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Old 23-11-2007, 19:28
brokennews
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I'm really starting to like his music. Only heard the most obvious stuff, but I intend to get more of it- his mid-70s albums sound tempting

Feel free to discuss Frank and his music here
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Old 23-11-2007, 19:40
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One size fits all is fantastic!
Most of his albums are, but the band on this one were shit-hot
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Old 23-11-2007, 19:46
brokennews
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One size fits all is fantastic!
Most of his albums are, but the band on this one were shit-hot
Do you really have all his albums Croissant?!

Never thought they'd be Zappa fans on DS BTW
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:06
rzappa
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Do you really have all his albums Croissant?!

Never thought they'd be Zappa fans on DS BTW
I've been here a couple of years now, never made a secret of it (see username ). Uncle Frank is the dogs b*ll*cks.

Try http://www.zappa.com & use "Zappa Radio" to get an idea of what's out there.
(I couldn't get it to work in Firefox & had to use IE )
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:13
brokennews
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I've been here a couple of years now, never made a secret of it (see username ). Uncle Frank is the dogs b*ll*cks.

Try http://www.zappa.com & use "Zappa Radio" to get an idea of what's out there.
(I couldn't get it to work in Firefox & had to use IE )
Thanks R!

A funny Frank line, from Cosmik Debris:

"The price of meat has just gone up and your old lady has just gone down"
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:19
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With the exception of things like The Yellow shark,Francesco Zappa, and Boulez plays Zappa..I have all FZ albums.
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:21
brokennews
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With the exception of things like The Yellow shark,Francesco Zappa, and Boulez plays Zappa..I have all FZ albums.
AAAARGH!

You should really change your name to Zappalover! Do you like Beefheart too?
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:25
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I'd have to single out..Absolutely free, Only in it for the Money,Overnite sensation, Apostrophe, Zoot allures,Sheik yerbouti and You are what you is as personal favorites.
Thing-Fish is also great
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:26
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I also have all Beefhearts stuff too. Legend
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:30
brokennews
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I'd have to single out..Absolutely free, Only in it for the Money,Overnite sensation, Apostrophe, Zoot allures,Sheik yerbouti and You are what you is as personal favorites.
Thing-Fish is also great
In order of want:

Overnite Sensation/ Apostrophe (tie)
Sheik Yerbouti
Zoot Allures
Only in it for the Money
You Are What You Is
Thing-Fish
Absolutely Free

Others that sound tempting: Weasels Ripped my Flesh, Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch and Ruben and the Jets
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:37
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I've never got on with Reuben & the Jets (its all doo-woopy style stuff from FZ's youth), Ship arriving has a few good tunes, but also some irritating numbers. weasels has the great "Oh No" & "Orange County.." but I'm not overly keen on the rest of it. same with burnt weenie sandwich, I feel FZ was just playing around at that point and after he moved towards better stuff.
Find anything that has the wonderful "cheepnis" on though..great track
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:42
Croissantlover
 
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In order of want:

Overnite Sensation/ Apostrophe (tie)
Sheik Yerbouti
Zoot Allures
Only in it for the Money
You Are What You Is
Thing-Fish
Absolutely Free

Others that sound tempting: Weasels Ripped my Flesh, Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch and Ruben and the Jets
Are you a CD collector or downloader?
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:50
brokennews
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Are you a CD collector or downloader?
I think I'm becoming a bit of a music nerd, yes

I have a best of at home (NOT Strictly Commercial- a budget-pricer with a complete FZ catalogue), which contains all the most famous Zappa tracks like Bobby Brown, Yellow Snow, Valley Girl etc. It's quite a nice package, and it's totally official
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:53
Croissantlover
 
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I only ask as some just have to have the disks..
As i've been listening to FZ since the 70's, i've had 'em on vinyl, tape, CD, reissued cd, remastered cd, etc.
Nowdays I just have them all MP3ed for space.
If you were after a taster of certain albums, I could make some MP3's available to you
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:56
brokennews
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I only ask as some just have to have the disks..
As i've been listening to FZ since the 70's, i've had 'em on vinyl, tape, CD, reissued cd, remastered cd, etc.
Nowdays I just have them all MP3ed for space.
If you were after a taster of certain albums, I could make some MP3's available to you
S'ok Croissant. I go on a few (legal! ) music on demand sites so I can listen to some Zappa on those.

Thanks for the effort tho, and nice to see a devoted Zappa fan on DS. Seen him live?
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Old 23-11-2007, 20:59
Croissantlover
 
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Beefheart once (Venue ,london) zappa twice (Wembley,Brighton)
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Old 23-11-2007, 21:03
brokennews
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Beefheart once (Venue ,london) zappa twice (Wembley,Brighton)
So I can only assume you weren't at the concert where Frank got pushed into the orchestra pit and broke his leg
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Old 23-11-2007, 21:19
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No..not that old, that was the late 60's wasn't it
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Old 23-11-2007, 22:16
brokennews
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No..not that old, that was the late 60's wasn't it
I think it was 1971
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Old 23-11-2007, 23:06
calais
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I also have all Beefhearts stuff too. Legend
You must have a very big shelf.
Just the one Beefheart album - The Spotlight Kid. I was astonished to read recently of Beefheart's control freakery of the Magic Band during the making of Trout Mask. Most astonishing is that none of the Magic Band have ever received royalties for this record.
I liked Zappa but dropped out early after Weasels ripped my Flesh (great album cover). I saw him in the early seventies at the Colliseum in London when Stephen Stills guested. There was a collective 'who?' when Frank introduced him. The Zappa crowd and the CSNY fans were worlds apart back then.
Personally, I would buy a 2 cd career retrospective of Zappa now, but that's it.
I think he's a major footnote in Rock history, a man who shamefully wasted his talent by spreading it too thin.
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Old 24-11-2007, 01:13
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I agree.
There is some fantastic zappa, but there is also some horrid Zappa. Mothers were great once they found their footing, but still things like Uncle meat and 200 motels are lacking.
after the stage incident mentioned above, FZ seem to put his mind into gear, and we got Hot rats,and all that followed.
i never got on with the Just another Band group, and the albums they released, but the One Size fits all, grand wazoo outfit were simply outstanding. shame that Zappa ruined all that by going back to basics on things like Zoot allures.
don't get me wrong,its one of my favs but the great instrumentals beat the pathetic Disco Boys and the Ms Pinkys by a mile..Seems FZ could never chose between frat boy humour or serious muso. When he did go serious, it was too intense... much as I love this guitar playing, three albums of solos is too much, and then he followed up with more!

some of the best later zappa stuff has to be the Broadway the hard way stuff..great playing, but still with the humour intact. the synclavier stuff just leaves me cold..and even the band stuff preceding does too (ships,man from utopia).
you can hear him trying to make a human band do unnatural things, which is why he abandoned the band for the soulless synclavier..
rambling now..
ho hum

and BTW, as I said, all my stuff is MP3 now, so no need for the "big shelf"
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Old 24-11-2007, 01:50
AveryKG
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Also recommended:
• Lather - 3CDs, originally intended to be released as a four-LP set, but the record company back in 1977 rejected that approach, releasing them separately instead with a few changes. Finally released by Ryko in its original form in the 1990s, all Zappa's styles are on this one.
• Make a Jazz Noise Here - 2CD set of live tunes by the great 1988 touring band.
• Joe's Garage Pts I-III - 3 LPs again on two CDs. Part I is some of Zappa's most immediate music, but it took me ages to get into Pts. II-III, but I love them too now.
• Guitar - yet another 2CD set consisting entirely of Frank's guitar solos. No-one, but no-one plays quite like Frank did. Great stuff.
• The Grand Wazoo - Zappa does jazz, on an almost entirely instrumental album, this one's actually a single CD for a change!

Croissant's mentioned 'One Size Fits All' which often tops fansite polls for best FZ album. Essential for 'Inca Roads' which I sometimes think is the greatest thing ever written, it certainly contains my favourite guitar solo.

I rather like some of the synclavier stuff too. 'Jazz From Hell' is patchy but 'G-Spot Tornado' and 'Night School' are both phenomenal. 'Meets the Mothers of Prevention' doesn't have the same profile, but I can listen to that through without skipping stuff.

...and this is just scraping the surface!
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Old 24-11-2007, 10:01
brokennews
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Also recommended:
• Lather - 3CDs, originally intended to be released as a four-LP set, but the record company back in 1977 rejected that approach, releasing them separately instead with a few changes. Finally released by Ryko in its original form in the 1990s, all Zappa's styles are on this one.
• Make a Jazz Noise Here - 2CD set of live tunes by the great 1988 touring band.
• Joe's Garage Pts I-III - 3 LPs again on two CDs. Part I is some of Zappa's most immediate music, but it took me ages to get into Pts. II-III, but I love them too now.
• Guitar - yet another 2CD set consisting entirely of Frank's guitar solos. No-one, but no-one plays quite like Frank did. Great stuff.
• The Grand Wazoo - Zappa does jazz, on an almost entirely instrumental album, this one's actually a single CD for a change!

Croissant's mentioned 'One Size Fits All' which often tops fansite polls for best FZ album. Essential for 'Inca Roads' which I sometimes think is the greatest thing ever written, it certainly contains my favourite guitar solo.

I think all that stuff you mention Avery is for more serious fans, and not really for beginners like me

I'm adding One Size Fits All to my want list, and possibly even Bongo Fury (live w/Beefheart I think- includes the brill Muffin Man)
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Old 24-11-2007, 11:00
Croissantlover
 
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My dream band.
FZ
Ike Willis.guitar/vocals
Ray white.guitar/vocals
Chester Thompson. drums
Ruth Underwood.percussion
Napoleon Murphy Brock.Vocals.sax
George Duke.Keys
Fowler Brothers. everything else
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Old 25-11-2007, 19:53
Fuzzy Warbles
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I can highly recommend Joe's Garage. Not only because is it the only Frank Zappa album I own () the lyrics are pretty funny and the tunes are pretty good (notably Crew Slut, Lucille and Why does it hurt when I pee?
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