Month: July 2010

Grande Mothers Re:Invented Embark On EU Tour

Warning: You’re about to enter a zone heavy with nostalgia. Take with a very large grain of salt.

In the late 70s and early 80s (yes, when Dinosaurs roamed the city streets wearing Walkmans and eating veggieburgers) – when a Zappa tour was an almost regular (if not annual) occurrence, and a Zappa fan might expect sometimes multiple releases from the maestro, and my own rabid obsession with the Mothers of Invention (and all things Zappa) was at least at a somewhat manageable level – myself and my fellow freaks had devised a method of determining the level of freakdom of a given Zappa fan by what albums they had in their collection.
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Zappa The Hard Way: A Chat With Mr. Greenaway

As you may have noticed, Andrew Greenaway (aka Idiotbastard) just had his book “Zappa The Hard Way” published. The book, which will have its official release at this year’s edition of Zappanale, tells the tale of FZ’s (in)famous ’88 tour, while attempting to shed some light on its unfortunate premature collapse. We’ve been talking about the book over email recently, and so I thought I’d share our conversation here…
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Mothers of Invention on Vinyl

An audio treat for those Zappa and Mothers of Invention freaks who have only heard this music via digital CDs, and a bit of nostalgia for freaks like myself, who first got turned onto the incredibly warm analogue sound of the MOI that you will never get with remastered CDs. Take a listen to the following examples – “Nine Types of Industrial Pollution” and “The Dog Breath Variations” from 1969’s ‘Uncle Meat’, and “Who Are the Brain Police (1966 MONO)” from ‘Freak Out’ – and be your own judge:
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Bongo Fury – Shock Theatre, 1978

In the three short years since Zappa’s 1975 release of his mostly live album with Captain Beefheart and the Mothers at Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas on May 20th through 21st, 1975, it’s affect upon popular culture is astounding…

…Beware, Bongo Fury! Mwwwahhhhhahahaha!

At The Roundhouse

Zappa At The Roundhouse

Of interest to those who live in the London area, Zappa at the Roundhouse:

…a three day festival from 5–7 November that will celebrate the life and music of this legendary American artist. The programme includes performances from his son Dweezil Zappa, screenings of previously unseen film footage, world premieres of unheard Zappa material, Q&A sessions with members of the Zappa family and music masterclasses with various members of Zappa’s backing bands.

Richard Burke Photography – Frank Zappa

In the 1970s, Richard Burke had a small photography studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Recently, Burke rediscovered old negatives and has been scanning them. Most of them have never been seen. Images of Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty, Sal Marquez and others (of course, we can forgive Burke for getting the dates and years wrong [it’s May 6th, 1973, at the Syria Mosque, Richard, not 1974] – he doesn’t have KUR’s database to fall back on).
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Chanan Hanspal Plays Zappa

Waiting in my inbox today was a missive from an impressive and interesting chap, to say the very least: one Chanan Hanspal, a composer/guitarist of Welsh Indian extraction from Wales. Who is Chanan Hanspal? Click on his name and discover more about how he dove into the London jazz funk world – played, recorded, and toured with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell, and Pharoah Sanders to name just a few.
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