Frank Zappa had been referred to as a lot of things throughout his thirty year career – some complimentary (genius, iconoclast, family man) and some not so complimentary (misogynist, anti-semite, misanthropist) – yet all one need do is listen to some of the myriad of interviews Zappa gave during his life (beginning with an excerpt from the Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 1 Interview, above) and evidence becomes overwhelmingly clear: besides being a musician and composer, Zappa was a life-long cynic, satirist, and a social anthropologist:
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Tag: 80s
Gary Lucas on Captain Beefheart
Filmed at the Swiss Cottage Hotel, London, September 2005, from the 2006 DVD documentary “Captain Beefheart: Under Review” (Prism Productions), Gary Lucas discusses working with Captain Beefheart in the early 80s, and the making of the track “Cardboard Cutout Sundown” from the 1982 Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band album “Ice Cream for Crow”, and explains Don Van Vliet‘s “Exploding Note Theory”.
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Tuesday Mix: FZ in the 80s
Admittedly, there are some Frank Zappa fans who do not enjoy his 80s material quite as much as his music which came out of the 60s and 70s. That said, I really enjoyed compiling this mix together. At first, I thought I wouldn’t have enough tracks, yet, as you will soon see for yourself, Frank Zappa’s 80s set lists were just as varied as those from any other era of his career, and just as intriguing, both musically and satirically.
Click here to listen to the mixtape.
I’d like to thank our webmaster, Barry, for his help in uploading the larger tracks of this mixtape. Thanks.
Update 03/06: Added some Sinister Footwear to the Mix…
Note: If any of the tracks infringe on someone else’s copyright, let us know and we’ll remove them.
New 1980 Live FZ Footage
Dated October 12, 1980 and recorded in Albuquerque at Johnson Gym. October 12, 1980. The clip shows “Harder Than You Husband” with Jimmy Carl Black, and “Bamboozled By Love” with Ike Willis.
Jimmy Carl Black was living in Albuquerque at the time of this concert. This video was personally authorized by Frank Zappa, it was shot to document Jimmy’s performance.
Check it out. A higher res version can be found over at Zappateers.
FZ On Nightmatch
Recorded August 25, 1985, here’s yet another classic Zappa TV appearance that takes us back to the days of the PMRC and “porn rock”. Part one consists mostly of introductory stuff, so let’s skip right to part two:
…part three, part four (yes, there are four parts!)