The disc contains:
…over 70 minutes of often hilarious but always thought provoking and stimulating interviews with Uncle Frank, during which he speaks eloquently on just about any subject thrown at him. From John and Yoko to the Sex Pistols, his political role in Czechoslovakia to his book, ‘The Real Frank Zappa’, among numerous other topics, this collection, featuring never previously heard recordings, will prove a delight for all Zappa fans as it reveals probably the sharpest brain in rock music at his very best.
Currently priced at £5.99.
Considering most, if not all, Zappa radio interviews are public domain, there is something rather stinky about somebody other than the ZFT making a profit off of Zappa’s wit and wisdom. I am constantly on the lookout for new interviews of Frank Zappa, and various related Zappa alumni to share with the larger Zappa community – it behooves me whenever I see someone attempting to make a personal profit from the composer I love so much. The vultures at Chrome Dreams should go pick someone else’s bones for their payday…say, Michael Jackson?
“…it behooves me whenever I see someone attempting to make a personal profit from the composer I love so much. The vultures at Chrome Dreams should go pick someone else’s bones for their payday…say, Michael Jackson?”
Exactly right. Especially if The Zappa Family Trust tries to make a profit. THEY are grave robbers of the highest order!
By the way, it’s a real gas to belong to the “LARGER ZAPPA COMMUNITY”, whatever the fuck that means.
[quote comment=”7560″]
By the way, it’s a real gas to belong to the “LARGER ZAPPA COMMUNITY”, whatever the fuck that means.[/quote]
Whenever two or more Zappa freaks read and/or listen to the same post, it’s already a larger Zappa community than the one I grew up with, notatsne.
I’m also of the belief that Zappa interviews, like Zappa field recordings, are best shared, not sold.
It’s neat that you believe these things, and God Bless You.
But I have been a member of the larger Sting community and the larger Slipknot community. I used to belong to the larger Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods community until I entered Hip-Hop Culture, then later I veered off into the Punk Subculture…
That was when I realized that just because I enjoy the same music as a bunch of other people does not necessarily make me part of a community. It’s just a coincidence.
I love Alien Orifice as a piece of music.
Some Zappa fans probably hate it.
Does that mean those of us who love that
song are part of the larger Alien Orifice community?
I’m sure millions of people will buy bags of M&Ms
on their way home from work today. Are they
a community? Why not?
If a guy in Saskatchewan and a guy in Belarus
are picking their noses at the same time, are they
bonded in an international community by their actions?
Have fun spreading your opinions concerning the minutiae of each
discrete layer of INTERNATIONAL ZAPPADOM. I enjoy your posts,
but your little movement politics are masturbatory.
notatsne – you really wasted your time writing down all this cleverness?… Wow. I’ve much more liked you when we were together in the “not-commenting-at-the-moment Community”.
[quote comment=”7578″]notatsne – you really wasted your time writing down all this cleverness?… Wow. I’ve much more liked you when we were together in the “not-commenting-at-the-moment Community”.[/quote]
Ditto. It’s like pissing in the snow then critiquing what’s written there.
http://www.chromedreams.co.uk/maximum-michael-jackson-88-p.asp
http://www.chromedreams.co.uk/michael-jackson—collectors-box-376-p.asp
…etc.
Back to the matter at hand…. What’s wrong with free enterprise? If someone takes the time to compile public domain material from a variety of sources and offers it for sale, why not let the market decide? Some people will gladly pay for the convenience. Others will not. I guess I don’t see any ethical or moral issue here if the material is truly public domain.
[quote comment=”7593″]http://www.chromedreams.co.uk/michael-jackson—collectors-box-376-p.asp
…etc.[/quote]
“. . . iconic figure standing alongside such luminaries as JFK, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Martin Luther King . . .”
I’m surprised that Chrome Dreams does compare michael jackson with jesus christ and have him moon walk on water . . .
Could somebody actually review this interview session with FZ to determine if it’s legit or just a cash grab at a late artist’s account.
[quote comment=”7578″]notatsne – you really wasted your time writing down all this cleverness?… Wow. I’ve much more liked you when we were together in the “not-commenting-at-the-moment Community”.[/quote]
So? It’s my time, I’ll waste it if I want to.
I like pissing in the snow.
Eat it.
[quote comment=”7597″]Back to the matter at hand…. What’s wrong with free enterprise? If someone takes the time to compile public domain material from a variety of sources and offers it for sale, why not let the market decide? Some people will gladly pay for the convenience. Others will not. I guess I don’t see any ethical or moral issue here if the material is truly public domain.[/quote]
There is nothing wrong with free enterprise, P-Rip. It’s just when it comes to Zappa, these sort of CDs really stink of bootlegging. It’s no different than someone downloading a FZ show from Zappateers for free, then turning around and selling the same show on eBay for profit. Yes, someone ignorant of the service Zappateers provides might pay for the show (as I did, purchasing bootlegs before learning of their existence), but once educated, never would again.
Just because an item is public domain (in this case, the free public radio broadcast of an interview) doesn’t give someone ownership. As soon as someone shares this interview session from Chrome Dreams with me, I can promise you I’ll share with a vengeance.
Well, Urban, let’s turn that logic around on Zappa. Does Zappa “own” the field recordings he made and have a right to make a profit from them? For example, “Cops and Buns” from Lost Episodes. Does he own the dialog with the police officers? He is certainly selling it for profit.
I suppose people in Zappa’s employ signed some sort of release giving Zappa rights to every belch or snork that he recorded. But I’ll bet many voices/characters in the field recordings signed no such release. Is he wrong to have released those for profit?
But I agree, it’s not a crime to be stupid. It’s also not a crime to sell legal things to stupid people. Heck our whole economy is pretty much based on that principal. 😉
Maybe this reply is going a bit off-topic, but it’s interesting to think about applying thoughts on public domain material to Zappa’s work.
[quote comment=”7628″]Well, Urban, let’s turn that logic around on Zappa. Does Zappa “own” the field recordings he made and have a right to make a profit from them? For example, “Cops and Buns” from Lost Episodes. Does he own the dialog with the police officers? He is certainly selling it for profit.
I suppose people in Zappa’s employ signed some sort of release giving Zappa rights to every belch or snork that he recorded. But I’ll bet many voices/characters in the field recordings signed no such release. Is he wrong to have released those for profit?
[/quote]
That’s why the lord invented the “fair use” double-standard that allows Disney to adapt folklore and history into highly lucrative films and merchandise but will squash any parody of Mickey Mouse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Pirates
and the collaborations of the alumni on Zappa’s copyrighted and heavily guarded compositions were discussed indepth elsewhere on the blog.
http://www.killuglyradio.com/2009/08/28/the-case-of-the-zappa-family-trust/
P-Rip, ownership of field recordings are a very grey legal area, especially as they apply to Zappa and family. Do they actually own the field recording they’ve included in a recent release (“The Illinois Enema Bandit” from ‘One Shot Deal’ which was plucked from The Palladium, NYC, October 31, 1981 (late show) – if you compare the field recording to the OSD version, the conclusion is they are the same)? Who is going to stop them? The actual bootlegger of the show? Zappa knew that when he released the initial batch of Beat the Boots. However, that era of bootlegging is long past, and really no longer applies today. I’ve witnessed as computer audio software has developed to such a degree that field recordings once deemed barely worth worrying about by artists and their labels, now see them as a new source of revenue. Do I mind if artists, or their heirs, attempt to sell field recordings? It depends on two factors: one, are they improving the quality of the audio in anyway (or adding any some other ephemeral quality to them like historical perspective, etc.); or, two, are they simply making a cash grab.
Like I said, I am all for free enterprise, and as a life long anarchist, I believe every individual has the right to be as he or she wants to be. If he or she wants to buy something that is available for free, that’s his right.
Paul Sempschi, your point about Disney is well taken. More and more I see “fair use” as a standard for those who can afford it. I doubt all the people who surrounded Zappa in the 60s had dollar signs in their eyes. Still, as the 80s arose, Zappa like every other artist was forced to view their art as a commodity, and thus, perhaps because of all his legal entanglements, was forced to become as ruthless as his adversaries to survive. That said, it what the ZFT doing, or have done, that much out of character?
When a snorkle becomes a commodity, a source of revenue, and intellectual property to be protected at all costs, haven’t we already crossed the line from meaningful discourse into outright insanity?