Huge wave of Zappa reissues

[felser]

My FZ "A" List:

Freak Out, Absolutely Free, We're Only in It for the Money, Hot Rats, Uncle Meat, Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo

My FZ "B" List

Lumpy Gravy, Ruben & The Jets, Burnt Weeny Sandwich , Chunga's Revenge, Weasils Ripped My Flesh, Apostrophe, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury

Not rebuying them again. Already rebought some of the early ones once to get away from the remixes/edits. I forget the details since it's been so many years now.

[StarThrower]

I think this series is a great thing to happen for true Zappa fans. Alas, I'm not among them.

I must admit that I find this reissue series intriguing; on the other hand I never really warmed to any Zappa, so I think I'll pass

I hear you. Thanks to Spotify I can take a careful approach. It seems that all the titles are already on Spotify, whether or not the CDs have yet been released.

Whether I can get past the things I don't warm to - the 'humor' I don't share and the jazz rockery which I find a little mechanical - remains to be seen.

Give the music more time. There's so much depth and brilliance to be found. Don't let the lyrics distract you. Hardly anybody mentions the all of the beautiful melodies FZ wrote. And the rhythm sections are top shelf. Never mechanical.

[David Ayers]

Here's my list of what has come/is coming. There are said to be 60 - I can find 56. List shows original format/date, for information.

1. Freak Out! (2LP, 1966)

2. Absolutely Free (LP, 1967)

3. We're Only In It For The Money (LP, 1968)

4. Lumpy Gravy (LP, 1968)

5. Cruising With Ruben & The Jets (LP, 1968)

6. Uncle Meat (2LP, 1969)

7. Hot Rats (LP, 1969)

8. Burnt Weeny Sandwich (LP, 1970)

9. Weasels Ripped My Flesh (LP, 1970)

10. Chunga's Revenge (LP, 1970)

11. Fillmore East -- June 1971 (LP, 1971)

12. Just Another Band From L.A. (LP, 1972)

13. Waka/Jawaka (LP, 1972)

14. The Grand Wazoo (LP, 1972)

15. Over-Nite Sensation (LP, 1973)

16. Apostrophe (') (LP, 1974)

17. Roxy & Elsewhere (2LP, 1974)

18. One Size Fits All (LP, 1975)

19. Bongo Fury (LP, 1975)

20. Zoot Allures (LP, 1976)

21. Zappa In New York (2LP, 1978)

22. Studio Tan (LP, 1978)

23. Sleep Dirt (LP, 1979)

24. Sheik Yerbouti (2LP,1979)

25. Orchestral Favorites (LP, 1979)

26. Joe's Garage Acts I, II and III (3LP, 1979)

27. Tinsel Town Rebellion (2LP, 1981)

28. Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar (3LP, 1981)

29. You Are What You Is (2LP, 1981)

30. Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch (LP, 1982)

31. The Man From Utopia (LP, 1983)

32. Baby Snakes (LP, 1983)

33. London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I + II (LP, 1983 + 1987)

34. Boulez conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger (LP, 1984)

35. Them Or Us (2LP, 1984)

36. Thing-Fish (3LP, 1984)

37. Francesco Zappa (LP, 1984)

38. Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention (LP, 1985)

39. Does Humor Belong In Music? (CD, 1986)

40. Jazz From Hell (LP, 1986)

41. Guitar (2LP, 1988)

42. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1 (2CD, 1988)

43. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2 (2CD, 1988)

44. Broadway The Hard Way (LP, 1988)

45. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3 (2CD, 1989)

46. The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (2CD, 1991)

47. Make A Jazz Noise Here (2CD, 1991)

48. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4 (2CD, 1991)

49. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5 (2CD, 1992)

50. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6 (2CD, 1992)

51. Playground Psychotics (2CD, 1992)

52. Ahead Of Their Time (CD, 1993)

53. The Yellow Shark (CD, 1993)

54. The Lost Episodes (CD, 1996)

55. Have I Offended Someone? (CD, 1997)

56. Mystery Disc (CD, 1998)

[jazzbo]

I think this series is a great thing to happen for true Zappa fans. Alas, I'm not among them.

I must admit that I find this reissue series intriguing; on the other hand I never really warmed to any Zappa, so I think I'll pass

I hear you. Thanks to Spotify I can take a careful approach. It seems that all the titles are already on Spotify, whether or not the CDs have yet been released.

Whether I can get past the things I don't warm to - the 'humor' I don't share and the jazz rockery which I find a little mechanical - remains to be seen.

Give the music more time. There's so much depth and brilliance to be found. Don't let the lyrics distract you. Hardly anybody mentions the all of the beautiful melodies FZ wrote. And the rhythm sections are top shelf. Never mechanical.

Actually it's the rhythm sections that bug me most. As a drummer, his drummers played in styles I like the least. I listened to Zappa through the 'seventies and into the early 'eighties and then I just stopped. And I'm good with that.

[Big Wheel]

I think that whichever records are on Spotify must be location-restricted and only available for non-US Spotify users. I'm less surprised at there being restrictions than at Gail allowing any Spotify access at all to them. Too bad, I still ain't buying some of the later 70s and 80s work until I hear samples first.

My opinion of the major Zappa drummers I've heard goes, in descending order of preference, something like this:

Chester Thompson > Ralph Humphrey > Aynsley Dunbar > Jimmy Carl Black > Chad Wackerman = Terry Bozzio. (Haven't heard much of the Colaiuta period.)

Not sure the drumming is really what contributed most to the different sound of the bands, though - I suspect that the revolving door of guys on bass has more to do with it as well as the tightness of all the keyboard/guitar/horn players.

[David Ayers]

I don't know how or how well Spotify works for copyright holders. Of course they can change the permissions at any time. They may have a model that suggests Spotify actually does promote physical/download sales. However, tracks over 10 minutes on these Zappa titles can be auditioned on Spotify but not purchased, which seems perverse. While the material is there, I am going to mine it - a great archive. I'll certainly buy some physical CDs too.

[.:.impossible]

I look at this list of albums, some more familiar than others, most I've never heard, and I read yalls comments here and I realize that Frank Zappa, against the odds, achieved massive success in his lifetime and became a household name. Seems to me he did his thing every step of the way, and he did it all his way, from doo-wop to modern classical.

[Guy Berger]

My FZ "A" List:

Freak Out, Absolutely Free, We're Only in It for the Money, Hot Rats, Uncle Meat, Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo

My FZ "B" List

Lumpy Gravy, Ruben & The Jets, Burnt Weeny Sandwich , Chunga's Revenge, Weasils Ripped My Flesh, Apostrophe, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury

Not rebuying them again. Already rebought some of the early ones once to get away from the remixes/edits. I forget the details since it's been so many years now.

I already have everything on F's A list except Absolutely Free (which I should pick up)... I guess I'm done!

[Quincy]

Yeah, but if you only want, say 3-5, and spread it out, you can get it the way it first came out, which for some of this stuff still seems to be otherwise impossible. It' would be a financially leisurely undertaking, to be sure, but at the end of it, look at what you got.

I've got almost all the Verve stuff on LP, have heard a lot of the CD "re-dos", and....I'm keeping my LPs.

Some of the releases are starting to be released as they were, both with this batch and for the original Ruben & The Jets one can go through Barfko-Swill and get the Greasy Love Songs release which adds some stuff at the end. Although they have "boutique" prices there have been some very good releases (and some that aren't so swell). I've still seen prices like $75 to $100+ on some of the early LPs, that's all I was saying about pricing. Because of this recent surprise remastering series some have hope that Barfko may finally offer Uncle Meat in a closer to original form, for instance.

Burnt Weenie on this go round does indeed sound better than the Ryko which I never released sounded not so good. To call that anything less than A level is something I don't understand at all, but to each his own, as opinions on Zappa vary wildly. I've been using this go round to pick up things I didn't have, such as Chunga's Revenge and Zoot Allures. Crap, how did I live without "Transylvania Boogie" all these years?

Zappa is someone who I can go almost 2 years without listening to at all for all of the reasons people complain about, and then I'll have roughly a week, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, where he's just about all I can listen to. And then it goes into remission again. Lately I've found the classic Mothers stuff to be almost intolerable (except when they shut up and play) and surprisingly enjoying some of the skankier later '70s-early '80s humor bits in-between the playing. It could be that living in we're-more-sustainable-and-PC-than-you Eugene during an election year has so fucking fried my circuits that I need it to balance my brain.

For those who are interested in the music thus far everything that is listed as "analog master" has sounded terrific. The lukepac link above will not let you down. I'm now off to buy Sleep Dirt.

[Д.Д.]

Because of this recent surprise remastering series some have hope that Barfko may finally offer Uncle Meat in a closer to original form, for instance.

I assume this is what ZFT will do. Otherwise, there is no explanation for them not fixing it now - it is one of the most most notoriously botched 1995 CD reissues in the whole FZ catalog. But I guess they will wait at least a year.

Looks like these new reissues are selling well (judging by amazon sales rankings, at least), so I hope ZFT will reinvest the money into more archival reissues.

[Quincy]

Because of this recent surprise remastering series some have hope that Barfko may finally offer Uncle Meat in a closer to original form, for instance.

I assume this is what ZFT will do. Otherwise, there is no explanation for them not fixing it now - it is one of the most most notoriously botched 1995 CD reissues in the whole FZ catalog. But I guess they will wait at least a year.

Looks like these new reissues are selling well (judging by amazon sales rankings, at least), so I hope ZFT will reinvest the money into more archival reissues.

I couldn't help myself and picked up Waka/Jawaka too today at the local store for about $11.25. For ones I'm rebuying (Weenie & Rats) I've been trying to spend under $10, even if it's just a penny under. Best Buy had the 1st round releases selling for $9.99 (free shipping) but only some of the second round have been priced that low. So hooray for the local indie having below internet prices this Labor Day Weekend.

This reissue series has caused me to listen to what I already have on vinyl & CD (well some of it, as there's quite a bit of Zappa) and it inspired me to finally order Greasy Love Songs and Imaginary Diseases, both of which I had been intending to do for some time but in the past was too grumpy about the price.

[David Ayers]

if you want to get just one for starters, go for Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Great record

[felser]

if you want to get just one for starters, go for Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Great record

"The Little House I Used To Live In" from that one is great indeed.

[Д.Д.]

if you want to get just one for starters, go for Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Great record

Does Spotify have the new remasters?

[David Ayers]

if you want to get just one for starters, go for Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Great record

Does Spotify have the new remasters?

Yes it has the whole series, all 56 titles.

[David Ayers]

Crap, how did I live without "Transylvania Boogie" all these years?

Agreed on that track! I read that Chunga's Revenge was a less-than-essential odds-and-ends type record but when I played that track...!

For the uncommitted that kind of record can play better than the sort of concept album that asks for more 'belief'...

Oh and sounds great even on Spotify!

[Rupertdacat]

if you want to get just one for starters, go for Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Great record

Does Spotify have the new remasters?

Yes it has the whole series, all 56 titles.

None of the titles are available on my U.S.A. account.

[Big Wheel]

We discussed that upthread. For whatever reason the powers that be decided to restrict access on Spotify to non-US accounts.

[Chuck Nessa]

Spotify and other streams don't pay shit. Only fractions of fractions of pennies per tune.

[Big Wheel]

Do they pay different amounts for plays in the US vs Europe? If not it's tougher to explain why Gail would be OK with one but not the other.

[Pete C]

Do they pay different amounts for plays in the US vs Europe? If not it's tougher to explain why Gail would be OK with one but not the other.

I suppose there may be other distribution variables that figure into the equation.

[David Ayers]

Do they pay different amounts for plays in the US vs Europe? If not it's tougher to explain why Gail would be OK with one but not the other.

I suppose there may be other distribution variables that figure into the equation.

If labels want their stuff there, they have reasons, I'd say, at this point. They may or may not have models of how presence on Spotify promotes download or physical sales, or promotes interest in (living, touring) artists. I have read data which suggests that Spotify pays just short of one cent per stream. One reason revenue stays low for many artists is that they get very few streams. For people who use Spotify, you know about artists and labels which are there and you increasingly ignore ones that aren't. Universal seem very pro Spotify. However, ECM came on it then went off. ECM went so dogmatically anti-digital that they even witheld mp3s of their new albums for three months in order to promote hard copy sales - or that was their plan. ECM is one of the few art-music labels that has things many people actually want, but they revised that 3-month 'you caan't haave it na na na naa naa' strategy I assume when people who wanted downloads just went online and pirated stuff they couldn't buy. How much does a minute of TV cost? To buy? To make? That's how you have to think.

Edited to add: clarifying article from UK Guardian on Spotify http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2011/dec/08/artists-indies-spotify

Edited September 5, 2012 by David Ayers

[Daniel A]

I have read data which suggests that Spotify pays just short of one cent per stream.

I'm on Spotify and I get around 0,5 Euro cents per stream after the distributor (one of the majors) has taken its share.

[Pete C]

If ECM shuns the technology embraced by most young people they're doomed to end up like the Republican Party: a label for old white men.

[David Ayers]

If ECM shuns the technology embraced by most young people they're doomed to end up like the Republican Party: a label for old white men.

Don't say that! Folks on this board think ECM is all modern and new-fangled, with all those whippersnappers and upstarts like Keith Jarrett and Roscoe Mitchell, let alone Andy Sheppard or Tim Berne, barely out of the egg.