The Whip It Out Ensemble is a Frank Zappa tribute band located in Alberta, Canada. In the clip (above) they perform a medley of songs from The Mothers of Invention album ‘We’re Only In It For The Money‘ including “Lonely Little Girl“, “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance“, and “What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body?”
The Whip It Out Ensemble emerged from the auspices of the Shiny Beast jazz~theatre collective as a result of Michael Green’s placement of a newspaper ad inviting one and all to ‘The First Annual Meeting of the Frank Zappa Appreciation Society’ at the Auburn Saloon on September 16, 2001.
Once assembled, Michael informed the surprisingly large turnout of his long-standing ambition to stage a tribute to his boyhood idol Frank Zappa and invited anyone with the necessary combination of talent and desire to sign on. After much discussion and a couple more meetings of the FZAS the decision was made to perform the classic Mothers of Invention album ‘We’re Only In It For The Money’ in its entirety.
The cream of Calgary’s musical and theatrical talent convened under the moniker ‘The Whip It Out Ensemble’ and rehearsals began in earnest in late August 2002 under Michael’s direction. The first performances were unleashed on an enthusiastic public in September 2002 and a second set of Zappa compositions was added to the repertoire in December 2003.
The Whip It Out Ensemble is known most for their various appearances at Alberta Jazz Festivals, and their appearance on Cordelia Records’ ‘The Idiot Bastard Son – 20 Extraordinary Renditions’.
Whip It Out Ensemble (for the above video):
Vocals – Andy Curtis, Onalea Gilbertson, Ty Semaka and David van Belle
Musicians – Dan Meichel (saxophone), Dave Foley (trumpet), Brent van Dusen (marimba & percussion) and Peter Moller (drums & percussion)
Freaks – Michael Green (baton & whispers), Anita Miotti (freak-out chick), Katie Sanders (freak-out chick)
I loved this!!! It should have been ten times longer.
[quote post=”2261″]I loved this!!! It should have been ten times longer.[/quote]
It was. Saw this twice a few years ago, a great tribute to a fine band. I wish they would have attemped to play “Nasal Retentive Calliope Music” but they didn’t. Last time I saw them they did a second act of other various Zappa tunes along with WOIIFTM, and I must say I was disapointed when during Bamboozled By Love, they had these two girls courting each other around the bar, and then proceeded to kiss. If I wanted to see that I would turn on MTV. Kind of like the stupid spinny girls in the Zappa’s Universe shows. The thing I liked most about FZ is he didn’t need to resort to cheap thrills when he could easily make fun of those who do. The guy made an audio sex tape for chrissakes. I digress.
Would love to see these guys play again one day.
A wonderful performance by a very musically adventurous cover band. I mean, who else would try and capture (and capture so well) the MOI brand of jibberish?
That being said, the video/choreography made me wince, it was just a bit too cheesy and was a bit embarassing. Though, I have to give kudos to their Cyndy Lauper lead vocalist, who added a new dimension to those songs and made some very brave choices, both musically and fashion-wise.
Zappa music done vaudeville style–if that’s what you’re into, i guess.
I don’t see it as “vaudeville style” I felt it captured the flavor of the Mothers Absolutely Free-WOIIFTM period. Take a look at the Garrick Theatre footage for comparison.
OK. And of course, the Flo & Eddie period has also been referred to as ‘vaudeville’ style too. This version of “madness” comes across as too contrived for me.
The girl has pipes.