Frank Zappa must have rolled over in his grave when Tipper Gore drummed on daughter Diva’s “When the ball drops”. During the eighties he fought an anti-censorship battle against Gore. But that wasn’t the only thing he was known for of course. He was also a prolific musician who dabbled in every genre. From jazz to doo wop, he tried it all and with success. Kindamuzik wanted to focus on this musician who was a schoolfriend of Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart). Who better to talk about Zappa than Wire contributor and Zappa connaisseur Ben Watson?

Read the kindamuzik interview with Ben Watson.

Following that, treat yourself to a video of “King Kong” from A Concert For Jimmy – a benefit concert held on November 9th, 2008, to raise funds for the family of original Mother and Grandmother, Jimmy Carl Black (who passed away on October 31st, 2008) featuring: Ben Watson, The Thurston Lava Tube, The Muffin Men, Fraz Knapp, That Legendary Wooden Lion at BRIDGEHOUSE II, Bidder Street, Canning Town, London, United Kingdom:

Note: As always, follow the various links in this post to a lot of interesting Zappa covers, and other interviews.

ALL ZAPPED OUT – Ben Watson Interview is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

Since last month’s confirmation of the September 19th date for Baltimore City’s dedication of a bust of Frank Zappa, community support has been growing for a concert and festival in tribute to the legendary musician, composer and social icon, whose birthplace is Baltimore. The bust, donated by a Lithuanian fan club, will be placed at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Southeastern Anchor Branch in Highlandtown, and plans now include an outdoor concert featuring Zappa Plays Zappa (fronted by Frank’s son Dweezil), and various events at the library and nearby Patterson Theatre in support of the dedication ceremony.

The date itself is especially significant as September 19th is the anniversary of Zappa’s 1985 testimony on Capitol Hill in favor of free expression by Recording Artists at the Senate hearing instigated by certain congressional wives (members of the PMRC) concerning record labeling. Frank Zappa’s widow Gail commented on the remarkable coincidence, stating, “Frank’s legacy rests in his uncompromising defense of the First Amendment and his uncompromising pursuit of excellence clearly demonstrated in the standards he set in all areas of Music and the arts and sciences associated with it. He was self-taught and self-realized. It is hard to imagine how that is possible except for the 4 cornerstones he had going for him: a talent for music, a hard-core curiosity, a keen sense of humor and access to a library. He was a cheap date for History.”

More info here and here.

Baltimore Plans Zappa Dedication & Tribute Concert is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

Zappanale #21: Zappa & The GDR Exhibit is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

For the pop life of me, I cannot see why anyone past the age of 17 would want to listen to Frank Zappa again, never mind revere him as a deep and important artist, never mind worship at the tottering edifice of his recollected, remastered and repackaged works. Surely the only pertinent use for Zappa was as an interim stage for young lads ‹ scared witless by what they suddenly perceive as the transience or hollowness of popular culture ‹ for whom Zappa represents a gi-normous prefab sneer of self-importance behind which they can shelter for a while. (And, lest we forget: in the pre-Viz, pre-Mayall and Edmondson 1970s, he was the only legitimate supplier of fart and bum and willy jokes).

I beg, as they say, to differ.

Ian Penman: “Don’t Do That On Stage Anymore” is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

Let’s Make The Water Turn Black! is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

Frank Zappa Band, Halloween Palladium Shows, 1981:

Frank Zappa – lead guitar, lead vocals, band leader

Ray White – rhythm guitar, vocals

Steve Vai – guitar, sitar

Tommy Mars – keyboards

Robert Martin – keyboards, tenor saxophone, vocals

Ed Mann – percussion

Scott Thunes – bass

Chad Wackerman – drums

Zappa, Palladium Shows, October 31st, 1981 is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

You get Zappa-inspired music, but it comes with beats, rhythms, samples and melodic patterns that one immediately connects to the contemporary dance scene. Imagine spun out guitar solos in a dance-remix version where the samples are taken from FZ’s catalogue. So, again, I have to say “Hmm…Interesting”, only this time I would really like to see it being played by a DJ for a dance audience. I like this. I hadn’t thought this would be my cup of tea, but I really like it.

ZAPPATiKA! is scheduled to perform at Zappanale 21 on Saturday, August 14th, 2010. Take a glimpse of this unusual band in the following three videos, “Bamboozled by Love” live in Manchester, UK, on March 21st, 2009; “Wonderful Wino” and “The Ballad of Leroy” both live at the Project 24 gig in the Q-bus, Leiden, The Netherlands on December 12th, 2009:

ZAPPATiKA! is:

McINNES – lead guitars, lead vocals & arrangements
ZOMBY WOOF: rhythm guitar & vocals
BATTA-TUTTI – drums & other loud noises
BILLY BONGO – percussion & twiddly things
DOCTOR LAU – sequencing, keys, computers, sonology
THE KID – bass
DADDO – guitar
KE – violin

previous members

WILLY WHIZZ – bass
NICO-H – vocals, accordion & looking good

To listen to other covers and songs by ZAPPATiKA! go to their reverbnation page.

ZAPPATiKA! contributed a track to the “21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches” tribute that got released on Cordelia Records in 2010.

ZAPPATiKA! will be releasing a CD of live Zappa compositions after their set at Zappanale 21 entitled, Strictly Frankly.

Zappanale 21 – ZAPPATiKA! is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

In this 1980 Austrian TV Documentary, interviews with Frank Zappa are interspersed with concert footage from New York’s Mudd Club on May 8th, 1980 (“Mudd Club” and “Chunga’s Revenge“) and Upper Darby Township’s Tower Theatre on May 10th, 1980 (“Beauty Knows No Pain“) as well as an interview (of sorts) with hardcore fans (including Al Malkin) backstage at the Mudd Club. Despite poor video quality and bad overdubbing – it is still a great artifact of Zappa‘s 1980 tour and New York’s infamous Mudd Club which opened in October of 1978, quickly became a fixture in downtown Manhattan’s underground music and counterculture scene, until its closure in 1982.

Frank Zappa: New York & Elsewhere, 1980, Excerpts is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

Listening to these encores – some a little over ten to twelve minutes in length, others almost a full hour – it’s obvious that Frank Zappa and the Mothers had a special connection with their audiences as well as to the music, itself.

A wonderful way to end the Immaculate Voodoo Butter Mix, n’est pas?

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

Sit back, get comfortable, slip those headphones-to-oblivion back on your head, and prepare yourself for a colossus of a final installment.

Note: for those who require a detail listing of individual tracks, go to KUR’s Frank Zappa Gig List and plug in the date and venue for each encore.

Immaculate Voodoo Butter Mix – Part V: Encores is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.

If anyone ever asks you what has come from Cincinnati, Ohio, lately tell them a Frank Zappa cover from the likes of The PsychoAcoustic Orchestra (formed in 1990 by composer Pat Kelly). Comprised of thirteen Cincinnati area musicians, the group blends aspects “of jazz, rock, Latin, funk, European “serious” music, and avant garde” into their music – Psycho- of the mind; Acoustic – of hearing. The PAO has released two CDs, Supreme Thing (1994) and Reactivation (1996).

In the above clip, The PsychoAcoustic Orchestra performs Pat Kelly‘s arrangement of Frank Zappa‘s “Twenty Small Cigars” live at The Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 26th, 2010.

The PAO:

Trumpets:


Gary Winters

Jeff Folkens

Kim Pensyl



Trombones:


Clarence Pawn

Scott Forney

Gary Langhorst (bs. tromb.)



Woodwinds:


Rick VanMatre (alto sax, soprano sax, flute)

Steve Hoskins (tenor sax, clarinet, flute)

Garin Webb (tenor sax, clarinet, flute)

Joe Gaudio (baritone sax, bass clarinet)



Acoustic & Electric Basses:


Mike Sharfe



Drums:


Marc Wolfley



Piano & Synthesizers:


Pat Kelly

The PsychoAcoustic Orchestra – Twenty Small Cigars is a blogpost from killuglyradio.com.