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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Frank Zappa – Penguins In Bondage, 73-74

Ah, the memories, Barry. Especially from the 8th November 1974 WXRT radio broadcast of “Penguin In Bondage” from Frank Zappa’s performance at the Roxy on December 1973 (above) with various visual memories added later. Then a soundboard recording of “Penguin In Bondage” from St.Paul, Civic Center Arena on November 27th, 1974. Followed by a November 15th, 1974 performance of “Penguin In Bondage” at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. And lastly, “Stockholm In Bondage” in Stockholm, Sweden on August 21st, 1973 for the Swedish program ‘Opopoppa Special’ (below).
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Sunday Big Note – Listening Session #12

I’m certain each of us has our own personal experience in relation to Pink Floyd‘s masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon. The band itself had conceived the album as a concept reflecting themes such as conflict, greed, the passage of time, death, and insanity. Indeed, the album struck such a universal chord during those early years of the 1970s, both the band and the public having witnessed the death of the idealism borne of the 1960s and the emerging cynicism of the 1970s, the tracks of Dark Side of the Moon were a sort of common recognition of a shared humanity. Perhaps, at very least, that’s why the album “remained in the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history.”
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Sunday Big Note – Listening Session #11

The choice of this week’s Sunday Big Note was an easy one as it is also one of our webmaster’s favorites as well. Indeed, it put a smile on my face to learn that he had this very recording in his own private collection for a long time now. On Friday, October 22nd, 2010, in his post entitled “Hey Nineteen“, Barry said:
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Gentle Giant’s “Funny Ways” – Brussels, 1974

A little something special for all you aficionados of Gentle Giant music. “Funny Ways” is the second track from Gentle Giant‘s debut album of the same name released in 1970. Vocals were provided mostly by Phil Shulman, with Derek Shulman joining in on the verses. Christopher Nupen, a classical music film director, had invited the band to record the 1974 concert in 16mm film in a Brussels film studio for the German television station ZDF.
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Trouble Every Day – Live In Philadelphia ’74

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a couple of old friends I knew in High School, and among our collective reminiscences, were those long afternoons we spent listening to my Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention records on my parent’s ancient, mahogany console stereo. “Do you still listen to Zappa? they asked, wondering perhaps if I’d put aside my childish concerns for more adult oriented fare. Of course, it’s their children, now, who are listening to Zappa. Songs like “Catholic Girls“, just a reminder of younger days. What is it about Zappa’s music that turns the average, ordinary fan, musician, into a life-long freaks of his music, I wonder?
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Frank Zappa poltti näppinsä Suomessa

A finnish article about the ’74 show in Helsinki:

Zappa had in Helsinki, Finland two concerts on September 22, 1974 (famous Helsinki concerts, YCDTOSA vol. 2). Short concert review (“Voihan Zappa!” is on page 89). Before that on September 17 Zappa made a PR trip to Helsinki, described in the main article together with an interview (pp 24-31). The day before concert on September 21 Frank and Gail Zappa attended a wedding in Helsinki, which is included into the main article too. Their wedding present was a cappella performance of Approximate. A lot of funny pictures!

PS. Another nice article in English describing these events (and more) is Frank Zappa in Finland.

Nice article, it’s on afka.net (found on the site FZ in Hugrary).

Tweezer Glint: Finale – The Roxy Years 73/74 (Part III)

Welcome fellow KUR-meisters to the final installment of the Tweezer Glint series, “Tweezer Glint: Finale – The Roxy Years 73/74 (Part III)”. 120 tracks of raw, unbridled buffoonery amid some of the finest musicianship you’ll hear from this period of Frank Zappa’s career. For those among you who missed earlier installments of the Tweezer Glint series, do not fret, the entire series will be streamed again, in order, later in 2010. For now, enjoy this unique ensemble which played for that all too brief a period known as the Roxy Years – 1973 through 1974.

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

Tweezer Glint: Finale – The Roxy Years 73/74 (Part II)

Welcome to the second installment of Tweezer Glint: Finale – The Roxy Years (Part II). Slip on your headphones to oblivion, kick up your feet, and enjoy this unique group of talented musicians which many consider to be the absolute best ensemble FZ ever assembled and took on the road.

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

Tweezer Glint: Finale — The Roxy Years 73/74 (Part I) (aka Ruth Is A Sugar Bear — Or, The Continuing Adventures of Marty Perellis)

Between February 1973 and December 1974 Frank Zappa and the Mothers – featuring George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ruth Underwood, Ian Underwood, Bruce Fowler, Tom Fowler, Walt Fowler, Jean-Luc Ponty, Don Preston, Ralph Humphrey, Chester Thompson, Jeff Simmons, and Sal Marquez – were almost continuously on the road. During this time, they set the musical foundations for such classic Zappa albums as Overnite Sensation, Apostrophe, Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, as well as many of the classic Zappa standards we’ve come to know.

In “Tweezer Glint: Finale — The Roxy Years 73/74 (Part I)“, we hear Zappa songs evolve as his band toured them, some growing from their early proto instrumentals into fully realized versions, while others became more refined with each successive performance; still others act as a showcase for the talents each and every band member. What should be obvious to anyone who listens to these tracks is that Frank and band are having a lot of fun. So are the many and varied audiences. So should you. I know I had a ball putting this one together. A fine way to end the series, methinks.

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

Note: Parts two and three will be posted in two and four weeks, respectively. I wish to thank Charles Ulrich’s analysis of the 1973-1974 bands at Planet of My Dreams for his useful research. This mixtape would be much, much less than it is if not for his efforts.

Happy Festivus, Xmas, Chanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever, everybody!!!