Radio Clyde

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Aaah, pop culture: a T-shirt worn by FZ which he had obtained prior to a 1980 gig in Glasgow becomes “new must-have after American Idol appearance”:

[…] the Radio Clyde T-shirt has become the must-have item for Hollywood’s A-list. Trendsetters are rushing to buy the “261 top” – with the latest star to wear it being American Idol judge Randy Jackson.

radio clyde t-shirt

Richard Muir, marketing manager for Radio Clyde:

Clyde was playing Zappa music while some radio stations didn’t. He was proud to wear the shirt because he felt the station was supporting him.

The item in question can be found here, in case you were wondering.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, Pop Cult | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Review: Zappa Plays Zappa, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, Dec. 31, 2008

Posted on January 13, 2009 by Balint

Kevin shares his thoughts on the show at Crush All Boxes, including a nice piece of art by Ward Shelley (don’t miss the hi res picture!) 

At one point, Les Claypool came out in a longcoat and chimp mask and played what looked like a segment of a bed frame with a string attached to it. He beat upon this device with a drumstick while modulating the tension on the string and sort of dancing around as the band provided a soundtrack. It was during KK that Dweez conducted the band a la Frank.

For me, the standout solo was that of guitarist Jamie Kime. As at the previous ZPZ show I attended, he offered some truly original and intense sounds on his guitar. It was deeply impressive – this guy is a major talent.

The more interesting parts are in the text itself – go on reading!

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , , , , , | 32 Comments

Bogus Pomp Low Budget Semi-Acoustic Orchestra

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Balint

Listen to (parts of) last August’s concert by the Bogus Pomp Low Budget Semi-Acoustic Orchestra at St Katharinen’s Church in Hamburg here (~100 mb, from the NDR radio – via the Idiot Bastard).

By the way: Bogus Pomp Is Good. Their Little House:

Hats off to:

Jerry Outlaw: Guitar, vocals, bandleader (I think);
Alex Pasut: Bass
Rick Olson: Keyboards, vocals, guitar
Ross Jobson: Keyboards, vocals
David Coash: Vibes, marimba, percussion, vocals
Jason Caren: Drums
David Pate: Sax
Byron Hogan: Cello

The wonderful orchestration is by Tom Trapp, as far as I know. Oops, and someone just made an edited version of the abovementioned radio broadcast – here. With Napoleon Murphy Brock in some tunes. Hey.

(See the original setlist here. Did I mention that this is wonderful music and orchestration?)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Microsoft Presents: Songsmith

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Oh yeah! Someone pick me up off the floor please.

Posted in Heh Heh, Miscellany, Music | Tagged , | 21 Comments

Lumpy Money Pre-Order: 10% Discount

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

… if you purchased MOFO (4 disc edition), that is — have a look at the email announcement I just received from the folks at z dot com.
Update: You can now pre-order here.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music | Tagged , , , , | 44 Comments

Dweezil’s Guitar Rig Pr0n

Posted on January 8, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

My eyelids got a little heavy at the 5 minute mark — your mileage may vary.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, YouTubery, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

On Twitter

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

As you all know I’m a…

…recent father of a newborn child [who] behaves like an old man.
— bernard

Whatever.

Just wanted to announce I’ve had a Twitter account for some time now, where I post tweets: tiny messages with a 140 characters limit. Provided you signed up for a Twitter account, this service enables you to subscribe (“follow” is the term they use) and reply to these updates via most mobile devices as well as various desktop or web-based applications. Give it a go, it’s a lot easier than my explanation is making it out to be here.

I plan to use this Twitter gizmo for fast little updates on anything FZ related, announcements of new blog posts and such — but do expect the odd completely non-FZ-related banter every so often though.

Oh, and for my next “tweet”, I had this in mind:

@bernard: I twit, you twat.

Unfortunately, Bernard doesn’t have a Twitter account.

Posted in Community, In Writing, Personal, Site News | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Filthy Fifteen

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Bless MetaFilter:

In 1985, Tipper Gore’s PMRC released a list they called the “Filthy Fifteen,” detailing what they believed to be the fifteen most objectionable songs of the time, and the reason they felt each song should be censored…

Just one video that fills me with ’80s nostalgia: The Mary Jane Girls (a Prince vehicle if memory serves) – In My House:

“You’re frothing! I love it when you froth.” — FZ

Posted in Frank Zappa, In The News, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

2009: The Year Of Roxy?

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Just a casual update from Balint on the ZPZ Grammy post:

Roxy To Be Released In 2009?

No official confirmation for this at all, but here’s what z dot com forum user Gregory had to say as an addendum to his review of ZPZ’s December 12 ’08 show at the Roxy:

I almost forgot! DZ announced at the top of the show that he has transferred the footage from his dad’s concert at the Roxy, 35 years ago to hi-def, and will finally be releasing it on DVD!

Yes: it’s hear-say, but (if this is really) coming from DZ I tend to give it a slight bit more credibility than most anything GZ sends out into the world…

Update: Sigh.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Movies, Music, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

A Day In The Desert With Frank

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

I may have already posted something about The Annual Day in the Desert with Frank: an “intimate gathering of Zappa fans and musicians” in the Lancaster, CA garage of Lou Allred, who has amassed an incredible amount of memorabilia. However, now there’s video:

Posted in Community, Frank Zappa, YouTubery | Tagged , | 2 Comments