Kill Ugly Radio: Frank Zappa & Elsewhere

Remember Ye Olde Hot Poop?

Back when we received the C&D letter from the ZFT last December, Dr Sharl and I jumped through all kinds of loops to come up with an engaging lay-out, while at the same time attempting to appease ZFT’s scum lawyers. It was “panic football”, to be honest.

Well today I’ve fiddled about a bit with the look and feel of this now abandoned weblog — one which, mind you, had been running since July 2001. My aim was to line up its looks a bit more with current KUR aesthetics, while maintaining a feel for why exactly Hot Poop came to be terminated.

I was originally going to make it an all black/white affair, as if you were to be looking at an old family picture. Dr Sharl then came up with the notion of adding some sepia colour. And so here it is.

A seven year work of love abandoned, derelict — gone but not forgotten.

Posted in Personal, Site News | No Comments »

Steven Harker has a problem. He writes:

I’ve been a long time follower of KUR. During the ZFT bruhaha I expressed the opinion that if it wasn’t for your blog my interest in all things FZ would have disappeared up my own poop chute never to be seen again. I didn’t buy the latest ZFT offering, truth be told after the luke warm stuff I did make the effort to buy recently I felt I’d be better off stocking up on petrol. It’s a sad state of affairs that my interest in Zappa is waning. So, perhaps everyone out there could recommend something that I need to do to rekindle my interest. Is there one album I should dust off and give my undivided attention to or even just one song? Should I buy a blow up doll and stick a gas mask on her? Or should I just give up and go to the Elton John concert tomorrow which is ten minutes down the road from my house? Help!

My first suggestion would be to get an account at Zappateers and act like the kid in the candy store. Anyone else have any good tips? Let’s hear it, freaks!

Posted in Community, Frank Zappa, Music | 33 Comments »

Hello and welcome to another episode of “thank god for those unofficial fan blogs we sent cease & desist letters to, because otherwise us ZFT pumpkins would never get our new releases out in the public proper - {chuckle}”:

One Shot Deal @ zappa.com
One Shot Deal @ Barfko Swill
One Shot Deal ZFT Newsletter Announcement

Update 14/06: Now with tracklist! Amazing.

1. Bathtub Man (5:43)
2. Space Boogers (1:24)
3. Hermitage (2:00)
4. Trudgin’ Across the Tundra (4:01)
5. Occam’s Razor (9:11)
6. Heidelberg *1987 (4:46)
7. The Illinois Enema Bandit (9:27)
8. Australian Yellow Snow (12:26)
9. Rollo (2:57)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music | 91 Comments »

That’s right, you heard right: any and all of my facial hair varieties are hereby copyrighted! You see, being the type of original artist whose legacy is to be protected by my wife upon my biting the big one, I can easily imagine a scenario whereby some East-German lowlife scumbag rips off one of my iconic facial hair designs for a logo concept, thereby confusing fans across the globe.

one, two, three, four, five, six
Click the above image to view all of my Copyrighted Facial Hair Designs (hovering your mouse over the pictures will allow you to navigate back and forth). Any of you so much as think about copying these Facial Hair Designs, I’ll have my Burger Kuhnt scumbag lawyers all over you faster than you can say the words “Accept No Substitute”!

Word to the wise…

Posted in Frank Zappa, Miscellany | 23 Comments »

Der Spiegel, on the day of the ZFT vs Arf Society/Zappanale trial:
Mother Of Intervention: Zappa Festival Defends Itself from… Zappa.

Quoth Goil Zeepee:

“One of the reasons you file a trademark is to protect the works of a person,” Gail Zappa told SPIEGEL ONLINE in a telephone interview. “I felt we were getting into territory where we were putting the audience at risk in terms of who Frank was. You become concerned.”

Thomas Dippel:

Dippel says that the Zappanale has long tried to get the kind of official rubber stamp that Gail Zappa insists is available. He claims that letters have been sent and that Zappanale people even met with Gail in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 1990s. He also says that he invited the Zappa family — including Gail, Dweezil and Moon — to an unveiling of a Zappa statue that now graces Bad Doberan.

Gail — who refers to the statue as an “impish creature” that “doesn’t look like Frank Zappa unless you argue that putting a moustache on any face looks like Frank Zappa” — says that very little communication has taken place with the Zappanale.

I guess you know where our sympathies lie, right?

Posted in Community, Frank Zappa, Music | 59 Comments »