Navy Band surprises Zappa with "Joe's Garage" as he deplanes at SFO
via Boing Boing
Thanks to the archival spelunking of the crowdfunded documentary WHO THE F*@% IS FRANK ZAPPA?, we can now watch this amazing piece of video of Frank Zappa being greeted at SFO by the Navy Band, who played Joe's Garage in his honor (and to his manifest delight).
"I've been looking at a lot of previously unknown or little-seen archival of Frank, and this one was particularly powerful to me for two reasons," Winter, told Rolling Stone. "The first is that Frank was so rarely himself in public. He was a master showman, performer, orator, wit, political pundit, etc. In this clip, Frank is genuinely and profoundly moved by the band's performance of his music, and so we get to see him unprepared and just being himself.
"The other reason I love this piece is to watch it from the other side: the joy, concern, nervousness and reverence of these musicians, doing a fantastic job of playing a difficult piece for the notoriously discerning composer. At the end of the day, it's all about the power of music. And Frank's wonderful music in particular."
Video: How the Navy Band made Frank Zappa's day [David Larter/Navy Times]
Cerrito the Italian Cowboy - I'm Into Something Good
via Ubu.com
Cerrito the Italian Cowboy - I'm Into Something Good
I got this from the 20-for-a-buck bin at Krazy Kat Records on Route 66 in Albuquerque sometime in the summer of 1995. He doesn't sound so all-fired Italian to me (even his official bio admits that he was born in New England), and the only "cowboy" aspect of this recording is the "clip-clop-clip-clop" sound effect behind the verses, sounding more like Sir Robin's minstrel in Monty Python and the Holy Grail than any authentic cowpoke. His official website (www.cerritoonline.com) dates this single from the late '80s, after three years spent in Charo's touring revue. The ultra-cheesy production, heavy on the MIDI synths and thwacking electronic snare, is another helpful clue.
- Stewart Mason
TT-2:28 / 3.4MB / 192kbps 44.1khz
From 7" single (Key International Records KIR-1004) no date
Christine Wyrtzen - Obedience
via Ubu.com
I found this LP in a long since demolished thrift store on the corner of Lorain Avenue and Clague Road in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. I'm not sure what made me pull out the record and examine the song titles on this seemingly uninteresting and cheesy piece of 1980's Christian propaganda, but there was something about the song titled "Obedience" that made me want to throw down my $0.20 and take it home with me. Judging by the surface noise on this thing, I'd say some parent was trying pretty hard to warp some kid's mind at some point in time. Either that or the poor child actually liked it!
- Matt Grayer
TT-2:32 / 1.2MB / 64kbps 22khz
from the LP "Critter County" (Love Land Records CW-521) 1984
Stormy Hunter writes:
This is an artifact from the "Word Of Life Fellowship", a Christian organization which had a radio show in the 1970's called, naturally, "Word Of Life". I used to have my clock radio set to WCFL Chicago back then. WCFL was then one of the nation's best top 40 stations, but on Sunday mornings there was a steady flow of religious programming. I remember some of it as being quite uplifting (a program called "Keep Looking Up" springs to mind), but then "Word Of Life" would come on and put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Host Jack Wyrtzen would come on and in his hate-filled, mile-a-minute voice, he would excoriate pro-choicers, homosexuals, people who believed in astrology, non-Christian religions, and so on. The "Word Of Life" radio program was a veritable geyser of pus, venom, and bile, and it made me feel like throwing my old clock radio out of my closed bedroom window. Gosh, it's good to hear Christine Wyrtzen again.
Turning Japanese (Moranis)
Turning Japanese cover sung by Rick Moranis on SCTV