The Night Listener

As part of The Stranglers' celebration of their Ruby Anniversary, the definitive collection of the B-side recordings they made whilst signed to Epic is released for the first time, via their own label. Appropriately, as befits a band marking forty years together, Here & There: The Epic B-sides Collection 1983-1991 gathers 40 tracks across 2 CDs and is also released as a 40 track digital package. The Stranglers released no less than 13 singles in the UK during this period, which saw them produce five albums: four studio and one live. The Stranglers signed to Epic Records in 1982 having been with United Artists / Liberty since 1977. The change of label coincided with changes in marketing policy across the UK industry - often dubbed "the Frankie Goes to Hollywood effect". Previously, The Stranglers' had released only one 12" single - an extended version of Bear Cage in 1980 - but from 2nd Epic single, Midnight Summer Dream until 1990, each release had a 12" version which required extra studio or, increasingly, live tracks to "add value" to the package.

Frank Zappa - 200 Motels - The Suites - Los Angeles Philharmonic (2015) {2CD Zappa Records ZR0019}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 523 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 238 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 795 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971, 2015 Zappa Records / The Zappa Family Trust / Universal | ZR 20019 / 00824302001929
Classical / Rock / Experimental / Suite

Official Release #101. On the evening of October 23, 2013, Walt Disney Concert Hall was the place to be in Los Angeles, as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in a spectacular, sold-out orchestral performance of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (The Suites). Recorded for posterity, the acclaimed, one-night-only 13-suite performance of Zappa's 1971 masterwork will be released worldwide on November 20 by Zappa Records/UMe. This 2CD release's expertly recorded audio brings the listener back to Walt Disney Concert Hall to experience the exciting 200 Motels (The Suites) spectacle, complemented by photos from the evening and essays by the show and recording's producers, Gail Zappa and Frank Filipetti, the evening's director James Darrah, 'Scoremeister' Kurt Morgan, and performers including Diva Zappa, Michael Des Barres, special guest 'Rock' rhythm section drummer Joe Travers, and former Zappa band member Scott Thunes. Essays by some notable members of the audience, including Steve Vai and Peter Asher, are also included.

The Rolling Stones’ 1981 tour was the biggest rock and roll event of the year. The size of the production, the length and the pubulicity surrounding it were unprecedented. They played in the biggest arenas, sometimes for multiple nights, and orchestrated a media blitz which saw them appear on television somewhere in the world at least once a week on local stations, syndicated shows like Rona Barrett’s new news program “Inside & Out” and on cable television with several appearances on the brand new channel MTV. The big tour finale was the pay-per-view broadcast by satellite on the final night…

After hitting it big in the arena rock sweepstakes with Fool for the City, Foghat continued along the same lines on 1976's Night Shift. This time, ex-Edgar Winter sideman Dan Hartman took the producer's chair. The result is a well-produced and solid hard rock album that nonetheless feels disappointing because it lacks the consistently high levels of energy and inspiration that marked its predecessor…

The music is the magic of a secret world… It's the magic that is always within…
When Jenna Mammina sings those lines, written by her friend and musical mentor, Abbey Lincoln, they strike the listener not just as lyrics to a beautiful song, but as a declaration of unshakable personal conviction. Since early childhood, Mammina has been caught in the spell of music's magic, a magic that now emerges in full flower on her debut album, Under the Influence, a thoroughly beguiling collection of songs that heralds the arrival of a major new vocal talent.