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Subject: "DVD Review | Frank Zappa: From Straight To Bizarre" Previous topic | Next topic
johnbook
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Fri Apr-06-12 12:03 AM

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"DVD Review | Frank Zappa: From Straight To Bizarre"


  

          

This is a brand new exhaustive 166 minute documentary on the record labels Frank Zappa had with Warner Bros./Reprise: Bizarre and Straight. If you know your Zappa music or the significance of the labels, then you'll know what's covered. For Zappaphiles, there's absolutely no mention of DiscReet Records, another label Zappa did with manager Herb Cohen so this is direct and to the point.

My review:

http://www.thisisbooksmusic.com/2012/04/05/dvd-review-frank-zappa-from-straight-to-bizarre/
==begin swipe==
It’s a documentary movie about Frank Zappa without the assistance from the Zappa Family Trust, so what’s the purpose of this? To shine the light on a record label that a lot of people enjoyed, but is now caught up by record industry (and perhaps familial) bullshit.

From Straight To Bizarre (Sexy Intellectual) is a documentary that is being pushed as being “unauthorized” because it has no input from ZFT, but a lot of times the best information comes from those who did work with ths topic at hand. In this case, it’s the two labels given to Zappa by Warner Bros./Reprise when Zappa was frustrated with working with Verve, the label who gave him his initial exposure to the mainstream. The film takes a look at the music Zappa discovered, along with his exposure to what is called the “freaks”, a close-knit community of musicians, artists, and individuals who did things on their own and were truly outcasts, not unlike the category Zappa was put into throughout his life. It explores the origins of the label with Zappa’s manager, Herb Cohen, and what lead to the discoveries of Captain Beefheart, Wild Man Fischer, and The GTO’s, complete with interviews from various members of The Magic Band, and Pamela Des Barres. While some had pointed the finger at Zappa for exploiting some of these artists as inside jokes, others say he was nothing more than a documentarian not afraid to cover what most people would turn their heads away from.

It also looks at how Alice Cooper got into the label, first as a band and then the band which turned into the identity of the man, and how Cooper being an outcast eventually lead him and the group outside of Zappa’s circles. It was only a matter of time before Cooper jumped ship, but not without having to deal with a few legal issues, which are briefly touched upon here. With that said, there are many who feel that Cooper’s first two albums on Straight are incredibly impressive, with a small minority feeling he and the band have never done anything better since.

From Straight To Bizarre would have been a perfect film in 1991 when a small handful of albums on the Bizarre and Straight labels were being reissued on CD for the first time. This is one of the more impressive and highly researched documentaries I’ve seen, it will definitely appeal to all of the record and Zappa nerds out there, but is its close-to-180-minute length a bit too much? To a degree, yes, but if you wish to watch it as two halves, feel free. The one thing that this movie will make you do is hunt down these albums not only by the artists mentioned, but other records released on the labels, including Jeff Simmons, Tim Buckley, and Lenny Bruce. The sad disgrace is that, most of these albums are out of print, the collector’s market have priced them ridiculously, and you’re not going to find them on iTunes, eMusic, or any of the legitimate music distribution websites out there. What to do? Hunt down these albums on blogs made by fans who have archived the music far better than the industry has ever done. It’s frowned upon by the Zappa Family Trust, but really, this movie serves as an audio and visual booklet to a box set that doesn’t and will never exist. It will be up to the fan to rediscover what made all of this music odd, trippy, unusual, and great. If anything, the film reveals the disgrace in not having this music widely available to anyone who wishes to seek it. Zappa himself frowned upon the fetishism of people who crave black discs in cardboard, but he realized when it came to the music, people were willing to do anything just to hear it. How he would interpret today’s digital distribution of music is anyone’s guess, but the film shows the passion and humor he had when it came to presenting the creativity of outcasts, from someone who may have felt like an outcast himself. The music he worked with was very much a documentary of his life and musical interests, in the hopes people would seek, find, and listen. Now it comes full circle.
===end swipe===





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Topic Outline
Subject Author Message Date ID
It would be nice to hear the other side of the story
Apr 06th 2012
1
It's not even Zappa's side of the story, to be honest
Apr 06th 2012
2
RE: DVD Review | Frank Zappa: From Straight To Bizarre
Apr 06th 2012
3
Not sure what the "official" word is
Apr 06th 2012
4
      RE: Not sure what the "official" word is
Apr 06th 2012
5
           I checked Zappa's website and, as you can see...
Apr 06th 2012
6
thanks for the heads up. on my way to best buy to buy it now
Apr 07th 2012
7
this dvd was pretty dope. wish they went deeper into the mothers
Apr 08th 2012
8
Correct
Apr 08th 2012
9

Virgenes Corazon
Member since Jan 03rd 2007
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Fri Apr-06-12 12:47 AM

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1. "It would be nice to hear the other side of the story"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

as opposed to just the official Zappa side of the story. Good review. I look forward to seeing this.

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johnbook
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Fri Apr-06-12 01:33 AM

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2. "It's not even Zappa's side of the story, to be honest"
In response to Reply # 1


  

          

It's the views of the artists who were involved and were alive. It is not an official Zappa doc, so nothing from Gail, Dweezil, Moon Unit, or the people behind the archives.

Most might assume that it would be primarily focused on Zappa, but it's not. While there are brief interview clips in reference to the people he worked with, it's dominated by everyone else.







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ajiav
Member since Feb 02nd 2007
2402 posts
Fri Apr-06-12 11:54 AM

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3. "RE: DVD Review | Frank Zappa: From Straight To Bizarre"
In response to Reply # 0


          

I'm definitely interested in this doc, so I appreciate the heads up and the review, but tangentially was wondering do you know anything re: the regular zappa catalogue being oop in general? The last time I looked a few months ago I was having trouble finding definitive info (possibly I am just not trying hard enough or have overlooked something obvious).

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johnbook
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Fri Apr-06-12 01:29 PM

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4. "Not sure what the "official" word is"
In response to Reply # 3


  

          

I just know that in the CD era, with all the reissues on Rykodisc and then their own Barking Pumpkin stuff, there was always issues on whether or not to give that control to anyone else, since they had fought so hard to keep it. I know the Zappa family continues to come up with reissues from the archives, but as far as proper reissues, it's an extremely slow trickle.

It goes back to the vinyl era, where if you wanted it, you really had to find it, but that meant spending $$$. These days, it's just a matter of knowing about the good blogs, or relying on torrents. Which of course means it's "free".





THE HOME OF BOOK-NESS:
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ajiav
Member since Feb 02nd 2007
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Fri Apr-06-12 03:20 PM

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5. "RE: Not sure what the "official" word is"
In response to Reply # 4


          

cool, thanks for replying - been wanting to check out the various project/objects since an earlier write-up of yours on the freak out, but the money has made me less likely to do so...

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johnbook
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Fri Apr-06-12 04:19 PM

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6. "I checked Zappa's website and, as you can see..."
In response to Reply # 5


  

          

...they only have a few of his albums available for download. One forum elsewhere makes the claim that Gail Zappa should not be the one in charge, which suggests she may be a major factor in why his music is not widely available. It's a waiting game, regardless of what is true.


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judono
Member since Nov 11th 2004
4417 posts
Sat Apr-07-12 09:59 AM

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7. "thanks for the heads up. on my way to best buy to buy it now"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

good lookin out. bout2head over2best buy to pick this up

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judono
Member since Nov 11th 2004
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Sun Apr-08-12 11:42 AM

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8. "this dvd was pretty dope. wish they went deeper into the mothers"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

wish they would've went deeper with the actually mothers line-ups and characters and deeper on the zappa in the studio and backstage footage that was going down around this era.

this dvd essentially focused on 2 record labels zappa was associated with (straight records and bizzarre records), and none of the other projects he did throughout his career.

however, it is a very thorough, informative, and well made doc. i enjoyed it and would recommend it to any zappa fan

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johnbook
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Sun Apr-08-12 11:50 AM

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9. "Correct"
In response to Reply # 8
Sun Apr-08-12 11:51 AM by johnbook

  

          

The focus of the music released on Bizarre and Straight has always been of interest, and I'd like to think that if one was to just look at Zappa's output on those labels, it would be worth focusing on each album, and not as a documentary with everyone else.




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