THE LEGAL hassles involving WEA and his new label CBS are obviously having little effect on Zappa's live performances. At Hammersmith last weekend, he turned out a technically faultless show that smacked of true professionalism and delighted an audience converted to his skills years ago. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

Source: worldradiohistory.com

FRANK ZAPPA: Joe’s Garage Acts II & III (CBS 88475) Prod: Frank Zappa
By superhuman effort, Zappa has brought us the second half of his Joe’s Garage project before the first part has entirely faded from the memory, adding to its interest value among British fans. It is in the tradition of We're Only In It For The Money and the Live At The Fillmore East set with plenty of highly scuzzy language and a story line about electronic erotica and a totalitarian society in which music and musicians are thrown in jail under the concept of 'total criminalisation' designed to bring uniformity ot the last degree under the eyes of the law. In between come some extended examples of Zappa's very best guitar work and lots of forbidding music.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

This issue contained the legendary TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test" 10-year anniversary special insert. In this insert, Tinseltown Rebellion album was featured as "passed the whistle test" and also included a picture of Captain Beefheart talking to the presenter.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

FRANK ZAPPA: Ship Arriving Too Late To Save a Drowning Witch (CBS 85804) Prod: Frank Zappa
The latest in Zappa's increasingly swiftly-turned-out albums is a six-track single set which focuses on guitar virtuosity, plus the inevitable slab of heavy-handed social sarcasm - this time aimed at brainless girls hailing from a certain district of Hollywood, called 'Valley Girl' and is as cutting as anything he has done this decade. An extra inducement to buy the record is the addition of a free 7-inch 33rpm disc which features a mercurial guitar workout called 'Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression.' For once, a manageable-sized Zappa album and one that deserves attention.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PLAYS FRANK ZAPPA
London, Barbican Centre

ZAPPA HAD already warned that this was to be no 'rock-plus-strings' evening and how right he proved to be. It was a full-scale excursion into the realms of modern classical music – with all the discordant tedium and intense, intellectual posturing that that genre so often provides. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com