Frank Zappa: Dub Room Special

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
For nearly a decade, composer/rock guitarist/musical genius Frank Zappa and his band would descend upon New York City for their annual Halloween concert. A yearly tradition beginning in 1974, Zappa skipped the concert in 1982 even though he had recently scored his biggest commercial hit with the song 'Valley Girl'. Despite the decision not to tour, Zappa did not disappoint fans that looked forward to their yearly Halloween pilgrimage to New York City. Instead, he premiered a 90-minute documentary titled Frank Zappa's Dub Room Special at New York's legendary Ritz Theater. The documentary features two concerts: Zappa's 1981 Halloween show at New York's Palladium and the other from KCET Studios in December 1974 for the TV special 'A Token of His Extreme.' Paired with performances of Zappa classics such as 'Stink foot', 'Cosmik Debris', 'Montana' and 'Flakes' is the animation of Bruce Bickford who collaborated with Zappa on his previous documentary, Baby Snakes. Originally released on VHS and Beta in 1982, the Dub Room Special! Has been a tough find for Zappa fans. Now it is available for the first-time ever on DVD. Featuring audio remixed in stereo, this highly sought-after collectors item was worth the wait.

AMAZON.COM
Live performances by two very different groups led by the late Frank Zappa are the main attraction of Dub Room Special, a relatively rare DVD offering from one of contemporary music's most prolific and hard-to-classify figures. There were always two sides to Zappa (who died in 1993), from serious composer/musician to potty-mouthed frat boy, from innovator, iconoclast, and provocateur to juvenile shtick-meister. Both are on display here, but while there's plenty of fooling around, onstage and off, in the end it's Zappa's music that makes the more profound impression. The earlier of the two performances, recorded in 1974 and entitled "A Token of His Extreme," finds George Duke (keyboards), Chester Thompson (drums), the zany Napoleon Murphy Brock (woodwinds), and Ruth Underwood (mallet percussion) joining the guitarist for renditions of "Montana," "Florentine Pogen," "Inca Roads," and others, all showcasing both Zappa's warped sense of humor and the remarkable complexity and avant-garde flavor of his compositions; this is arguably the best band he ever assembled, and perhaps the best visual record of a Zappa gig. The second show, from Halloween 1981, is less distinguished. The musicians, though far less prominent than those from the earlier group (with the exception of hotshot guitarist Steve Vai), are excellent, but the material is weaker, and the entire proceeding is marred by "Stevie's Spanking," a moronic ode to Vai's visit with a kinky groupie. Elsewhere, Bruce Bickford's stop motion clay animation (also featured throughout Baby Snakes, a 2003 Zappa DVD release) is clever but somewhat overused; and there's little excuse for the bits featuring Italian "journalist" Massimo Bassoli (whose main talent seems to be picking his nose) or the inclusion of the very dated "Valley Girl" documentary, featuring Zappa's daughter Moon Unit. --Sam Graham