These were the congressional wives upon whom the steve jackson illuminati card was based, specifically tipper gore and her band of cronies, the pmrc parents music resource center who got all of our music albums censored in 19851986. The albums did eventually surface as zappa in new york 1978, studio tan 1978, sleep dirt 1979 and orchestral favorites 1979, but it would be nearly two decades before they were presented as in the multidisc format lather, 1996 that he had intended for them. Zappa in new york, studio tan, and sleep dirt sheik yerbouti 6. Zappa once played an openair concert in italy in which, during the song cocaine decisions, a fullscale riot broke out between the audience and the police. The perfect stranger lp, angel ds38170, august 23, 1984 them or us 2 lps, barking pumpkin svbo74200, october 18, 1984 thingfish 3 lps, barking pumpkin skco74201, november 21, 1984 francesco zappa lp, barking pumpkin st74202, november 21, 1984. The closer you are, was written by earl lewis and morgan robinson and originally released by the channels. The album opener is a cover of a doowop song by lewis and robinson. The official website of frank zappa and the zappa family trust. If youre a fan of zappa s thought provoking, impeccably played 80s work, them or us is highly recommended.
Andrew greenaways second zappa book is a collection of the interviews hes conducted with zappa family members, band alumni and others 32 of them. Tabak also issued this interview on a foursingle set. From them or us to broadway the hard way zappa tangles with the senate in the infamous pmrc hearings, dives into synths, and hits new thresholds of nsfw. It claimed that goody was such a genius that he could sell any album no matter how ugly it was musically. Zappa brought out a companion book, them or us, the same year with lyrics from several of his screenplays. The front cover is that photo from true glove with fz and his. This puerile little ditty uses a landini cadence, according to the book. Them or us is pretty much a frank zappa guitar solo that was taken from a performance of black page 2 in bolzano, italy in july of 1982. Doug has pumped up the bass, well the sub 500hz info to fill out the lower end, has reduced compression a tad, so you can crank it up without finding it even vaguely annoying, unless you hate zappa, and has managed to eek out more clarity in the vocals, johnny guitar watson never sounding better, or worse if you are a francophile. The good, the bad, and the ugly tried to list all the zappa albums i own or have heard in release order and add my comments thoughts about each of them. In 1984 frank zappa selfpublished them or us, created with a dot matrix printer. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and he gained widespread critical acclaim.
Were only in it for the money is such a well crafted album well, barring the last track how many albums can you not listen to for over a year and still remember. His initial attraction to that album was based on his observation of the album s cover photo of varese. Not lyrically thematic like sheikyerbouti but musically conceptual with some of the best zappa solos marquesons chicken, whipping post some highly avant garde psychedelic jams ya hozna, sinister footwear some of the usual zappa comedy rock antics baby take. This was something ive been tinkering with for a long time and finally got to the point of finishing it for now and posting it. Them or us, thingfish, frank zappa meets the mothers of prevention, guitar, you cant do that on stage anymore vol. Zappa once approached monty python member terry gilliam about directing the film, but gilliam suggested that the screenplay, already a series of crass, disconnected, purposefully politicallyincorrect vignettes, would be a better fit for a television series. A facsimile paperback edition was released in 2010. This is a list of albums by frank zappa, including all those credited to the mothers of invention. From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia them or us is an album by american musician frank zappa, released in october 1984 by barking pumpkin records. Feb 19, 2021 t his documentary about the hugely prolific frank zappa, directed by alex bill preston esq winter, takes an unusually seriousminded approach to the celebrated wild man of 1960s and 70s. Written by frank zappa, this book formerly called christmas in new jersey presents a play meant to challenge narrowminded thinking and celebrate large.
Album content its opening and closing songs were not written by zappa. Can we expect that his family will reissue the book again in the future for a reasonable price. This book is dedicated to all of the fans who have made the last 20 years of largescale absurdities possible. Francesco zappa is a 1984 album by frank zappa, though he was only the arranger. Signs suggest that this is the most recent version of the album, so you dont need to purchase this if you have any disc released after 1990. Its a storybook, the only real and official book of frank zappa. Well, as complete as i can deduce from various references on the net and elsewhere anyway. Some consider them or us zappas last studio album, inasmuch as a. This screenplay seems to be made up from different separate stories. It contains a little of everything for everyone, but most of all it has that cold and dry early80s feel that made this and other albums like the man from utopia and frank zappa meets the mothers of prevention sound dated pretty quickly. In 1984 frank zappa selfpublished them or us, created with a dot matrix printe. Zappa wrote a warning which appeared on the inner sleeves of these.
Them or us also exists as the title of a book zappa wrote in 1984. Frank zappa cds, rare cd singles, rare vinyl records, albums. In 1984 fz selfpublished them or us, a 351 page book created with a dot matrix printer. Include s one of his last great masterpieces, amnerika, housed in book style. Since 1994, the zappa family trust has released 54 posthumous albums as of july 2020, making a total of 116 albums album sets. This facsimile edition brings this seminal work on conceptual continuity to a new. Theyve been expanded and extensively footnoted for this print edition.
Them or us by frank zappa on amazon music unlimited. Them or us is an album by american musician frank zappa, released in october 1984 by barking pumpkin records. When a tear gas canister went off near the stage, the singers hesitated but the band kept playing, and when zappa s attempts to calm. Stream adfree with amazon music unlimited on mobile, desktop, and tablet. Them or us is comparable in many ways to 1981s you are what you is. Frank zappa and the mothers of invention trouser press. Francesco zappa, them or us, thingfish and the old masters.
Frank zappa meets the mothers of prevention wikipedia. They were both double albums later released as a single cd, each featuring a wide variety of styles and containing similarsounding production very 80s. The genius of this book is lost on most of us as is the sad case with manymost of this albums and songs as well, because zappa requires a great deal of attention and immersion to really get to the meat of his language musical and otherwise, but when you do, i can assure you, it is most definitely worth it. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock history, and he is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. Probably will be changing from time to time with additions and additional comments. Frank zappa a low budget discography russell anixter 1994. The perfect stranger zappa records t zappa 49 cass sealed them or us emi 164y2402343 lp them or us rykodisc rcd 40027 cd them or us rykodisc rcd 10543 cd them or us rykodisc vack 1255 cd sealed them or us rykodisc vack 5266 cd sealed them or us zappa records t zappa 30 cass sealed. Released in october 1984, them or us is frank zappa s last studio rock album unless one counts thingfish. Ive got 3 albums down, that i am for a fact, obsessed with. Frank zappa fought incredibly hard against the mothers of prevention as he dubbed them. I make it a discography of 75 albums with the complete set of shut up n play yer guitar counting as one, as i bought it, and the same with joes garage.
This time, the backing track is all performed at the same time, and it is also a lot more complex than most of the backing music for franks other solos, especially the wild drums. This cheesy little homemade book was prepared for the amusement of people who already enjoy zappa music. Zappa talks about his them or us book and about dead rock stars. Sometime around 1957, as he tells us in the real frank zappa book, frank happened across the infamous edgar varese album that marked the beginning of franks exploration into the works of modernist composers. A beginners guide to the surreal music of frank zappa. With this book, the zappa fan will get a glimpse into frank that i dont believe any. Following distribution problems with zappa s album thingfish, which former barking pumpkin distributor mca records refused to distribute, zappa made a deal with emi records, which would allow them or us and thingfish to be distributed by capitol records in the united states. Parts of this book you can find in other screenplays by f. Frank zappa them or us album cover art, frank zappa, zappa. The cover has a picture from the bootleg swiss cheese. Find frank zappa discography, albums and singles on allmusic. Listen to your favorite songs from them or us by frank zappa now. The music on this album was actually written by his namesake francesco zappa, an 18th century baroqueera composer.
Frank zappas hot licks and funny smells colin towns and the ndr bigband rent a dog 2005 zappostrophe marc guillermont 2005 take your clothes off when you dance the ed palermo big band 2006. Probably worth an upgrade for most people, but hang on to your 95 or zappa records discs for the extended, alternative mix of them or us. This book used to be called christmas in new jersey. That said, this is an okay look at zappa s oeuvre, though the author is a tad too full of himself, loves dropping names, and apparently thinks lather is the endall and beall of i thought there was some mistake with the differing page counts, since they are linked as the same book on. Frank zappa them or us 1984 japanese 14track double lp, gatefold. This facsimile edition brings this seminal work on conceptual continuity to a new generation of fans who have outgrown the ordinary. A legendary book for the first time accessible to french readers, them or us is the frank zappa fans bible. Them or us by frank zappa released in 1984 via barking pumpkin. Album cover art frank zappa them or us cd album covers, greatest album. Nov, 2020 zappa ume zr 3871 20120925 0824302387122 us edition, manufactured and distributed by ume. Them or us 1984 frank zappa download music download in.
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