It really is Mothermania. With Zappa Records' and Universal Music's campaign to reissue the Official Albums of Frank Zappa drawing to a close in December, there are still a few surprises up the Zappa Family Trust's sleeves. In our newly-updated ongoing rundown of the main campaign, we have already reported on the reissue of the Mothers of Invention's "greatest hits" Mothermania, originally released on Verve Records in 1969 and only now appearing on authorized CD. We've also passed on news of
Mind Games: Universal's Record Store Day Lineup Includes Beatles, Elton, The Who, John Lennon, Charlie Parker, U2, Ringo Starr, "Wicked", Frank Zappa, More
Continuing our look through this year's Record Store Day list, here is a glance at twenty-one releases from the Universal family of labels. All descriptions are taken from the labels. If you are interested in any of these titles, they will be available at your local record store on April 20. Head over to recordstoreday.com for a list of participating retailers. U.K. readers, please visit recordstoreday.co.uk and Canadian readers, please visit recordstoredaycanada.ca. The Beatles, "I Saw
I'm the Slime: Zappa's "Over-Nite Sensation" Goes Super Deluxe for 50th
The title of Frank Zappa's 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation was, expectedly, dripping with sarcasm; the album was the prolific composer-bandleader's seventeenth overall release. But the "sensation" part was spot-on. The LP became Zappa's first of two U.S. gold-certified releases and an ideal entry point into his musical world. On November 3, Zappa Records and UMe celebrate the 50th anniversary of this landmark record in a variety of formats including a 4CD/1Blu-ray super deluxe edition, 2LP and
Review: Frank Zappa, "Waka/Wazoo"
Finally, a Zappa album that's safe for the whole family! Frank Zappa's pair of 1972 releases, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, stand as two of the most impressive and unusual in his sprawling catalogue. Forced to abandon live performing as a result of a crazed "fan" charging the stage and heaving him into an orchestra pit, the composer-bandleader spent nearly a year recovering from injuries to his face, head, ribs, arm, and leg. A wheelchair and a leg brace couldn't stop Zappa's prodigious
It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal: Zappa's 1972 Chronicled on New CD/Blu-ray Box "Waka/Wazoo"
On the evening of December 10, 1971, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention had just encored with a performance of The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at London's Rainbow Theatre when a so-called fan jumped onto the stage and pushed the bandleader some twelve feet into the orchestra pit. With injuries to his face, head, ribs, arm, and leg, Zappa was lucky to survive. He was forced into a near-yearlong period of convalescence in a wheelchair and leg brace, but he didn't stop creating or
Wowie Zowie: "Zappa/Erie" Box Set Captures Three Different Mothers Line-Ups
The Frank Zappa archive has opened wide in recent years; the past twelve months alone have seen such diverse releases as The Mothers 1971, the 50th anniversary edition of 200 Motels, and Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show. The latest addition to the canon (or Official Release Series No. 122, for those keeping count) has recently arrived from Zappa Records and UMe. Zappa/Erie premieres three full shows from the Erie, Pennsylvania area (including Edinboro, some eighteen miles outside of Erie) plus a
Review: Frank Zappa, "The Mothers 1971"
Sorry, Frank! Though the title of Zappa and The Mothers' 1971 album was Just Another Band from L.A., listeners knew what the maverick bandleader was alluding to: his latest group was anything but. Vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a.k.a. Flo and Eddie) and bassist Jim Pons - all freshly recruited from The Turtles - were now happy together with Zappa, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardists Bob Harris and Don Preston, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood in one of the most outrageous and
Would You Go All The Way? "Zappa/Erie" Collects Three Pennsylvania Shows and More on 6 CDs
On June 3, Zappa Records and UMe are taking a journey to Elsewhere. Frank Zappa's 1974 live album Roxy and Elsewhere primarily featured performances from Hollywood's Roxy Theatre recorded in December 1973. The Elsewhere in the album's title referred to "Son of Orange County" and "More Trouble Every Day," both of which were captured in May 1974 at Edinboro State College in Edinboro, Pennsylvania (with parts of "Son of Orange County" drawn from a Chicago show). Now, the entire Edinboro show
Review: Frank Zappa, "200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition"
Frank Zappa called 200 Motels "a surrealistic documentary." Leonard Maltin described it as a "visual, aural assault disguised as a movie; completely berserk, freeform film...some of it ingenious, some funny, but not enough to maintain [an] entire film." Roger Ebert compared the surreal musical to the work of experimental composer Harry Partch before observing that it "assaults the mind with everything on hand...a full wall of sight-and-sound input." Zappa never wrote and directed another
Direct from Hollywood: Frank Zappa's "200 Motels" Turns 50, Goes Super Deluxe
1971 was a banner year for cinema with such all-time classics as The French Connection, A Clockwork Orange, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Picture Show, and Shaft. The highest-grossing film of the year in North America was United Artists' Fiddler on the Roof. But Fiddler wasn't the studio's only musical of the year. Mere days before the Broadway adaptation hit cinemas, UA opened one of the most wild, inventive, outré, and unhinged films of the year: 200 Motels. Written, co-directed, and composed
Review: Frank Zappa, "Halloween 81"
"The finest night of the year..." Frank Zappa knew how to throw one hell of a Halloween party. The iconoclastic composer-bandleader counted Halloween as his favorite holiday, and his annual celebratory shows were among his most anticipated. The 1981 stand at the late, lamented Palladium - a once-plush 1927 movie palace sadly demolished in 1998 to make room for dormitories at New York University - was particularly special to Zappa's fans as he had curtailed the 1980 shows earlier than
Happy Together: The Zappa Trust Winds Back the Clock 50 Years With 'The Mothers 1970' Box Set
On Friday, Zappa Records/UMe announced its latest archival release. The Mothers 1970, a 4-CD box set, is due on June 26. Like previous Zappa archive projects such as last year's 50th anniversary edition of Hot Rats, this one has been produced by Ahmet Zappa and "Vaultmeister" Joe Travers to provide a look at a heralded period of creativity. The short-lived Mothers of Invention iteration heard on these discs featured Aynsley Dunbar (drums), George Duke (piano/keys/trombone), Ian Underwood
Cosmik Debris: Frank Zappa's "Halloween '73" Shows Collected on 4-CD Box Set
Just in time for Halloween, The Zappa Family Trust and UMe will release Halloween '73, a 4-CD box set featuring over four and a half hours of live material, recorded in Chicago on October 31, 1973. Both of Zappa's live sets from that day - and a further disc of rehearsal tapes - will be collected in the elaborately designed set, which features a "costume box" that houses the four CDs and a "FRANKenZAPPA" mask and gloves set. On the music front, these legendary previously unreleased shows are
Got a Special Interest: Utopia Singles Collection and Reissue of Zappa's "200 Motels" On the Way From Pledge Music
In recent years, many artists have teamed up with Pledge Music to bring their music direct to consumers. From small, independent do-it-yourself productions, to massive reissue campaigns by major artists (Cat Stevens' Back To Earth, for example), it's become one of many emerging avenues for artists who want to get their projects out there. Now, two projects by two heroes of "weird" rock have been announced - one a compilation of singles tracks from Todd Rundgren's Utopia, and the other a
Review: Bob Dylan and The Band, "The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes - Complete"
I. They Shall Be Released 1967: Jimi Hendrix asks, "Are You Experienced?" The Beatles plead, "Let me take you down" to "Strawberry Fields Forever." Brian Wilson spins a yarn of "Heroes and Villains." The Summer of Love is in full swing, and psychedelia is in the air. Fast forward one year. In July, The Band releases Music from Big Pink. Reportedly, hearing the album convinces Eric Clapton to leave Cream. The ripples of its influence would be felt in the ranks of The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
Ahead of His Time: Final Wave of Zappa Reissues Arrives (For Now)
Welcome to our ongoing exploration of the Zappa Records/Universal Music (UMe) reissue campaign which will see a comprehensive array of Zappa titles remastered and reissued before 2012 is out! The first batch of 12 titles arrived on July 31, and another 12 followed on August 28. The third dozen appeared in stores on September 25, and Wave Four (including a new title, Understanding America) saw release on Tuesday, October 30. Wave Five, the penultimate group, hit stores on November 19, and
Black Friday 2012: Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa Lead Off Packed Slate of RSD Exclusives
Here in the U. S. of A., Black Friday is almost upon us: that unusual date following the prior day of giving thanks, in which consumers make a mad dash to the local big-box store, mall or shopping center to procure bargains for the holiday season ahead. Retailers are controversially beginning Black Friday “festivities” even earlier than usual this year, with many sales starting on Thanksgiving Day itself and not even at midnight but in the early part of the evening. For a number of recent
Not Pulling Your Chain: Captain Beefheart's Unreleased "Bat Chain Puller" Coming From Zappa Records
Though Frank Zappa had much to say as a musician and a social commentator throughout his lifetime, the keepers of the flame over at Zappa.com are a little more understated. But the team led by Zappa's widow, Gail, continues to offer a number of exciting projects relating to the Zappa legacy. One of the most unusual is on the way: the first-ever release of avant-garde wizard Captain Beefheart's original Bat Chain Puller. A lost 1976 album produced by Zappa, portions were re-recorded in later
Release Round-Up: Week of November 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the many titles available today in the final "big week" of the holiday release season. We are an Amazon affiliate and earn on qualifying purchases. We're kicking things off with our two Christmas releases from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! While Amazon's orders are unfortunately delayed, both of these titles are shipping now from Real Gone's webstore! Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops, The Ultimate Pops
Release Round-Up: Week of May 12
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! Daft Punk, Random Access Memories: 10th Anniversary Edition (Columbia) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Daft Punk's final album, 2013's disco-flavored, multiple Grammy-winning Random Access Memories, welcomed such all-time luminaries as Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams, Giorgio Moroder, Paul Jackson, Jr., Nathan East, John "J.R."
Release Round-Up: Week of March 3
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach, The Songs of Bacharach and Costello (UMe) 4CD/2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / ElvisCostello.com 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP with Lithograph: ElvisCostello.com Elvis Costello is looking back at his 25 years of music with the late Burt Bacharach on this lavish new
Release Round-Up: Week of June 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring a selection of the week's new titles! The Beach Boys, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys - Expanded Edition (Capitol/UMe) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6LP Standard: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD (contains CD 1 only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Standard: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada All Formats (including 2LP and 6LP exclusives): The Beach Boys Official
Ride Me, Easy Rider: Cherry Red, Esoteric Collect Vinegar Joe's "Island Recordings" Featuring Robert Palmer, Elkie Brooks
Today, Vinegar Joe is best remembered for launching the careers of Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks. The band had risen from the ashes of a group called Dada intended by co-founder Pete Gage as "a combination of Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and The 5th Dimension. Power vocalists plus brass and crazy arrangements." But that heady brew was too much for Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun who urged Dada to strip away the fusion elements and concentrate on blues and rock.
The Year In Review: The 2021 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z - Part Two
Happy 2022! Welcome, friends, to Part Two of The Second Disc's 12th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! Once again, we've all faced unprecedented challenges over the past twelve months. A year that began with hope and promise has ended with further uncertainty for many of us. But music continues to fill a significant role in our lives, providing solace, comfort, and escape in a time unlike any other. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2021's cream of the catalogue
Release Round-Up: Week of December 17
Welcome to our final Release Round-Up of 2021! There are very few new releases scheduled for the next two weeks, but we'll be back in 2022! Frank Zappa, 200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition (Zappa Records/UMe) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (Original Soundtrack Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Black Vinyl (Original Soundtrack Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Red Vinyl (Original