. They met during his annus horribilis
(at a recording of What’s My Line?) and she was with him in Montreux and at the Rainbow. She is mentioned in a number
of books about FZ, but no one has spoken to her about this period before. Read
all about it here!
[Added: 24
February 2021 / Updated: 28 February 2021]
·
Mike Keneally has clarified the title of one
of the 'new' FZ pieces performed on the Bizarre World/Hologram tour, which was
alternated with #2 each night, and
was previously thought to be called Van Moldred. It is in fact titled, "Piano
Transcription Van Morrison
<phone number>, which was a printed out score of some music Frank had
written – I don't know the origin of the piano that was transcribed, or why Van
Morrison's name and phone number were part of the title. I'm assuming it was
written around the time that Van was doing vocals on Dead Girls Of London, and somehow his info leaked into the title…[it] is really suitable for performance by small
ensemble." [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
The first
three albums by Missing Persons (that
is, Zappa alums Warren Cuccurullo, Patrick O'Hearn,
Chuck Wild and Dale & Terry Bozzio)
have been reissued as a limited edition box set, wittily titled The Album
Collection. [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
New Beef Dreams! by Orange Claw Hammer suddenly available
from Bandcamp. All Beefheart, including a live vershum of Willie The Pimp! [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
Irresponsible RockNRoll
Shenanigans - Live in Texas
by The Chadbourne/Gonzalez
Collusion (featuring Eugene Chadbourne, of Jack
& Jim Show infamy) includes a cover of Who Are The Brain Police? (plus a pair of
Beefheart songs). Listen on Bandcamp. [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
Alex Winter’s Zappa movie can now be viewed in the UK and Ireland – here!
The fillum has received positive reviews from the Grauniad , Stuart Penney
and Mark Kermode.
[Added: 24
February 2021]
·
Fellow Webmeister Peter Van
Laarhoven (of United Mutations fame) has
compiled a book or three! The Others Of Invention lists bands and artists who have recorded
and released compositions written by FZ. It also includes recordings that Frank
contributed to and more. Available in three volumes. Read all about it direct
from PvL’s ‘pen’ here.
[Added: 24
February 2021]
·
Co de Kloet’s fab book, Frank & Co, is now available from G&S Music in the UK. [Added: 24 February 2021]
·
Well
Festival MOO-AH isn't happening on 19/20 March, but Fred Händl will still be playing the music of FZ on solo piano
then. Click and go! [Added: 24 February 2021]
·
There seems
to be some confusion online regarding the 5LP vinyl version of the Zappa
– Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. It is (and always was) scheduled
to be released in May. The CD version is available now. [Added: 24 February 2021]
·
On Facebook, Miss
Pamela said she's writing the liner notes for the 50th anniversary reissue
of 200 Motels. [Added: 15 February 2021]
·
An Italian
language version of Geoff Wills’
excellent Zappa And
Jazz book has just been published by Auditorium Edizioni.
[Added: 15
February 2021]
·
Here’s my review of the audio
version of Pauline Butcher’s Freak
Out! My Life with Frank Zappa. [Added: 15 February 2021]
·
Say what you
like about Steve Vai,
he doesn't just churn out instrumental guitar records. The Sound Theories series is set to continue ("I've
got about four hours of orchestra music. Once it's recorded, I'll have enough
for probably Vol. III, IV, V,
VI...maybe VII. I'm really excited about
that."), plus he is planning an acoustic vocal record ("Just me playing acoustic guitar and singing.
Whenever I come across a song idea that falls into that category, I kind of put
it on the shelf under a different category. I have a whole bunch of these, so
that's what I'm working on."). Looking forward to both. [Added: 15 February 2021]
·
Hal Leonard
is now offering FZ guitar tabs for instant download here.
[Added: 15
February 2021]
·
Zappa movie global release dates (UK
excluded) can be found here.
[Added: 06
February 2021]
·
Here’s my review of the book, Frank
Zappa – The Nordic Stories. [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
Very sad to
learn that R&B singer/songwriter Nolan
Porter – who married Frank’s sister ‘Candy’ in 2007 – has passed away. Nolan's 1970 debut album No Apologies featured former Mothers Jimmy Carl Black, Roy Estrada and Lowell
George. His follow-up album, titled simply Nolan (1973), spawned the UK northern soul hit If I Could Only Be Sure – which featured Johnny “Guitar” Watson on guitar and background vocals. At one
time, Nolan was related to Napoleon
Murphy Brock: he told me, “My mother was
married to his uncle, between 1959-1961. So it was
just by marriage.” In 2005, Nolan appeared alongside Napoleon (though
not on the same tracks) on Greg Russo’s
Neonfire
album, which also featured contributions from Candy, The Tornadoes and the late
Nigey Lennon. He was a very nice guy and will be much
missed. My sincere condolences go to Candy and all of his family and friends. [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
Night
pianist, and all round good egg, Fred
Händl has written this lovely opened
lettuce to the lovely Ruth
Underwood. [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
Rolling Stone just posted this fantastic interview
with drummer Chester Thompson, in
which he talks at length about his time with FZ (as well as a bunch of other
interesting stuff). [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
ZappaCast, Episode #48 sees AZ/JT answer
all your questions on future video releases and such. And I can answer the question,
‘why wasn’t Ed Mann on the 1984
tour?’: Ed told me, “I was
touring with Shadowfax a little bit – beginning to
write some, teaching at Cal Arts, and playing live locally in LA quite a bit. I
saw that band play live at the Palace in Hollywood. They were good, but of
course I thought it would sound better with marimba!” [Added: 02 February 2021]
·
While he’s
selling some of his guitars, here
you can see some of the ones Dweezil
is keeping – including a few that belonged to his dad. Interesting watch. [Added: 02 February 2021]
·
Pamela Zarubica wrote this tribute
to the late Phil Spector.
[Added: 02
February 2021]
·
Dweezil is selling a selection of his
guitars, amps and pedals, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Feeding
America charity. “I have some really great things
that haven't been out of the case in about 10 or 12 years, so I figured why not let somebody else
enjoy those things.” Included is his green Charvel
S-Type, of which he said, “Under normal
circumstances, I would keep that guitar but like most musicians, I'm not immune
to the problems related to the live music shutdown stemming from Covid.” Visit his shop here. [Added: 28 January 2021]
·
The Zappa
movie will be available to purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray
in the US in early March, and can be pre-ordered now from many outlets. Digital
and physical Kickstarter copies of the movie will be
sent to backers at the same time (this version will contain exclusive bonus
material not included in the publicly available version).For those outside the
US, the roll out is starting in theatres and digitally beginning in February in
certain territories. [Added: 28 January 2021]
·
Edinburgh
based tribute band Pygmy Twylyte have re-scheduled some shows for later this
year. Check the Bastard’s Diary…and
keep everything crossed! [Added: 28 January 2021]
·
Zappawoman
Valentina Ciardelli
has just produced this homage to Frank: Questi Cazzi di Bicordo.
[Added: 28
January 2021]
·
In 2020, I
wrote 12 essays that provided answers to some of those questions that no one
ever asks me! While researching these FUQs (Frequently Unasked Questions) I
learnt a lot – including: the identity of the girl at Frank's feet on the cover
of Roxy & Elsewhere (Joan Lou Gatt, mother of Lala Sloatman); that Frank’s composed an unreleased 'doo-wop
rocker' for Ruben And The Jets; the name (and nationality!) of the lady who
played The Countess in the Uncle Meat
home movie; where Dweezil took the photo on the cover of Zappa In New York (from one of the World Trade Center
towers), and a whole bunch more. I hope you did too. In case you missed FUQ #4,
about Zappa’s London, here ‘tis. I will happily
send one of any of the other FUQs to anyone who purchases a Zappa’s London map
from my new webstore! [Added: 23 January 2021]
·
Spot the
Idiot: here's a great little vid
of the band EAK (Eric Trøim, guitar/Armin Beck, drums/Kevin Crosby, bass) playing
Zoot Allures. [Added: 23 January 2021]
·
Tubist/baritone
saxist Howard
Johnson, who was the live band conductor of the Saturday Night Live Band in the 70s, has passed away. He can be
seen and heard on the Halloween
DVD-A, and was apparently FZ's first choice to play the title role in his
planned Hunchentoot
musical. RIP. [Added: 23 January 2021]
·
The Official Keith Emerson
Tribute Concert – which featured
performances by Eddie Jobson, Vinnie Colaiuta
and Joe Travers – will finally be
unleashed on DVD and Blu-Ray (with a bonus 2-CD set)
in March. Pre-order here.
[Added: 23
January 2021]
·
Here’s my review of Co de Kloet’s excellent new book, Frank & Co. [Added: 12 January 2021]
·
A lengthy
but interesting Zoom interview with Mike
Keneally and FZ techs Bob Rice, Thomas Nordegg
& Merl Saunders Jr
can be viddied here.
As well as lots of great Zappa tour stories and such, Keneally also reveals
that he’ll release his first new solo album in five years in 2021, which will
feature special guest appearances by the likes of Steve Vai and Gentle Giant’s Malcolm Mortimore, plus some archival stuff from the last 20 years
(including material with his Euro friends Jaan Wessman and Schroeder) that will be repurposed into a lengthy suite, featuring
narration by David Ossman
from the Firesign Theater. In
the meanwhile, MFTJ – Mike’s ‘band’
with Scott Schorr – has just unleashed its second
album, My Mom's
Getting A Horse. [Added: 12 January 2021]
·
The death of
British-American rapper and record producer Daniel Dumile
– aka MF DOOM – was announced by his
widow on the last day of 2020. For those who may not know, Dumile
sampled Would You Like A Snack? on
the track Gumbo from his 2004 album Mm..Food and Sleeping In A Jar on Meat Grinder from the Madvillainy album
he created with producer Madlib that same year. He is
also featured on J Dilla’s Mash's Revenge, which
samples Dance Contest, on the 2007
Peanut Butter Wolf compilation, 2K8 B-Ball
Zombie War. And then in 2013, Grip
Grand produced an MF DOOM remix album, which saw his song Melody renamed But How? (Jesus Pizzas), and added a sample from Peaches En
Regalia. May Doom rest in peace. [Added: 12 January 2021]
Lukewarm
Poop
·
Festival Moo-ah organisers Uncle Ian & The
Idiot (hey, that’s me!): “Given the current world situation, it is with heavy
hearts (and udders) that we have decided to cancel Festival Moo-ah! 2021. We
hope to run it again in the future, but will wait until life returns to
'normal' before making a decision. If you have bought tickets, WeGotTickets will carry out a full refund in January;
please wait until you hear from them. If you have booked rooms at the Corby
Hampton By Hilton, please request a refund - either by
phone or online: they are aware of the situation. We thank you all for your
support over the past seven years, and we wish you and your families
good health through this worrying period.” [Added: 30 December 2020]
·
Watch Ahmet share the unsolved mystery of his father's UFO. [Added: 30 December 2020]
·
Here’s Inventionis Mater celebrating Frank's 80th – live from the sofa! [Added: 30 December 2020]
·
To celebrate FZ’s birthday, the Trust announced a tribute beer: Why Does It
Hurt When IPA? [Added: 30 December 2020]
·
Treacherous Cretins' FZ@80 online celebration show
with special guests Ed Palermo, Craig ‘Twister’ Steward, Ray White and Robert Martin can be (re-)watched anytime on YouTube here.! [Added: 21 December 2020 / Updated: 30
December 2020]
·
Universal Music and the Zappa Trust has invited us to “revisit some classics” with a digital EP of
previously released material called A Very Zappa
Birthday. [Added: 21 December 2020]
·
The third and final part of CBC’s audio documentary on our Frankie
is here.
[Added: 21
December 2020]
·
ZAPPATiKA (with Ike Willis) has just released Before
The Shit Hit The Fan – Live In The UK. Check it
out here.
[Added: 21
December 2020]
·
Piece of Magic Entertainment has acquired European distribution
rights to Alex Winter’s Zappa documentary from Great Point
Media. It will receive a theatrical release across Europe from March 2021 –
excluding the UK, Ireland, German-speaking territories and Poland, where deals
have yet to be closed. [Added: 21 December 2020]
·
The audio version of Pauline
Butcher’s book Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa is now available digitally
via Google Play
and Audible,
or as a physical 13-CD set.
[Added: 21
December 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I have been writing an essay each month that provides
answers to some of those questions that no one ever asks me. Yes, I have given
you 12 FUQs (Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020. Here's the final one – a random bunch
of Zappa & related facts. (If you missed FUQ #4 about Zappa’s London, you can still buy a map and related doo-dads for
Xmas here
– hurry!) [Added: 16 December 2020]
·
Here’s an
article what I wrote (with the help of Deepinder Cheema…and Dean Gaffney) about
FZ’s alter ego, the beatnik Vincent Beldon. [Added: 16 December 2020]
·
Moon Zappa has sold her long-awaited
coming-of-age memoir, provisionally titled I
Hope You Die Love Me, to Dey Street Books.
According to the HarperCollins imprint, the book is both heartbreaking and
hilarious and reads like an offbeat love-letter to her father. It will be
published in the UK by The Orion Publishing Group– but not before spring 2023. [Added: 16 December 2020]
·
Dale Bozzio’s upcoming book, Life Is So Strange, will detail her friendship with FZ. She says, “Frank made me what I am today. He gave me the
opportunity for me to open my mouth and sing things I never thought I would
sing in my life. I wrote about Frank through my whole book. He is my mentor.”
[Added: 16
December 2020]
·
The FZ Nordic
Stories book will be back from the printers in the next
couple of days, so those who pre-ordered should get their's
just as soon as Erland's numbered them! For those who
haven't placed an order, what are you waiting for? In it you will find out why
Frank wanted to hire an anthropologist to study Scandinavia, why Ian and Ruth
broke up, why FZ had to let Jeff Simmons 'have it' and much, much more, as well
as previously unpublished interviews and photos. It's great, and it's in US
English! [Added: 16 December 2020]
·
Read why Steve Vai loves Freak
Out! here. [Added: 16 December 2020]
·
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has a three part-documentary
about FZ (titled Dangerous Kitchen)
that features family members, musicians and others, as well as excerpts from a
CBC interview recorded the year before his death. Here are parts One
& Two...Three
next week. [Added: 14 December 2020]
·
Treacherous Cretins, and a cast of very special
guests, will be to celebrating FZ's 80th birthday with a
remotely-recorded online concert. "The event
will be premiered on YouTube at 8:30PM GMT on the 21st December, and will be
absolutely free to watch – but we would encourage donations to Prostate Cancer
UK and the Live Music Trust." More details as soon as. [Added: 14 December 2020]
·
Aunty Owl (that is, Helen Tate, formerly of the Spanner
Jazz Punks, and Graham Davis of Gabba Zappa Hey!) who recorded the
Shankar/Zappa tune Knee-Deep In Heaters for my Lost Meat CD, have
posted some home recordings here.
The dynamic duo are currently recording some FZ tunes for a special album
coming to your ears in 2021, and will hopefully be playing at Deptford's Birds
Nest pub on 15 January. [Added: 14 December 2020]
·
The official non-exclusive Zappa
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album is now available
to stream
or download:
hard copies won’t be available until February (CD) and May (vinyl). It features
12 previously unreleased FZ tracks, including Call Any Vegetable & Happy
Together (Fillmore West, 1970), Apostrophe’
(LA rehearsal hall, 1974), Dancin’ Fool
(Saturday Night Live, 1978) and The Meek
Shall Inherit Nothing (The Pier, NYC, 1984), plus two interview excerpts
and five tracks from the exclusive backer album. As well as tracks by Stravinsky, Varèse, The GTOs and Alice Cooper,
it also adds the film’s orchestral cues by John
Frizzell (all of these are omitted from a slimmed
down 21 song download
version). A tad confusing, but to get all of the previously
unreleased material, all you have to do is buy this new album and to have
pledged at $300+ a few years back. [Added: 01 December 2020]
·
An audio version of Pauline
Butcher’s excellent book Freak Out! My
Life with Frank Zappa will be available from 3 December.
Narrated by Emma Gregory, it follows the text of a re-structured and revised
version of the original book, which will be reissued in small paperback form in
May next year. [Added: 01 December 2020]
·
The Zappa movie was available "everywhere"
(in North America) last week. Following the main feature, some audiences were
treated to 12 minutes of previously unseen footage backstage at the Roxy and
from the 'Premore' shoot (aka the DiscReet
Studio TV Special). Alex Winter has confirmed that next year’s generally
available DVD of the film will have some extras. And backers at $150+ have
already been told to expect special packaging and exclusive bonus materials
that "WON'T ever be offered outside of our
campaign!" Shame they didn't say this about the soundtrack, really.
[Added: 01
December 2020]
·
Here’s Pamela Zarubica
introducing Laura Matthews & The Flakes perform a cover of Bob Dylan's I'll Be Your Baby
Tonight in her kitchen. [Added: 01 December 2020]
·
Diva is now the President of InterContinental
Absurdities. [Added: 01 December 2020]
·
More sad news, in the wake of the passing of Carl Zappa: Candy
reports that their half-sister Ann (from Francis’ first
marriage) just passed away. In his memoir, Bob states that Frank never actually
met her, though he and Candy certainly did. “That's
it. I am truly the last one standing.” wrote Candy. Once again, my
thoughts go to all family and friends. [Added: 25 November 2020]
·
Still no UK release date for Alex Winter’s documentary, Zappa, but it will be distributed over
here by Altitude Film. Meantime,
here’s the tracklist for the backer exclusive
soundtrack EP: "The Full
Impact" (interview excerpt, 1967)/Rawgah (FZ and John Guerin,
1966)/Watermelon In
Easter Hay (The Ritz NY, 1981)/Vault
Of Imaginary Diseases (San Diego CA, 1973)/Brutality (Maniac Mix) (Synclavier, circa 1985). Hopefully the more
generally available soundtrack album will gather all of this and more together.
[Added: 25
November 2020]
·
Update on Frank Zappa – The
Nordic Stories: the book (for which I oversaw the English text) has
been sent to the printers, with its official publication date now being 21
December (yes, Frank’s 80th birthday). The first 300 numbered copies having
sold out yonks ago, you can already pre-order the
second edition here.
[Added: 25
November 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I have been writing an essay each month that provides
answers to some of those questions that no one ever asks me. Yes, I am giving
you 12 FUQs (Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020. Here's number eleven – about some of the
nuggets residing in Frank’s sequin mines. (If you missed FUQ #4 about Zappa’s London, you can still buy a map
and related doo-dads here
– but hurry, as I only have a few of the badge sets left.) [Added: 20 November 2020]
·
The latest ZappaCast
sees host Scott Parker and producer Phil Surkis
welcome Alex Winter, Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers for a conversation about the making of the Zappa movie. You can also see Winter talk about the film during his appearance this week
on Jimmy Kimmel Live! here.
[Added: 20
November 2020]
·
Terry Bozzio: "I
have a new book coming out on December 21 (a few days before my 70th
birthday!). It is a book about my life with interviews, pictures, some
teaching, and stories of the many artists I have worked with over the years.
Please check it out!" The text may only be in Japanese, though! [Added: 20 November 2020]
·
Dweezil and Premier Guitar have joined
forces to celebrate the life and work of Edward
Van Halen. A new podcast, Runnin' With The Dweezil,
was already in the making prior to Eddie’s death. Each week, Dweezil invites a
different guitar luminary (first up is Steve Vai) to talk about their encounters with Van
Halen and his music. “It
would have been a dream to have an episode with [EVH] that would explore his
own personal musical journey. His sudden loss has inspired an even deeper
connection to his music for me and so many others. We want to honour and
celebrate him," says DZ. [Added: 20 November 2020]
·
Candy Zappa has announced the passing of her
brother, Carl, on Facebook: "There was just
too much wrong for him to come back. He's with Frank, Bob, Mom and Dad and I
know they are taking care of him like crazy. See you on the other side, Carl. I
love you." She had earlier reported that Carl was in “ICU in a hospital in Michigan...coronary and pneumonia.”
Thoughts go to all family and friends. RIP Young Minnesota Tishman.
[Added: 13
November 2020]
·
More on Co de Kloet’s imminent book, Zappa
& Co: a bespoke microsite (with audio snippets and ordeing
info) plus this promo video. [Added: 13 November 2020]
·
The Zappa movie companion book and soundtrack album (and also an
EP, both with exclusive artwork by Cal Schenkel) are now being sent out to those who pledged
at that level (or added them on). Here’s the album tracklist:
Toronto (Excerpt) (interview, 1968)/Memories Of El Monte-Oh, In The Sky-The Duke (Whisky A Go Go, 23 July 1968)/Theme From "Run Home Slow"-The Little March (Ballroom, Stratford
CT, 16 February 1969)/"Oink" (Apostolic Studios, 1968)-Randomonium
(Apostolic Studios, 1968)/"Humble
& Naive" (circa 1968)/Mo' s
Vacation (Circus Krone, 31 August 1978)/None Of The Above (Kronos
Quartet, 2018)/Envelopes (LSO, 1983)/Overture (Ensemble Modern, 1992). [Added: 08 November 2020 / Updated: 13
November 2020]
·
If you haven't yet subscribed to Dweezil's Reward Music
site, you're missing out on a lot of great stuff. As well as
excellent live renditions of a lot of his father's music (including Zoot Allures, Black Napkins, The Torture
Never Stops, Jelly Roll Gum Drop,
Cosmik Debris, The Gumbo Variations, A Pound
For A Brown, Montana – with the
‘Brass From Utopia’ – and the entire Apostrophe
album with a special guest appearance by George
Duke), there's also a couple of great covers (such as an amazing version of
Johnny 'Guitar' Watson's I Want To Ta Ta
You Babe), all the hard-to-find Live
In The Moment & F.O.H.
releases, plus the rest of his solo albums – including Via Zammata' with six bonus tracks.
Additionally, there's some 'new' solo archival material dating back to 1995.
And he just keeps adding more and more. If you subscribe, you can stream
everything – and download/keep a fair chunk of it too. The Idiot heartily
endorses this event or product! [Added: 08 November 2020]
·
Check out Nothin' Gonna Stop This
Love by Robert Martin on Bandcamp. [Added: 08 November 2020]
·
Finally, the official Zappa movie trailer is here. And you can grab the press kit over here also. It seems the
film will be released on DVD/Blu-Ray in March 2021.
[Added: 02
November 2020]
·
Some more info
on Co de Kloet's book (out next month): Co and
Frank were friends for 26 years. Co recorded every conversation. The two men
also corresponded frequently. Frank & Co is more than a book
about Zappa’s music: it also includes Co’s favourite memories of Frank as well
as interviews with, among others, Flo
& Eddie, Jimmy Carl Black
and Pamela Zarubica.
460 pages of text plus 20 photos and a foreword by Dweezil. Can’t wait! [Added: 02 November 2020]
·
Update on Frank Zappa – The
Nordic Stories: the book has been delayed until December as the authors
are keen to make it as good as possible (they are currently awaiting some very
interesting material from Denmark). The first 300 numbered copies are now sold
out, but you can pre-order the second edition here.
[Added: 02
November 2020]
·
The London Zappa Collective
has added a few interesting lockdown covers to its SoundCloud page
of late. [Added: 02 November 2020]
·
This is the Fred Händl version of Oh No! that
appears on the soundtrack of the new Zappa movie (as Ruth Underwood talks about trying to play it on a “beautiful grand piano” having just heard the
Mothers perform it at the Garrick). If you haven’t already got it, there’s also
a version from his new album up on Fred’s Bandcamp page.
[Added: 25
October 2020]
·
Remember ZPZ's 2008/09 You Can't Fit On Stage Anymore! shows? Attendees were supposed to get a download of their
entire concert as part of their ticket price within eight days. Sadly that
never happened, and Dweezil was
asked about it on his website recently. Here’s what he said: "I completed all of the mixes from that tour project
several years ago and then the ZFT blocked the mixes from being released by Nugs. Nugs was/is the platform
that generated the concert codes ticket holders are to use to redeem their downloads. Last I heard Nugs
was trying to sort it out. I hope that will happen soon. Because of the prior
delays, you may recall that ticket holders received a complete concert download
in good faith until their own concert was available on Nugs."
In the meantime, here's ZPZ
(featuring three Zappa Band members) performing Billy The Mountain on the YCFOSA tour at The Roxy in December
2008. [Added: 25
October 2020]
·
Patrick O'Hearn now has a Bandcamp
page with a couple of new tracks – here.
[Added: 25
October 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I am writing an essay each month which provides answers to
some of those questions that no one ever asks me! Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020. Here's number ten – about some of the
photographers who captured our Frankie! (If you missed FUQ #4 about Zappa’s London, you can still buy a map
here
– but I only have a few of the badge sets left.) [Added: 17 October 2020]
·
Co de Kloet's book, Frank & Co, will be published on
20 November. It includes a foreword by Dweezil
plus lots of new insights into the great man's life. The first 250 come signed
and numbered. A formal announcement will be made in Soundz
magazine shortly. [Added: 17 October 2020]
·
The all new Zappateers.com
is officially open. Old members need to register anew; new members,
sign-up…NOW! [Added: 17 October 2020]
·
Those who pledged $1k+ or purchased any of the Exclusive
Theatrical Preview Screenings (in Austin, New York, San Francisco or LA), have
now had an opportunity to stream the Zappa movie. If that’s you and you
missed out, contact the Kickstarter team via kieranzkickstarter@gmail.com.
Us other mortals who pledged a tad lower should get an
opportunity to see it shortly. [Added: 17 October 2020]
·
Check out this acoustic double bass duo version of Your Mouth
by Valentina Ciardelli
and Manuel Dell'Oglio.
[Added: 17
October 2020]
·
Listen to Let's Move to
Cleveland/Fixing a Hole by The Ed
Palermo Big Band here.
[Added: 17
October 2020]
·
Remember when the Prague Proms played host to Musics by Frank Zappa: Orchestra En Regalia in 2016? Well, you can now
watch the whole darn thing on YouTube.
It features Zappa Band members Thunes,
Travers & Kime, plus Ian Underwood. [Added: 12 October 2020]
·
Both Dweezil and the Adrian Belew
Power Trio are to be part of the 2022 Cruise
To The Edge. [Added: 12 October 2020]
·
You can watch the Zappa movie Q&A with director Alex
Winter and editor Mike Nichols from the Camden
International Film Festival here.
[Added: 12
October 2020]
·
Sad to hear of the passing of Eddie
Van Halen, who I first saw in 1978 when Van Halen supported Black Sabbath at the Hammersmith Odeon –
what a line-up! IIRC my brother already had the band's eponymous debut album,
as little Nicky Horne was playing the shit out of Runnin’ With The Devil and their version of You Really Got Me around the time.
Anyway, obviously Dweezil was hugely influenced by Edward and has paid two
touching tributes to him first on Instagram and then on his website.
He has also made available a ZPZ live version of Florentine Pogen – retitled
Flo Po EVH – to subscribers of his Reward Music
doings. [Added: 12 October 2020]
·
Mark Pinske, Frank's sound engineer for many
years, sadly passed away after going into cardiac arrest on Wednesday (30
September). Here's the interview
I did with him a couple of years back. May he rest in peace.
[Added: 02
October 2020]
·
Dweezil has just posted the 2010
performance of Gumbo Variations (released
in audio form last year), which is the opening number from his forthcoming
full-length Apostrophe (’) concert
film. [Added: 02
October 2020]
·
In a new interview with Modern
Drummer magazine, Aynsley Dunbar tells how he joined The Mothers
and why he eventually left Frank's employ. Check it out here.
[Added: 02
October 2020]
·
The Dutch premiere of the Zappa movie takes place during the
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in November. Great
Point Media tell me “the film will most probably be released in the UK in the
near future”. [Added: 02 October 2020]
·
The Zappateers
tell me they are now entering the testing stage of the new website, and hope to
make a formal announcement shortly. Keep an eye on their Facebook group page
for updates. And should you feel like making a donation to help ensure things
run smoothly in future, send dosh to their PayPal account. [Added: 02 October 2020]
·
The Ed Palermo Big Band will unleash The Great Un-American Songbook Vol. III: Run
For Your Life on 6 November. As per Vols. 1 & 2, it
includes "the music of The Beatles...and a
healthy American serving of Frank Zappa". Bandcamp
pre-order here.
[Added: 02
October 2020]
·
Android Trio – comprised of former Magic Band members Andy Niven, Max Kutner and Eric Klerks – have a new tune available
on Bandcamp called Take Me.
It was produced by Mike Keneally. [Added: 02 October 2020]
·
Dweezil’s Reward Music site is now
up and running. Grab yo'seffs some music and merch – subscribe and get even more-a! [Added: 28 September 2020]
·
Update on the roll-out of the Zappa movie: as well as the
Woodstock drive-in mentioned below, there will also be opportunities to see the
documentary in the US at the San Francisco Film Festival (on 3 & 4 October)
and the Camden International Film Festival (10 October). There are more US and
international festival dates to be announced. Those who Kickstarted
the project at $1k or more will gain access to a virtual screening via VOD on
14 October. And anyone who pledged $35 or more will receive a download link for
a digital copy "very close to the general
release date in each territory". [Added: 28 September 2020]
·
A third and, presumably, final teaser track from the imminent Halloween 81 set has been unleashed: What’s New in Baltimore? (from the first Halloween night show). For those who might
not know, the box set can be purchased legitimately via Qobuz as a 16-bit CD quality download. Obviously, you
don’t get the mask, but you do get a digital booklet. [Added: 28 September 2020]
·
Dweezil says he will “have lots of new/old music available for streaming and
purchase” via Reward Music,
which launches on 28 September. This will include his “performance
of my dad’s classic album, Apostrophe (’),
live in its entirety. A video
performance is coming too!” But he made it clear, they’ll be,
“no Z albums.” [Added: 23 September 2020]
·
Looks like the Zappa movie's first screening will
now be at the Woodstock
Film Festival on 2 October – then it's 'everywhere' (cinemas/on
demand) from 27 November. [Added: 23 September 2020]
·
ZappaCast Episode #46
sees The Vaultmeister talk about the recent Mothers 1970 set, the imminent Halloween 1981 box and his fanboy life as the drummer for The Zappa Band. [Added: 23 September 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I am writing an essay each month which provides answers to
some of those questions that no one ever asks me! Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020. Here's number nine – about the Italian
connection! (If you missed FUQ #4 about Zappa’s
London, you can still buy a map here
– but I only have half a dozen of the badge sets left.) [Added: 19 September 2020]
·
This just in:
Zappateers is not dead – it just smells funny
Zappateers had been
limping along burdened with long since unsupported and un-upgradable software
since our last major overhaul in 2012. In May of this year we had serious
problems with the server – which miraculously righted itself
– but we knew it couldn’t last – and so we started preparing for the worse. As
always when things work, the natural instinct is not to poke it, and everything
was sort-of working until August, when we had another series of problems. We
have only very basic expertise in-house, and the problems were beyond any of us
to fix. By this time the server was crashing every hour or so, requiring a hard
reboot. We decided that if Zappateers was to have a
future, we’d have to find and pay a developer to create a new site based on
modern supported technologies.
That developer is now working on a new Zappateers
site – it won’t look exactly like the old Zappateers
– and there will be a learning curve as we all try and learn our way around the
board. But in terms of function it will do the same job. Content is of course
provided by the members – and we hope all of our regulars will return once the
new site is up and running. Unfortunately I can’t give a date when that will
be, as it is all bespoke customisation, but I can say that we hope to go into
testing phase within the next fortnight.
We hope all of our regulars remember us and will jump back on board when the
new site is launched.
In the meantime we encourage everyone to drop into www.zappateers.com once in a while for updates, and www.idiotbastard.com for news.
ZappaCheers from the Zappateers,
StatusBaby
London 19/09/20
·
At the end of July, Chris Opperman (who has worked on orchestrations for Steve Vai and
Mike Keneally, among others)
released his sixth full-length album, produced by Dweezil's bassman Kurt Morgan. Chamber Music From Hell includes performances by Keneally and ZPZ
drummer Ryan Brown, and you can grab
a copy from Chris' website
or via Bandcamp. Chris recently posted on FB that Scheila Gonzalez just sent him her soprano sax
solo for an alternate take of the track Are
We Living in a Computer Simulation?, which will be issued separately in the
futchum. [Added: 19 September 2020]
·
London-based 3DD Entertainment has produced a programme for TV
called Birth Of
Invention featuring FZ, Captain Beefheart and King Crimson. It will air on AXS TV in
the US on 11 October as part of its ‘Rock Legends’ series, and on Sky Arts in
the UK as part of its ‘Music Icons’ series (date TBA). [Added: 13 September 2020]
·
Another teaser track from the imminent Halloween 81 set has been unleashed: Joe’s Garage (from the second
Halloween night show). [Added: 13 September 2020]
·
FZ's Night Flight Interview
from 1985 has been officially released by the makers of the TV series. You can
buy it as a physical ‘special collector's edition’ CD, or stream it on YouTube,
Spotify, etc. [Added: 13 September 2020]
·
Since The Zappa Tour Atlas was published last year, there have been a
further six new Official Releases. As per the book, I have written 150 word reviews
of these. You can find them on our Facebook page here.
[Added: 06
September 2020]
·
I have been helping proofread the text of the new book, Frank
Zappa – The Nordic Countries, and I must say
it's chockfull of great unheard stories about Frank's visits to Norway, Sweden,
Denmark and Finland. I haven't seen the near 300 unpublished photos that will
illustrate this text yet, but I know this is a book ALL Zappa fans will want. Pre-order
here. [Added: 06 September 2020]
·
There's an interesting article in Sound On Sound magazine about Craig Parker Adams. You can view 20% of
it online,
and download the whole thang for "less than the price of a coffee". For
those of you who might not know, Adams initially worked for Dweezil
(recording/mastering Live - 'In The
Moment', F.O.H., and Via Zammata')
and, as the article says, was nabbed by GZ to spiff-up a version of City Of Tiny Lites for The Frank Zappa AAA·FNRAA·AA Birthday Bundle 21.Dec.2010. Since
2016, he has been the Trust's go-to remix guy, working on everything since
Official Release #108. (The full article also mentions Nellie McKay, who
recorded a version of Hungry Freaks,
Daddy which Adams engineered.) [Added: 06 September 2020]
·
French-Brazilian guitar virtuoso Marcelo Paganini has just released his new prog
rock-jazz-fusion single Circus Is
Empty, featuring Chad Wackerman on drums. [Added: 06 September 2020]
·
During Co de Kloet's recent Dweezil radio special, DZ talked about
Reward Music, a new scheme whereby artists get 100% from every sale and fans
are rewarded with exclusive content (similar to Patreon
and OnlyFans). Sounds promising. It launches next
month, and you can check out DZ’s promo ad for it here.
[Added: 27
August 2020]
·
ZappaCast Episode #46
answers the question do politics belong in music, with aplomb. [Added: 27 August 2020]
·
Read all about Eddie Jobson’s new
live CD in this Press Release.
Check out a video for Caesar's Palace
Blues here. [Added: 27 August 2020 / Updated: 06
September 2020]
·
Not Your Mother's Radio's recent alumni interviews are now being
uploaded as podcasts for your more permanent listening pleasure. So far there's chats with Arthur
Barrow. Ray White and Scott Thunes – here.
[Added: 23
August 2020]
·
Drummer Gergo Borlai's new album, The Missing
Song, features nine tributes to his skin-thumping heroes –
including Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta.
The Terry track is played à la The Black Page, and the Vinnie track (played in the style of He Used To Cut The Grass) features Mike Keneally on guitar; both feature Ben Thomas (formerly of ZPZ) speaching. [Added: 23 August 2020]
·
Devin Townsend will release a new album, Order Of Magnitude – Empath
Live Volume 1, on October 23, recorded in London last December. The band
for this gig of course included Mike Kenneally and Morgen Ågren. [Added: 23 August 2020]
·
The Zappa movie now has a page at the Magnolia Pictures website
(as well as a presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram). [Added: 23 August 2020]
·
The next Official Releases from the Zappa Trust are: a six CD
costume box set, comprising three of the five Palladium, New
York shows from 1981; and a Highlights
CD including an exclusive bonus track. Both will be released on 2nd October.
Details here.
You can check out the previously unreleased version of I’m The Slime, from the November 1 show, here. And now. [Added: 14 August 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I am writing an essay each month which provides answers to
some of those questions that no one ever asks me! Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number eight – about some of the
women in Frank’s life. (If you missed FUQ #4 about Zappa’s London, you can still buy a map here
– but I only have half a dozen of the badges left!) [Added: 14 August 2020]
·
Robby Krieger's The Ritual Begins At Sundown is now out
and you can listen to his cover of Chunga's Revenge –
featuring five-Five-FIVE Zappa alumni (Arthur
Barrow, Jock Ellis, Sal Marquez, Tommy Mars & Chad Wackerman) – here.
[Added: 14
August 2020]
·
Adam Minkoff has put together this 50th anniversary version of Weasels Ripped My Flesh with a whole bunch of folk,
including fellow/past ZPZers
Kevin Bents, Ryan Brown, Scheila Gonzalez, David
Luther, Kurt Morgan & Chris Norton…and Moon
Zappa! [Added: 14 August 2020]
·
Zappateers.com is experiencing some serious issues: when the
server is rebooted, "it only lasts a few hours
and crashes again. No quick fix this time..." Fingers crossed they
can resolve this soon. [Added: 14 August 2020]
·
The Zappa movie will screen in select
theatres and be available ‘on demand’ in North America from November
27. International release dates will be announced soon. With London-based Great
Point Media being executive producers, it bodes well for an early viewing in
the UK. Keep ‘em crossed. [Added: 07 August 2020]
·
Check out a short but sweet lockdown version of Yo Mama by the London Zappa Collective here.
[Added: 07
August 2020]
·
Out shortly, Live by Eddie Jobson - a 2-CD compilation of
solo live performances from Poland, Russia, Japan and the US with the all-star
U-Z Project, featuring Simon Phillips,
Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann, Trey Gunn, Billy Sheehan
and the late John Wetton.
Pre-order here.
[Added: 07
August 2020]
·
John ‘Drumbo’
French is
currently mixing the Magic Band's
live show from Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall in 2017 (which featured guest
horns by some former Muffins). Drumbo says, "Instead of just mixing, I'm enhancing with
overdubs, playing a little guitar here and there, and re-doing some of the
vocals." [Added: 07 August 2020]
·
Alex Winter advises that the distributor for
the Zappa
movie will be announcing release plans very shortly, and adds that the
accompanying "book and album are already well
down the road…and they look and sound fantastic!" [Added: 03 August 2020]
·
Frank Zappa – The Nordic Stories by Erland
Bekkelund (with Cege
Berglund, Matti Laipo and
Ole Lysgaard) – a coffee table picture book with
English text – is ready for pre-order here.
[Added: 03
August 2020]
·
L. Shankar's new album, Chepleeri Dream, features Chester Thompson on a number of tracks. [Added: 03 August 2020]
·
RIP Bennett Glotzer, who was Frank's manager from 1976 to 1984.
According to Ed Mann, his absence on
the 1988 tour had a huge impact: "Bennett made
sure the family feeling was always present. The disappearance of that was felt
big time. The new, faceless managers were slick suit-wearing Hollywood
hot-shots. Their approach was that Frank was walled off and isolated."
However, as GZ noted: "In 1984, we'd gotten
into a situation where we were really subsidising [Glotzer].
He owed us a lot of money, and so in order to keep the business going we were
taking care of all his outstanding debts. Things weren't working in an
efficient way. Frank was on the road, and the shit hit the fan. He fired him,
and I took over the business." He obviously did a lot of good for
FZ though, especially in the wake of the Herb Cohen and Warner Bros. debacles. [Added: 30 July 2020]
·
Fred Händl's new CD, simply titled ZAPPA, will feature sixteen solo piano arrangements of FZ
compositions recorded between March and July 2020. It will be released in
October 2020. There will be 100 copies only, numbered and signed. It won't be
available on Spotify. You can pre-order your copy by
emailing: mudshark@jazzappa.com, and
Fred will answer as soon as possible with payment/shipment info. [Added: 30 July 2020]
·
Miss Pamela: “My
beloved sister for most of my life, Miss
Mercy, has just passed. Words don’t work for me at this moment. I can’t
imagine my world without her in it.” Happily though Mercy finished her
autobiography (Permanent Damage: Memoirs Of An Outrageous Girl), which will now be published in
2021. It’s available to pre-order
here. [Added: 30 July 2020]
·
Check out this Monnow Valley Live Jam by The Mandonnas (Devin Townsend, Mike Keneally, Morgan Ågren & Nathan Navarro). [Added: 30 July 2020]
·
Mike Keneally: "I’m
putting the finishing touches on a new solo album. It’s a collection of seven
new songs, along with a few of the best unreleased tracks that I’ve had in my
back pocket for a while. There are loads of great players on it: [including] Tobias Ralph, Nick D’Virgilio,
Pete Griffin, Rick Musallam, Doug Lunn
and Steve Vai."
[Added: 27
July 2020]
·
This
is what happens when you convince your locked-down musician chums that it would
be a good idea for them to record something for you to 'sing'! Yes, a tribute
to the late, great Vivian Stanshall, featuring Sam and John from Treacherous Cretins, ZERO's Kevin Crosby and Craig 'Twister' Steward! (This Idiot on
vox, obvs.) [Added: 27 July 2020]
·
Well, the Zappanale #30.5
online festival was great. And now you can
watch some great stuff at your leisure on YouTube. [Added: 16 July 2020 / Updated: 27 July
2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I am writing an essay each month which provides answers to
some of those questions that no one ever asks me! Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number seven – about the guy I
should be watching in Bad Doberan this weekend: Dweezil Zappa! (If you missed FUQ #4 about Zappa’s London, you can still buy a map here!)
[Added: 16
July 2020]
·
Robert Martin has released a new solo piano
piece, called Russell's Healing.
Beautiful song, with a beautiful story.
[Added: 16
July 2020]
·
I understand Roy Estrada
has now been discharged from hospital and returned to jail. [Added: 16 July 2020]
·
The Arf Society has provided some more details
about next week's online Zappanale #30.5 festival. In addition to a livestream, there will be new contributions and the best
shows from previous Zappanales, with optional
opportunities to watch select concerts. Can’t wait? Valentina Ciardelli has premiered a sneak preview
of her contribution here: Tengo Na Minchia Tanta by The Girls From Utopia! [Added: 07 July 2020]
·
Last week, Diva found a test pressing of
her dad's The World's Greatest Sinner
45. [Added: 07
July 2020]
·
Nolan Potter has unleashed a spiffy rendition
of Dog Breath, In The
Year Of The Plague on Bandcamp. [Added: 07 July 2020]
·
As I will not be making my annual pilgrimage to Bad Doberan next
month, I have put together this video
of snaps from my 18 consecutive visits in readiness for the online Zappanale #30.5. [Added: 29 June 2020]
·
The August 2020 edition of MOJO magazine includes a 10
page article, marking what would have been Frank’s eightieth year. Includes
some new quotes from the likes of Ahmet, Vai, Alex
Winter, Bozzio (who talks about Frank’s end of tour bad moods) and Ruth &
Ian Underwood (the latter comparing himself to Frank’s Synclavier: “a useful tool”!), plus a review of The Mothers 1970. [Added: 29 June 2020].
·
To coincide with the release of The Mothers 1970, I have compiled a Spotify playlist of various tracks featuring the 1970
Mothers band members. [Added: 29 June 2020]
·
Roy Estrada has apparently been moved from
jail in Navasota to a hospital in Galveston. More as and when. [Added: 29 June 2020]
·
With tickets
for Festival MOO-AH! 2021 now on
sale, we have also just negotiated discounted rates for
anyone wishing to stay at the nearby Hampton By Hilton
in Corby. Bookings can be cancelled up to sixty days before, and Festival
ticket refunds will automatically be made in the event of MOO-AH! being cancelled – so you have nothing to lose by booking
your visit right now! [Added: 18 June 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I am writing an essay each month which provides answers to
some of those questions that no one ever asks me! Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number six – about Rubén Guevara. (If you missed #4 about Zappa’s London, you can still buy a map!)
[Added: 18
June 2020]
·
Adam Minkoff from Dweezil’s band has just
released a four-track EP of rare FZ material that he “transcribed
and recorded over the last year or so and during this quaran-time.”
Unimaginary Diseases features contributions
from current/former ZPZ/BFU members Scheila Gonzalez,
Kurt Morgan, Chris Norton and Robbie 'Seahag' Mangano. [Added: 18 June 2020]
·
The area where the Log Cabin used to stand, which FZ rented for
several months in 1968, is up for sale again. $999K will get you Zappawood!
[Added: 18
June 2020]
·
Vaultmeister Joe Travers now has his own YouTube
channel. He also took part in ‘Coffee Talk
with ADIKA LIVE’. [Added: 18 June 2020]
·
I recently spoke with Spencer
Chrislu. As you will know, Spence worked as
Frank's engineer from 1991 until his passing in 1993 – and then continued to be
involved with the family biznis until 1998. During
this period, Spence worked on The Yellow
Shark, Civilization Phase III, Music For Pets,
The Rage And The Fury and many more.
You can read our interview here.
[Added: 12
June 2020]
·
Broadway The
Hard Way tour
photographer Sergio "Milo" Albonico has just unearthed some more snaps from
rehearsals and kindly allowed me to post some on Facebook. Obviously, none of these appear in FZ88: (A
Visual Documentary – Zappa's Final Tour) – last few copies
available from Wymer! [Added: 12 June 2020]
·
Grab a free download of FZ's Trouble
Every Day, as performed by members of The
Tubes and a former Grandmother
(all under the auspices of the Zappa
Early Renaissance Orchestra). Go here
– go now! [Added: 12 June 2020]
·
Some lovely snaps by Ed Lefkowicz of Frank & The Mothers backstage at the Durfee Theatre, Fall River, Massachusetts on February 18,
1968 here.
[Added: 12
June 2020]
·
Mick Ekers talks Zappa Gear some more in Zappacast Episode #44. [Added: 12 June 2020]
·
Mike Keneally appears as a special guest
guitarist on prog ensemble Staring Into Nothing's second album, Love. [Added: 12 June 2020]
·
Diva just held a Zoom session to play
and talk about some of her father's album collection. Sam from Treacherous Cretins partook and
enquired about Frank's 45s. Diva told him, "There
are a bunch in storage that I have to get – we just
found them." As ever, Instagram is the
place to keep an eye on for more. [Added: 07 June 2020]
·
To celebrate Steve Vai’s 60th
birthday (he was born on the sixth day of the sixth month, 1960), I have
re-posted our interview
from 1997 and uploaded a spiffy little video slideshow thang.
Steve hisself has released the new song, Candle Power,
together with a commemorative
candle! [Added: 07 June 2020]
·
Here's some fan
footage from a Real FZ Book
signing session in New York, 1989. [Added: 07 June 2020]
·
Chris Opperman has just released a new single, And If You
Know, featuring lead vocals and production by Robert Martin. [Added: 07 June 2020]
·
Zappanale WILL happen this year. But
online. Yes, the Zappanale team is working on a 'virtual festival', comprising
standout performances from previous years together with new contributions from
2020. The planned programme with Dweezil
Zappa, John McLaughlin, Mike Keneally and others will now take
place in Bad Doberan in the summer of 2021. But in the meanwhile we can enjoy
Zappanale 30.5 from the comfort of our homes (though I plan to camp out in my
back garden that weekend!) Keep checking the official website for
details. [Added: 28 May 2020]
·
Tickets for next year’s Festival MOO-AH! are
on sale now. Here.
[Added: 28 May
2020]
·
Sharleena (Roy Thomas Baker Mix) from the
forthcoming The Mothers 1970 set is
now on YouTube. [Added: 28 May 2020]
·
Having had a number of shows cancelled in 2020, the Muffin Men are trying again for the end
of the year. See the Bastard’s Diary for
details. [Added: 28 May 2020]
·
John ‘Drumbo’
French: "Rockette has had
a minor stroke and is hospitalized and resting comfortably. I'm going to
organize a fund-raiser...to raise as much as we can to
help Mark. I'm sure he'll be grateful." Details will be posted on Facebook. [Added: 28 May 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I am writing an article each month that provides answers to
some of those questions that no one ever asks! Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number five – about Gail and the Sloatman
family. (If you missed #4 about Zappa’s London, you can always buy a map!)
[Added: 19 May
2020]
·
New raunchy musical horror-comedy Vampire Burt’s Serenade
features Diva Zappa as Zombie
Connie. Here's the trailer. Now I'm not gonna tell you to check out Diva's Instagram
page again, alright? She's recently posted some more discoveries from her
father's album collection – including a letter from Cordelia Records’ supremo Alan Jenkins
(inside a Deep Freeze Mice elpee) and a test pressing of Joe's Garage. You have been told. [Added: 19 May 2020]
·
Mike Keneally has just posted about the duet
that Reprise Records didn't want you to hear. Explains MK: “28 years ago, Marc
Bonilla and I worked up an acoustic guitar arrangement of the Prelude from
Ravel’s Le Tombeau
De Couperin, originally a composition for solo piano, for inclusion on
Marc's second album American Matador
– but then Reprise informed Marc that they wanted Marc to play both guitar
parts on the recording, which he did with my blessing – can’t go upsetting
Reprise Records can you? I was delighted when Marc asked me a few weeks ago if
I was willing to play the piece with him again. Of course I was! Thank you Marc
for playing so beautifully, and encouraging me to take on this amazing piece of
music one more time.” Here it is.
[Added: 19 May
2020]
·
With both Zappanale and Zappa Union cancelled in 2020, might the
next mass gathering of Zappa fans be at The Raven in Corby? With sanitised
fingers firmly crossed, we are planning the fifth Festival MOO-AH for
19-20 March 2021 with the following stellar artistes: Muffin Men, Guranfoe,
Burger & The
Beast, Jimmy Carl Black Memorial
Barbecue House Band, Orange Claw
Hammer, Treacherous Cretins and Fred Händl! Tickets will go on sale
shortly. Any profit made by the festival will go to ProstAid.
In the event that the festival is cancelled due to Coronavirus,
full refunds will be given. [Added: 15 May 2020]
·
I now have some more Zappa’s London badges, so put an order
in soon before they all go again! [Added: 15 May 2020]
·
Lynn Goldsmith, whose snaps of FZ adorn three
of his albums (with a few more being utilised in Zappa The Hard Way) tells how Martian Love Secrets became Sheik Yerbouti
here.
[Added: 15 May
2020]
·
Watch Ralph Humphrey
demonstrate his rhythmic awareness of FZ’s T'Mershi Duween here. (Incidentally, the title is the name
of camel in a story made up by Moon Unit when she was little.) [Added: 15 May 2020]
·
During an interview
for Tower Records LIVE, Ahmet
hinted that the Zappa Trust is working on a 200 Motels anniversary
project. (With thanks to Corné for this.) [Added: 09 May 2020]
·
On the ZappaCast
late last year, Joe Travers talked
about an upcoming Vault release that would include material from early 1970 live shows and Record Plant
sessions. The Zappa Trust has just announced its next release, The Mothers 1970,
that Travers compiled this year. This
includes live material from mid to late 1970 and the June Trident Studio
sessions mentioned here.
These therefore appear to be two different sets. The Mothers 70 will be released on June 26 as a 4-CD set, including
a pin badge. You can download
or stream the track Portuguese Fenders right now. [Added: 09 May 2020]
·
L. Shankar will release a new album on 12
June called Chepleeri Dream. Among many guest artists playing
on the record is one Chester Cortez
Thompson. [Added: 09 May 2020]
·
Well, I didn’t expect the Zappa’s
London badges to be so popular and have run out of stock!
But panic ye not – there’s more on the way! If you’re
interested in the badges, drop me a line and I’ll be sure to reserve you a set
and let you know when they’re back in. Meantime, you can still order copies of
the pocket map. Big thanks to those who already have. [Added: 07 May 2020]
·
Ike Willis is facing extreme hardship
during the current pandemic and needs our help. If you can, please donate.
There's a new podcast
that includes an interview with Ike talking about the day he met Frank (starts
about ten minutes in). [Added: 07 May 2020]
·
Steve Vai recently revealed a little more
about the audition tape he sent to Frank. Read all about it here.
[Added: 07 May
2020]
·
Read "No Instruction
Sheet": Trout Mask Replica's Unfathomable Origin Story by Eric Gudas here.
[Added: 07 May
2020]
·
A previously unseen interview with FZ by NZ film maker Geoff
Steven was recently uploaded to YouTube.
In it, Frank discusses the state of American television and its effect on the
country. [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
Bass and stick man Tony
Levin: “The first band I was in, when I moved
to New York in 1970, was with three guys from the Mothers: Don Preston, who I'm still friends with, Billy Mundi and Ray Collins.
We formed a quartet and weren't playing Zappa music at all. It was Don Preston
music – very interesting and quite inspired by Frank Zappa. The group was
called Aha, The
Attack Of The Green Slime Beast. The name of the band was longer than our
career!” [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
Pygmy Twylyte are
premiering their live at Eden Court, Inverness show from October 2018 on YouTube on May 1 at 20:00 GMT. [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
Samuel Andreyev's lengthy interview with Art Tripp is here.
Lots of great insights into the recordings of Uncle Meat and Lick My Decals
Off, Baby. [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
Diva Zappa (on Instagram):
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is
the last album in the pile and piles of my dad’s collection. I have been
sorting through and cataloguing ALL of them (1300 albums). Now I get to put
them all back in some sort of alphabetical order. I’m thinking of diving in and
listening to a few of these beauties. Keep an eye out for my posts and join me
in deep discoveries.” [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
Det Norske Blåseensemble filmed The Brass From Utopia – A Frank Zappa Tribute
concert in March. You can watch it on Facebook here. [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
Marvel Studios' upcoming Thor:
Love And Thunder film is being directed by Taika Waititi (of JoJo Rabbit fame), who has introduced a new
character called Zappa. They are looking for a young black male between 11 and
12 years old to play the part. His personality will be intelligent, fearless,
mature and with a good sense of humour. FZ was of course friends with Thor
creator Jack Kirby, and
apparently Waititi has mentioned being a fan of FZ’s
music too. [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
In the late 90s, Mike
Keneally played on composer/musician Neil
Sadler's Theory Of
Forms album. Sadler has just posted a piece of never before
released music on his website, which includes an excerpt from an "LA gig with an amazing band" that
included Keneally, Bruce Fowler and
the late Kurt McGettrick.
Check it out here. [Added: 25 April 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I will be writing an article each month that provides
answers to some of those questions no one asks. Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number four – in which you can
read all about Zappa’s London. It
ends with a link to all manner of related wonderment! [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
Zappanale #31 is officially
postponed for one year. Here’s a couple of
other dates for your Diaries: 19th March
2021. And 20th March 2021. Festival
MOO-AH! will return to The Raven in Corby on those
days. We hope to start announcing bands shortly. [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
It will be 32 years since I last saw Frank on Saturday. I was
hoping to mark this by going to see Pygmy
Twylyte and Treacherous
Cretins at London's 100 Club. This event has now been rescheduled for
February 26, 2021 - but the Cretins are hosting a virtual gig on YouTube. See you there. Cheers! [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
Denny Walley (on Facebook):
“I've been listening to a LOT of music these last
few weeks and came across this song.
I wrote it to sing and play for Jim "Motorhead"
Sherwood's birthday party. Bunk Gardner, Peter Lovio,
Lou Alred and I drove up from LA to surprise him and
play some music for him. For those that aren't familiar with "Motor",
it's well known that he knew everything about everything... Really! With that
in mind, I wrote this little tribute à la Bo Diddley-style.
Hope it gives y'all a smile. Love Over Gold.” [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
After Don Preston left
Frank and the Mothers, he toured with Leo
Sayer. In a recent
interview, Sayer claims that in 1986 he “went to AIR Studios in Oxford Street and Frank Zappa was
recording in the next room to that. [If true, this was more likely to have
happened in early 1979 when Frank was recording overdubs for the Shankar’s
Touch Me There album.] Every five minutes Frank Zappa would wander in and ask
‘what are you recording?’ and then the next moment Van Morrison would walk in
and then Mark Knopfler, and they all used to just sit around the studio.”
He was recording a song called Passion
which wound up as the b-side for his smash/flop single Solo. “The backing vocals are all those
guys,” he claims. On learning of this, Don Preston said, “I know for a fact that Zappa hated Leo
Sayer and would never do back-up vocals with
him.” Elsewhere in the interview, Sayer
mentions that he helped design a record sleeve for The Wailers, which he later
showed Bob Marley on “the Internet”. Bear in mind that Marley passed
away in 1981... [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
Arthur Barrow (on Facebook):
“I am sorry to say that my old friend Tom Brown has passed away. I am here at
the Astro motel where he’s been living waiting for
the coroner. He was the most ardent and loyal Frank Zappa fan that I ever knew.
May he rest in peace. Thanks to everyone who gave him
money to help him survive this long." As you may know, Tom helped
compile the Beat The
Boots boxes for Rhino and wrote the fabulous Confessions Of A Zappa Fanatic book, published in 2012. [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp have been working on new
music together. Their version of John
Lennon’s 1970 track Isolation is
their first single release as a duo. It features Vinnie Colaiuta hitting things. Recorded
last year, and being released now "given all
the hard days and true ‘isolation’ that people are going through in these
challenging times," according to Jeff. [Added: 16 April 2020]
·
King Crimson's tour with The Zappa Band has been postponed until 2021 – they hope to
replicate the planned 2020 tour as much as much as possible, one year on.
[Added: 13
April 2020]
·
Dweezil is donating 100% of the proceeds
of sales from his webstore to Feeding
America. Here’s his short video
appeal. [Added: 13 April 2020]
·
Miss Pamela has been reading excerpts from
her book I'm With The
Band on her Instagram page. Here
she talks about how The GTOs came to
be. [Added: 13
April 2020]
·
Another new book in the pipeline (from the author and designer of Zappa In Norway): Frank Zappa – The Nordic Concerts
will feature stories from the people who met FZ on his visits to Sweden,
Norway, Finland and Denmark – stretching from Gothenburg 67 to Stockholm 88.
Watch the promo video here.
[Added: 13
April 2020]
·
The Vegetarians have issued their version of the
Shankar/Zappa song Touch Me There as
part of a two track 'album' release on Bandcamp. Also on Bandcamp is
Guranfoe's
2017-10-14 Banham
Barrel, Banham, England, which includes a live
rendition of The Grand Wazoo. [Added: 13 April 2020]
·
Encouraging news from the Zappanale
team: "Of course we are concerned with the
same thoughts as all of you, but we continue to think positively. We are of the
opinion that the rules in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are so strict that the
Zappanale can take place. This is also shown by the cautious optimism on the
part of the authorities, who gave us a permit. We continue to work on the
preparations." [Added: 06 April 2020]
·
John ‘Drumbo’
French (on Facebook): “Back when I was
transcribing the music that became Trout
Mask Replica, I often could hear it as orchestral music in my head –
probably from being inspired by Frank
Zappa, who I had recently met. Watching him working on orchestral charts
with Ian Underwood is what I'm sure
inspired Don to get a piano. I supposed I became his ‘poor man's Ian’ though I
only had a tiny percentage of the abilities possessed by Ian. There was
something very seductive about writing notes on paper that could be translated
by the players into music. It helped me get through a very difficult period. In
order to put this on YouTube,
I pretended I was conducting – complete with applause at the end. A man can
dream can't he?” [Added: 06 April 2020]
·
A great orchestral weekend in Paris is being planned for 11-12
December 2020, featuring Ensemble Musikfabrik with Napoleon Murphy Brock, a
Zappa ‘Happy Hour’
DJ set, the French premieres of Sad Jane and Mo'N Herb's Vacation, plus music by Varèse
and Stravinsky. [Added: 06 April 2020]
·
Art Tripp has written this fantastic
article about his time with Frank and Beefheart. [Added: 29 March 2020]
·
Co de Kloet will release a book later this
year detailing his personal and professional relationship with FZ. As advised
last year (see below) journalist Paul Zollo has also been working on his Zappa On Zappa book: this will now be published by
Chicago Review Press in December 2020. Although the Idiot doesn’t condone the
buying of bootlegs, another Zappa book that is now out ahead of schedule is The Frank
Zappa Vinyl-Bootleg Compendium by Burkhard Schempp, together with Peter Müller and Robert Gsteu. [Added: 29 March 2020]
·
Ralph Kessler is currently mixing the
multi-track tapes of Ensemble Musikfabrik's Zappanale
30 set for an official release later this year. He is being assisted by
arranger Ali N. Askin.
Kessler previously mastered Greggery Peccary And Other Persuasions: The Ensemble Modern Plays Frank Zappa
and produced the curiously credited Happy
Mother's Day CD from 2012 which featured Napoleon Murphy Brock – who guested with
the Ensemble in Bad Doberan. Check out the work in progress via RockRadio.de.
[Added: 29
March 2020]
·
CHATO! released
an album, Live at Zappanale #28, on
its Bandcamp site. Says Herr Segerer:
"Over 60 minutes of music! A great overview of
our two studio albums, with some arrangements being different. Includes Let's Move To Cleveland.” [Added: 29 March 2020]
·
Polish composer and conductor Krzysztof
Penderecki, who Frank cited as one of his
favourite composers in interviews, passed away today. He was 86. Sad to hear
that Zappa fan Aad Hoogesteger
just passed too. He, together with Axel Wünsch,
recorded many interviews with Zappa band members – some of which I helped
transcribe for T'Mershi Duween back
in the day. RIP. [Added: 29 March 2020]
·
The first CD review for fifteen years by Ben Watson was prompted by the release of Valentina Ciardelli's
Music From The
Sphinx. Read it here.
[Added: 29
March 2020]
·
Obviously many dates in the Bastard’s Diary are
now likely to be scrubbed. I’ll do my best to keep the page updated, but of
course y’all should check with venues. And wash your hands. [Added: 21 March 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I will be writing an article each month that provides
answers to some of those questions no one asks. Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number three - which includes a
new edit of my interview with Napoleon
Murphy Brock from 2002 (to mark his return to these shores after an absence
of eight years, fingers crossed! [Added: 21 March 2020]
·
Chris Wade has released his two books on The Music Of Frank
Zappa (1966-1976 and 1978-1993) in one volume. Grab a copy here. [Added: 21 March 2020]
·
FLAC and CD versions of Mats
Öberg’s Frankful album
can now be obtained on Bandcamp here. Here’s my review and a taster.
[Added: 21
March 2020]
·
A great radio interview with FZ from 1989 has just been uploaded
to YouTube. Frank is asked
random questions, about song titles and such, and sounds like he enjoyed it.
Well worth a listen. [Added: 21 March 2020]
·
Following the success of Ray
White's GoFundMe campaign, fellow Zappa Band member Mike Keneally has now asked for help to make
music at home. His target was exceeded in a few hours, but I'm sure
he'd appreciate a little more-a – if you can spare it. If you don't feel like
donating, you might consider buying his new duo project's debut album instead.
Read all about MFTJ (Mankind’s Final
Traffic Jam!) here. [Added: 15 March 2020]
·
Dweezil: "Due
to Corona Virus concerns worldwide, our final US and Canadian dates are
postponed. We are in the process of rescheduling and hope to announce new dates
soon. We appreciate your understanding and your support. Be well!" [Added: 15 March 2020]
·
ZappaCast Episode #43 is here
– Mick Ekers
talks Zappa Gear. [Added: 15 March 2020]
·
Listen to this interesting
interview with Don Preston
by Gerry Fialka.
[Added: 15
March 2020]
·
Following cancellation of the SXSW film fest, Alex Winter now says they have also had to postpone the Hollywood
premiere of his Zappa movie, "and other backer
screenings until such time that we can safely hold [them]." Meantime, here's a review. [Added: 15 March 2020]
·
King Crimson has now provided details of its
tour with The Zappa Band as special
guests here.
[Added: 09
March 2020]
·
Interesting article in the LA Times
re. Hot Rats, which refers to the
unpublished press release that would have announced the original Mothers’
dissolution (“I wanted the group to be a
frightening big band. The only thing frightening about the band today is the
expenses, the wrong notes and disinterested performances – and the inability of
the audience to grasp what the group is really doing.”). Though I have
still to receive my copy, I understand the full press release (as typed by FZ)
can be seen in The Hot Rats Book. [Added: 09 March 2020]
·
The 2020 Jimmy Carl Black Memorial
Barbecue will take place at The Caledonia, Liverpool
on April 13. [Added: 09 March 2020]
·
You can now read the latest issue of Le Jazzophone with its review of FZ88: (A
Visual Documentary – Zappa's Final Tour) (a few copies still
available!) and article on ‘Broadway’ tour photographer Sergio Albonico here.
[Added: 09
March 2020]
·
The planned world premiere of Alex Winter’s Zappa movie at the SXSW
Festival has been scuppered by cancellation of the whole festival due to Coronavirus fears. [Added: 09 March 2020]
·
The next Record Store Day
(June 20) vinyl reissue will be the You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Sampler,
limited to 5000 copies (on red & yellow transparent discs). For those of
you who might not know, this album contains unique
versions of Dickie's Such An Asshole
and Cosmic Debris. [Added: 04 March 2020 / Updated: 09 March
2020]
·
Treacherous Cretins: “We
are delighted to announce that Zappa legend NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK will be joining us at the Celebrate Zappa
show at the 100 Club, as well as the rest of our just-announced UK tour! [See Diary
for details.] Thank you to everyone who has
already bought tickets! For those who haven't yet, the early bird sale is
finishing soon so get yours now!”
[Added: 04
March 2020]
·
The first screenings of the Zappa movie outside of the US take
place later this month at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. Confused movie
backers have been reminded that “the digital and
DVD copies of the movie will go out once we’re into the general distribution,
along with the book and the soundtracks (digital, CD, vinyl and Limited Edition
vinyl)!” [Added: 04 March 2020]
·
Greg Russo's Ancient
Armaments: The Frank Zappa Singles Project
has been updated to includes material on The
Hot Rats Sessions. [Added: 04 March 2020]
·
Ray White: “I
have the opportunity to be a part of a great touring experience, but funds to
purchase a new amp are totally out of reach. The tour starts in May (rehearsals
in mid-May). I hope that I can get enough funding to purchase a great piece of
equipment that can represent the cool music we will be playing. I would be
forever grateful for
your help in making more great music.” [Added: 04 March 2020]
·
Scott Thunes on The Zappa Band line-up: “The addition
of Jamie [Kime] is
to have another lead-type instrument to perform melodic harmonies while another
instrument does actual harmonic support (or for full
three-part harmonies like in latter section of Echidna). With Mike, Robert, Ray, and Jamie we have all bases
covered, combinatorially-speaking. He is merely a
physical replacement for Ed's prodigious skills…Jamie is in because Jamie is
awesome and we love him.” [Added: 04 March 2020]
·
A new 15-piece ensemble, the
Stinkfoot Orchestra featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock, has been formed
in anticipation of celebrating Frank's 80th at the end of this year. But they
are holding a sneak preview show in San Jose on April 3rd. Visit their website and/or FB page.
[Added: 04
March 2020]
·
Read a previously unpublished anecdote by Randy Brecker, regarding his
participation in the Zappa In New York shows in 1976, here.
All thanks to Bill Milkowski!
[Added: 27
February 2020]
·
Just before I jetted off to see Ensemble
Modern in Hamburg, I did a quick site update
that included news of a couple of upcoming London gigs (see Diary
for details) – which raised a few questions. The first related to the SEED Ensemble, who formed in early
2016. The Ensemble is a Mercury Award nominated ten-piece band led by alto
saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi. I asked Cassie for a few insights. She told me
FZ “was a formidable composer and artist who I am
continuously learning from. As I write for large ensemble, I thought it would
be a challenge to arrange and perform some of his works as well as a privilege
to pay homage to him. Myself and our first trumpeter, Miguel Gorodi,
are in the midst of arranging some works for the gig.” Tunes you might
here in April include Eat That Question,
Help, I’m A Rock, The Purple Lagoon/Approximate
and Waka/Jawaka.
Cassie also told me that the Ensemble was recently “invited
to perform three of my compositions as a part of a series put together in
collaboration with the festival SXSW in the States next month, Bluesound and Jazz Re:freshed
– we live streamed from The British Grove Studios in London and were lucky enough
to have Spencer Chrislu
as the sound engineer.” The other gig features Aurora Orchestra conducted by Nicholas
Collon who will perform Greggery Peccary at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in October. The Orchestra
performed this piece at the 2013 Proms under Collon’s
baton – as did the London Sinfonietta at the
Roundhouse in 2010. [Added: 27 February 2020]
·
Doors guitarist Robby
Krieger will release his first solo album in 10 years on April 24. The Ritual
Begins At Sundown features Arthur Barrow, Jock Ellis (Abnuceals Emuukha
Electric Symphony Orchestra trombonist), Sal
Marquez, Tommy Mars and former
Banned From Utopia drummer Joel Taylor
– and a cover of Chunga’s Revenge. If that line-up floats your
boat, you may wish to check out Robby’s previous album, Singularity, which featured most of the aforementioned Zappa alums,
plus Albert Wing and Bruce & Walt Fowler. [Added: 27 February 2020]
·
It seems
that when the streaming/download/CD versions of Feeding The
Monkies (sic) At Ma Maison
were reissued around 2017, the last two bonus tracks on the original 2011
‘popsicle’ CD got lopped off of the CD, as per the 2015 vinyl version.
Hopefully the issue has now been resolved, but new buyers beware. [Added: 27 February 2020]
·
I mention below Tony Palmer’s
participation at The Harrogate
Film Festival on March 12. Due to the phenomenal demand for tickets,
the event has now been moved to a bigger venue: The Clubhouse at Cold Bath
Brewing Co. [Added: 27 February 2020]
·
A little more-a on the Crimson/Zappa tour: the blurb says The
Zappa Band “will be performing a mix of classics
along with new and rare Zappa compositions. Described as ‘the ultimate Zappa alumni band in partnership with the Zappa Trust’,
this tour will not be appearing with the hologram of Frank Zappa.” [Added: 27 February 2020]
·
Finally confirmed for Zappanale #31: the Muffin Men, celebrating their 30th anniversary. Denny Walley,
Mike Keneally and Sam Ward (of Treacherous Cretins, sitting in for Jumpy) will be their special
guests. It seems the rumoured talks with The Zappa Band must’ve broken down as
the full festival line-up has now been finalised. [Added: 20 February 2020]
·
Couple of interesting gigs now in the Diary: the SEED Ensemble is performing the ‘Frank Zappa
Songbook’ at the Church of Sound in Clapton in April; and Aurora
Orchestra will perform The
Adventures of Greggery Peccary (as they did at
the Proms in 2013)
at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in October. [Added: 20 February 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I will be writing an article each month that provides
answers to some of those questions no one asks. Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number two. [Added: 16 February 2020]
·
Robert Martin (on Facebook):
“Ed
[Mann] chose
not to continue. This upcoming tour with King Crimson will not include the
hologram technology, not sure after that. Either way, more touring is being
planned.” [Added: 16 February 2020]
·
The Carnegie Hall album
is being re-released on CD in April, but with one less disc. Presumably, as per
the 2017 download/streaming version, this new 3-CD version will excise the
Persuasions’ set. [Added: 16 February 2020]
·
Adrian Belew (on Facebook):
“People are already asking me if I am part of the
upcoming King Crimson/Zappa band tour. Let’s please understand something: I am
not in King Crimson. There is no ‘Adrian Belew WITH
King Crimson’. So please don’t ask about it...it hurts my feelings.” [Added: 13 February 2020]
·
Dweezil’s new keyboard player/vocalist
is three-time Emmy winner Kevin Bents, who has previously performed with the likes of John Fogerty
and Steely Dan. [Added: 13 February 2020]
·
Listen to this very interesting Mike Keneally interview by Gerry Fialka.
[Added: 13
February 2020]
·
The Idiot is trying to shift some shit.
Check this page
out. [Added: 13
February 2020]
·
The Zappa Band will open for King Crimson on a summer tour
of North America. “6 weeks, east coast
only. Chance of a lifetime.” says Scott
Thunes. The Zappa Band features Scott, Mike
Keneally, Ray White and Robert Martin, plus ZPZ alumni Joe Travers and Jamie Kime. [Added: 10 February 2020]
·
I didn’t realise what a year for anniversaries this was: obviously
Frank would have been 80 in 2020,
but it’s also 10 years since Zappa The
Hard Way was published; 20
years since I started this website; and 30
years since I conducted my first interview…which leads
nicely to my telling you about this new, short one with unsung hero Jay Anderson!
[Added: 09
February 2020]
·
Interesting little reminiscence
from Rainbow Theatre History
about the time Frank returned to the scene of the crime. [Added: 09 February 2020]
·
New video from Warren
Cuccurullo: In Defense Of The King
– coming soon. [Added: 09 February 2020]
·
Is the Zappa Holo band morphing into
Banned From Utopia? Word is Morgan Ågren may (temporarily) join them
later this year, and Ray White just posted on Facebook
that Jamie Kime
is now “an addition to the band”. Look out
for official updates soon. [Added: 09 February 2020]
·
The JazzTimes 2019
Readers’ Poll saw wins for Zappa alums Jean-Luc Ponty, Randy Brecker and Vinnie Colaiuta. [Added: 09 February 2020]
·
Guy Arnaud passed away on February 5. He was
the bass clarinetist of the Ensemble InterContemporain and appeared
on Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger. [Added: 09 February 2020]
·
ZERO's Bläther CD can now be pre-ordered
(with an immediate digital download, including two exclusive bonus tracks) from
Bandcamp.
Cost is $9.50 USD (plus $3.50 shipping within the Americas and EU – but only
$0.50 shipping in post-Brexit UK! $10 to Oz &
Japan). What’re you waiting for? [Added: 04 February 2020]
·
If you haven't got your copy of The Zappa Tour Atlas yet,
order it direct from the publisher
using code 'FZ001’ and get 20% off! [Added: 04 February 2020]
·
To mark Jimmy Carl Black's
birthday anniversary, his website
has some fantastic offers: visit the ‘Record Store’
and click on the ‘CD List’
link; order all four remaining CD titles and get FREE post worldwide. Then add
any or all of the following for the same free post price: for example, add both
1980’s vintage, unplayed vinyl 45s – Big
Sonny & The Lo Boys and Albuquerque Bound, add
Jimmy’s Audio Memoir – The Jimmy Carl
Black Story – recorded in 2007 by Jon Larsen. They also have copies of his
written Memoirs & Recollections
published in 2013, and the DVD Where's
The Beer? And When Do We Get Paid? released in
2012 (in the PAL format only). [Added: 04 February 2020]
·
The Idiot notes that two of the Zappa's Universe concerts from 1991 (featuring Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes,
Mats Öberg,
Morgan Ågren,
Dweezil, Steve Vai, Dale Bozzio, The Persuasions
and more) are currently available from Wolfgang's.
But be aware that GZ sed, “Everything
Zappa in that vault is a bootleg!” I really wish the Zappa Trust in
conjunction with Universal would reissue/expand some of the stuff from these
concerts officially on DVD/Blu Ray/something! [Added: 04 February 2020]
·
On March 12, The Harrogate Film Festival has an event called Rock Goes To The Movies
With Tony Palmer in which
the filmmaker will talk about working with music legends like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and FZ. [Added: 04 February 2020]
·
In 1984, Frank wrote None Of The Above for The
Kronos Quartet, and they performed the piece a
few times the following year. On Twitter, the Quartet recently posted about the
Zappa movie, “in
which we have a small cameo.” Quizzed about their association, they
responded saying, “He wrote one piece for us…and
it’s never been recorded (until this film!)” Of course, None Of The Above
was revisited by Ensemble Modern in
1992, and a 1985 live recording by Kronos turned up
on Beat The Boots III: Disc Three.
But this promises to be the first officially sanctioned professionally recorded
vershum by the guys he wrote it for. [Added: 26 January 2020]
·
Beefheart Project Toronto’s I Heard These Tweety Things is an album
of 21 Van Vliet songs, available now on Bandcamp. BPT also has a Doctor Dark tutorial
video on YouTube. [Added: 26 January 2020]
·
An exhibition of Captain Beefheart’s
paintings, titled Don Van Vliet: Parapliers the Willow
Dipped, Paintings 1967-1997, takes place at Michael Werner’s Gallery in New
York from January 31 to March 31, 2020. Here’s the press release. [Added: 26 January 2020]
·
Dweezil and his band of merry men are
playing at least four festivals this summer. Dates in the Diary.
[Added: 26
January 2020]
·
To celebrate 20 years of bringing you Zappa and related news via
this here website, I will be writing an article each month that provides
answers to some of those questions no one asks. Yes, I am giving you 12 FUQs
(Frequently Unasked Questions) in 2020! Here's number one. [Added: 19 January 2020]
·
Here, Steve Vai talks about his worst gig. (NB.
The Armadillo was of course in Austin, Texas – not Albuquerque.). [Added: 19 January 2020]
·
Frankful by Mats Öberg is now available from CD Baby, and for streaming
on Spotify. [Added: 19 January 2020]
·
Venetian cover duo 2XZ
released an interesting album last year called Planet Of Prunes. Check it out on Spotify. [Added: 19 January 2020]
·
Chris Darrow, a Claremont friend of both
Frank and Bob Zappa, passed away recently. Here's an interview he did in 2013 with Tim Corvin,
from which extracts were culled for the not yet released Frank Zappa's Greater Ontario documentary. [Added: 19 January 2020]
·
Alex Winter says the Zappa movie is now complete and headed to its world premiere at the
SXSW festival in Austin,
Texas in March. He adds, “The coffee table book is
being made as we speak; stuffed with never before seen images and the text
being written for us by the legendary David
Fricke, with design by the great Mike
Mesker. The soundtrack is also in the works, with
original album cover art being created by the genius Cal Schenkel. We’re not f*cking around!” Read this article in Rolling Stone about the
movie. [Added: 16
January 2020]
·
The Reviews
page has been updated and now includes words on Mats Öberg's Frankful CD and Mick Ekers' Zappa Gear book. [Added: 16 January 2020]
·
Following their 2018 farewell tour and Zappanale #30 appearance, The Grandmothers of Invention (the band that refuses to give up, thank
goodness!) are playing at MorYork in LA on 24
January. [Added: 16 January 2020]
·
The DVD of the 2016 Keith
Emerson Tribute Concert – featuring performances by Eddie Jobson, Vinnie Colaiuta, Rachel
Flowers and Joe Travers – was
premiered in California on 16 January. Proceeds from the event will help fund
production and distribution of the discs to all and sundry. Here's the trailer. [Added: 16 January 2020]
·
Warren Cuccurullo: “What
better way to start the new year than with two new
bonus tracks from the new Missing Person
album? Here's a cool couple of 'Hatin' on Satan'
tracks for your amusement. I should send 'em to Kanye! Happy 2020 everyone!” Here’s We Like It Loose and In Defense Of The King. [Added: 16 January 2020]
·
Steve Vai recently posted this rather nice
tribute to guitar tech
(and ‘video obsessive’!) Thomas Nordegg. [Added: 16 January 2020]
·
For those of you in the UK
thinking about attending Zappanale #31
this July, I have just updated the Idiot’s travel guide. [Added: 12 January 2020]
·
The latest issue of Le Jazzophone includes a review of FZ88,
plus an article on ‘Broadway’ tour photographer Sergio 'Milo'
Albonico. [Added: 12 January 2020]
·
Lisa Popeil: “Announcing my
November 2020 performance at ZappaUnion in
Oslo, Norway! Excited to work with Ed
Palermo and Napoleon Brock
for the first time, and to play with my friend Denny Walley as well.” [Added: 12 January 2020]
·
Miss Mercy: “I
have finished my book Permanent Damage
with friend and co-author Lyndsey Parker (Yahoo!
Music editor), and we are looking for the right publisher.” [Added: 12 January 2020]
·
Chato has just unleashed his
composition In Memoriam, Frank Zappa
on Bandcamp. There's live-in-the-studio YouTube video to
follow. [Added: 12
January 2020]
·
The late Nigey Lennon's long-time collaborator John Tabacco
has just released a new album, In Memory Of
Captain Tank. It features covers of Mom And Dad and Fountain Of Love, as well as a guest appearance by The Vegetarians. [Added: 12 January 2020]
·
The fourth ZERO CD, Bläther, is now
complete and has been sent to Cordelia
Records to weave its magic. The album features over 30 musicians –
including Craig ‘Twister’ Steward, Prairie Prince, Sandro Oliva, Fred Händl, members of Tante Tofu/Turbulator/Inventionis Mater/Treacherous Cretins/MagNiFZnt and yours truly! [Added: 30 December 2019 / Updated: 12
January 2020]
...coming
soon!
Contact: disco.boy@blueyonder.co.uk