Month: March 2011

The Cardiacs in Rehearsal

Long before I had began writing and posting here at KUR, one of the many things which had attracted me to this weblog (and frankly, still does, years later) was all the new music I was exposed to on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis (via posts, comments, and various emails from band publicists throughout the world).
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Zappa Jam Site Re-opens on Facebook

The old Zappa Internet Jam has a new address on Facebook, here.

The old Zappa Internet Jam was a great place, but times change. Much has happened in the last few weeks and well so it looks we have done a job on our new site on Facebook. It is finally up and going to the point where it is now operational. Check it out.

We would love to hear responses, what you think.

A lot of great old stuff will be posted there soon and we encourage you to post new ones. Download the tunes, add your comments, ask questions or share advice with our musicians community and also, this is your new chance to submit your music for feedback straight to the people that matter, and you can interact on comments and more.

To upload your music first time to the new system: please login with your Facebook account, or register a Facebook-less account. You can upload a maximum of three tracks in any 30 day period. When you upload a track to us, it will be online automatically. Anyone can share your music with friends on and outside Facebook, but only the best ones will be posted to our Zappa community wall.

We will now be welcoming you back.

-Zappa Internet Jam Team


As always, the Zappa Jam Site is a wonderful source of excellent new Zappa covers. I give their new FB Jam Site a thundering endorsement!

The Tubes – Re Styles, Then & Now

From the very beginning of The Tubes, I was always taken with the vocal and performance style of band member Re Styles – born Shirley Marie MacLeod (certainly being a teenage boy at the time didn’t hurt my infatuation very much). Watch Styles in her role as Patty Hearst, live at California Hall in 1974, as The Tubes perform “Whiz Quiz” and “Crime Medley” (above), then 35 years later as she makes a one night only appearance with the band doing exactly what made her a natural member of the band as the band performs “Smoke” (below).
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Owsley Stanley, 1935-2011

Owsley Stanley died in an automobile accident on March 13 in Australia, where he had been living.

Besides being known to Zappaphiles as a reference in “Who Needs The Peace Corps?”, Mr. Stanley was best known for his work as an amateur chemist, providing his wonder-tonic for the likes of The Beatles and The Grateful Dead. We also have Mr. Stanley to thank for the Dead’s skull logo and served as the inspiration for the group’s dancing bear logos.

We remain vigilant in learning if documents will be released revealing whether or not Mr. Owsley was indeed a CIA man.

From Hungary With Love

I discovered Frank Zappa’s music in the early years of the ’70s, back in my home country, Budapest, Hungary. I was about 20 years old, and just went through eight years of music training, and four years of art school, and all I cared about was art and music (big coincidence, huh?). Of course, I had some interest in girls too, but since I had no formal training regarding that matter, I thought I shouldn’t mention it.

Nice, long article by Gábor Csupó, creator of (among others) the Lost Episodes CD-cover – about youth, about music, about FZ.

Sunday Big Note – Listening Session #18

Unlike many of their contemporaries, British group Gentle Giant‘s classical influences ranged beyond the Romantic to incorporate elements of mediaeval, baroque, and modernist chamber music. Undoubtedly, this was what drew Frank Zappa to their music – that, and their elaborate arrangements, complex instrumental parts, and odd meters, too. I know, that was certainly what drew me to the music of Gentle Giant, too: a band made up of multi-instrumentalists who combined diverse elements from rock, classical, jazz, soul, blues, and the avante-garde, playing more than thirty instruments.
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The ESO plays Zappa

Almost eight weeks ago I learnt that one of The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra‘s 2010-11 Symphony Specials would be a performance of Frank Zappa compositions by a rock group fronted by two Zappa alumni – Ed Mann and Ike Willis – and backed by the ESO on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 at 7:30pm at Edmonton’s Enmax Hall in the Winspear Centre (see above).
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The Scott Thunes Effect Reloaded

Ever since The Scott Thunes Effect (later known as Bass Notation), went offline, I’ve received numerous requests of people asking if I or anyone else could provide them with Thunes’ bass transcriptions for many of the ’88 band’s tunes, as they were originally listed there.

Today I’m happy to report that we’ve managed to salvage 44 pages of transcripts (with a couple more to follow). A huge thank you goes out to Stewart Cable, who had downloaded the transcripts back when they were still available. He was more than happy to email them to me, so that I could share them with you – so cheers Stewart!

Without further ado, here’s where you can now once again view and/or download these files:

Note: by putting this material online, I am not claiming any authorship and/or copyright. If not for Steve D who did the original transcripts, these files would not even exist.

And finally, as Steve noted in this AFFZ thread with regard to Scott Thunes:

… He’s a big scary man who shouts at people who displease him, so I don’t want him thinking i’m a stalker or anything…

Mr Thunes, if you’re reading this: I second that emotion…