The Zappa Plays Zappa band will soon leave for Europe (UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France and Scandinavia). They will perform the music from one of Frank Zappa's most popular albums in its entirity: Apostrophe ('). First gig is at the Roundhouse in London on November 6, where the Frank's 70th birthday festivities will take place. (Yes, we know that FZ's birthday was on December 21). Dweezil Zappa explains it like this: "I'm really excited about this tour for a number of reasons. We've had the chance to learn some obscure stuff that shows off even more textural changes within the band. We're inspired and energized by the new tunes we've learned. The Apostrophe(') material is so much fun as well. Excentrifugal Forz has never been performed live by any of Frank's bands and the Apostrophe(') arrangement of Stinkfoot has not been performed either."
Benjy Wertheimer? Toured with Walter Becker? See, here's one of those makes-you-wonder moments that the Internet Interwebs throws your way now and then.
Makes you wonder. If someone got their facts wrong. If I missed a Walter Becker tour. If I didn't read the liner notes closely enough. Or something completely different.
EMI/Harvest just released a new Syd Barrett compilation entitled An Introduction To Syd Barrett (EMI/Harvest). Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is the executive producer of this album that combines Barrett's solo material with songs Barrett performed with Pink Floyd. The album includes five new remixes. Pink Floyd's Matilda Mother gets a new mix, containing verses by both Barrett and poet Hilaire Belloc.
BBC News reports that Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has said that Pink Floyd may get back together to play concerts for charity. "I think all of us would like the idea of repeating the Live 8 concept," Mason said. The group's last performance was at the Live 8 concert in London in 2005.
A preview of the whole album available here (until October 19, 2010):
Tracks:
1. If It Wasn't For Bad 2. Eight Hundred Dollar Shoes 3. Hey Ahab 4. Gone To Shiloh 5. Jimmie Rodgers' Dream 6. There's No Tomorrow 7. Monkey Suit 8. The Best Part Of The Day 9. A Dream Come True 10. When Love Is Dying 11. I Should Have Sent Roses 12. Hearts Have Turned To Stone 13. Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody) 14. In The Hands Of Angels
December 9, 2010 marks the John Lennon's 70th birthday. And Google - who's been known to change the logo to celebrate special days - has just delivered a Lennon logo:
There's also an animated version doing the rounds.
In other news it's business as usual with people making money selling Lennon stuff like there's no tomorrow. In a twist the planned online auction of some 850 items to mark Lennon's birthday has been marred by FBI seizing a set of John Lennon fingerprints planned to sell for at least $100.000. Read the whole story here.
Expect more madness when we approach December 8, as he was shot that date 30 years ago.
Oct 12 Stuttgart Theaterhaus Oct 13 Ulm Roxy Oct 14 Karlsruhe Tollhaus Oct 15 Darmstadt Centralstation Oct 17 Munich Gasteig, Carl Orff Saal Oct 18 Erlangen Redoutensaal Oct 20 Lubeck Muk Oct 22 Bremen Glocke Oct 23 Hamburg Kampnagel Oct 24 Berlin Quasimodo Oct 26 Mannheim Alte Feuerwache Oct 27 Mainz Frankfurter Hof Oct 28 Kaiserslautern Kammgam Oct 29 Bonn Harmonie Oct 30 Dortmund Konzerthaus Oct 31 Dusseldorf Savoy Theater Nov 2 TBA TBA Nov 3 Tilburg Paradox Nov 5 Prague Jazz Dock Nov 6 Prague Jazz Dock Nov 12 London London Jazz Fest
Jeremy Spencer is the drummer for the first half of the tour. Keith Carlock will be back for the second.
2. Frank Zappa - Twenty Small Cigars Chunga's Revenge
3. Frank Zappa - Tell Me You Love Me Chunga's Revenge
4. Frank Zappa - Road Ladies Chunga's Revenge
5. Neil Young - Walk With Me Le Noise
6. Frank Zappa - Let's Move To Cleveland The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life
7. Frank Zappa - Stick It Out Buffalo
8. David Bowie - Cracked Actor Ziggy Stardust (soundtrack)
9. Genesis - Dance On A Volcano Seconds Out
10. Frank Zappa - Transylvania Boogie Chunga's Revenge
11. Marillion - Assassing - Fugazi 12. David Gilmour w/ Richard Wright - Arnold Layne - 45 Single 13. Frank Zappa - When The Lie's So Big - Broadway The Hard Way 14. Genesis - After The Ordeal - Selling England By The Pound 15. Talking Heads - Stay Up Late - Little Creatures 16. Godley & Creme - Madame Guillotine - Birds Of Prey... Plus 17. Donald Fagen - Teahouse On The Tracks - Kamakiriad 18. Pink Floyd - Not Now John - The Final Cut 19. Donald Fagen - Countermoon - Kamakiriad 20. Steely Dan - Babylon Sisters - Gaucho
21. Steely Dan - Glamour Profession - Gaucho 22. Donald Fagen - New Frontier - The Nightfly 23. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Eternity's Breath Part 2 - Visions Of The Emerald Beyond 25. Godley & Creme feat. Sarah Vaughn - Lost Weekend - Music From 'Consequences' + L 23. Steely Dan - Bodhisattva - Alive In America 26. Jethro Tull - Sweet Dream - Living In The Past 27. Godley & Creme - Snack Attack (Remix) - History Mix Vol 1... Plus 28. Godley & Creme - Cat's Eyes - Birds Of Prey 29. Magma - Otis - Merci 30. The Billy Cobham/George Duke Band - Hip Pockets - Live On Tour In Europe 31. Jethro Tull - Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square - Stand Up 21. Pink Floyd - Waiting For The Worms - The Wall 33. Genesis - The Knife - Trespass 34. King Crimson - Easy Money - Larks' Tongues In Aspic 35. The Tubes - Telecide - Remote Control 36. Gentle Giant - Thank You - Giant For A Day 37. Ultravox - Vienna - Vienna 38. Marillion - Punch & Judy - Fugazi 39. Larry Carlton - Tight Squeeze - Mr. 335 Live In Japan 40. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Resolution - Birds Of Fire 41. The Beatles - Within You Without You - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
------------------------------------------------------- Chart compiled by listeners voting on the songs they hear on Radio Dupree
So what we have here is a band formed in 1977 playing prog rock/symphonic rock, released two albums and then the singer Tommy Nilsson went on to have a very successful solo career in Sweden in the 1980's while the guitarist Jonas Isacsson dida few kronor playing with among others Roxette.
The track is not from any of Horizont's two albums, but a compilation of various artists playing live picked from a radio show called Tonkraft.
Chunga is apparently getting his its?) revenge as Frank Zappa's album take four of the Top 10 positions this month.
And it is especially interesting as it is also our brand new Album of the Month for October. We sneaked it in on the playlist a couple of days before the end of September and apparently the tracks hit home immediately. Unlike our Album of the Month for September:
We were sincerely a bit surprised over the reactions to the album we had chosen for Album of the Month, David Bowie's Scary Monsters. Not a single positive reaction, no position on the Radio Dupree chart. Well, we can take that. But it's a bit harder to understand why two songs form that album caused listeners to press the thumbs down button (Fashion and Ashes To Ashes) and three songs caused several drops among you listeners (Teenage Wildlife, It's No Game (Part 1) and the cd bonus track Alabama Song).
OK, Scary Monsters may not be the greatest Bowie album, but it's certainly not a bad one! It's sort of the last quality album before his ill fated Let's Dance/Tonight period.
Well, everyone does not have to be of the same opinion, but it would be interesting to get to know you feelings and/or thoughts upon this subject. Please, feel free to comment here, on the blog or by e-mail (radiodupree@yahoo.se).
Final note: Among the ususal suspects of popular Radio Dupree artists on the chart this month we find Godley & Creme who traditionally find themselves outside the Radio Dupree Top 20 however much we like them. So that's a few thumbs up we're pleased about! ;)
A couple of typical Fagen-flavoured comments in a Dukes of September Rhythm Revue article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
The Dukes of September may reconvene or return to Vegas: "It could be the Siegfried & Roy of the 21st century," Fagen quips.
Fagen, in the early stages of his next solo album, says "the record business has vanished as far as we're concerned." He maintains he no longer can get the budget to record anywhere but a home studio.
"None of us could make a living from records anymore," he says. "If you don't look so good naked anymore on your video, you basically have no recording career in most cases."