Of all the Zappa live albums out there (and there’s a lot, so we have to be careful what we say), the double album rendering of his December 1976 New York shows has always occupied a prominent position in the fan club’s “best of” ratings. There are misgivings, of course. The omission of the showstopping “Punky’s Whips”; the mass of edits and rearrangements that went into the final running order; the fact that close to two years elapsed between concert and LP…. But, if you stopped worrying about what could have been, and focus simply on what you got, it was a fabulous album.
Official Release #23. Zappa in New York was recorded in December 1976 at the Palladium and originally intended for release in 1977. It was held up due to arguments between Frank Zappa and his then-record label, Warner Bros. When the two-LP set finally appeared in March 1978, Warner had deleted "Punky's Whips," a song about drummer Terry Bozzio's attraction to Punky Meadows of Angel. When Zappa reacquired the album and released it as a double CD in 1991, he restored "Punky's Whips" and added four bonus tracks.
This March, Universal Music will issue a five-CD, 40th anniversary deluxe edition of Frank Zappa‘s 1978 live album Zappa in New York.
Compiled by Frank Zappa for broadcast on WLIR-FM in Garden City, New York on New Year's Eve 1973, this remarkable set offers a cross-section of his recent live performances with the Mothers Of Invention, and finds him at his wittiest and most inventive. A treat for serious fans, the entire WLIR-FM set is presented here, digitally remastered.
By 1981, Frank Zappa’s Halloween shows in New York were already legendary – a rock and roll bacchanalia of jaw-dropping musicianship, costume-clad revelry, spontaneous theatrical hijinks and of course a heavy dose of Zappa’s signature virtuosic guitar workouts. Eagerly anticipated every year, fans never knew exactly what was in store but knew it would be of epic proportions and one-of-a-kind experience that only Zappa and his skilled group of musicians could provide. When Zappa returned to The Palladium in NYC in 1981 for a five-show four-night run from October 29 to November 1, the nearly-annual tradition was even more anticipated than usual as the 1980 concerts were cut short due to Zappa falling ill. Curiously there was no fall tour the previous year and thus no Halloween shows.
This new deluxe reissue covering Frank Zappa’s 1972 ‘electric orchestra’ period features amazing new 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos remixes of the studio albums Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo.
Zappa ’80: Mudd Club/Munich combines two historical performances from the spring/summer 1980 band. The first is from a set at FZ’s favorite NYC nightclub – the famous Mudd Club. Presented from a hi-res transfer of the original master tape. The second, from Olympiahalle in Munich, is the first ever live direct to digital stereo recording of Zappa. Mastering by Bernie Grundman, 2022.