Zappa Plays Zappa - Really is "Zappa Plays On!"

Saturday, August 9Th, 2008 at the Paramount Theater in Peekskill we arrived excited to see Dweezil Zappa and his fine band recreate the brilliance, not to mention whit that his father Frank brought to stage and record. As we made our way to our seats I thought of the 1978 Late show Halloween night at the Palladium on 14Th Street in NYC excited with nervous anticipation. This was the last time I saw Frank Zappa Live and alive. We had excellent seats and the Paramount is such an intimate venue. Dead center and up close, who could ask for more at this point in life.

Little did I know what to expect ahead. From the first notes out of Dweezil and band I was transported back to Halloween 1978. That special time in my life, with "not to shabby seats in the orchestra," at Frank's annual treat for the tricksters, there I sat mesmerized (more that slightly inebriated) at Frank's skillful and passionate guitar work. Dweezil, along with his bands' fearlessness to plunge deep into Frank's compositions were like machines with persona. Could they be "artificial Intelligence . I thought to myself, Dweezil and Co. are not only incredible musicians, they are brave soles! Especially when Dweezil was talking about all the "notes" that he and band have to concentrate on in the Jazz form HELL music.

So here I sit some 30 years later listening to Frank's son, recreating his father's music. This is beyond a mere tribute, this boy is a conduit, he is spiritually communicating with his father. Genetics are an amazing thing, I'm thinking, hell this is beyond that genetics thing, we are experiencing something miraculous here at this moment in time. I remembered that Frank never took any mind expanding drugs in a time when the counterculture viewed drugs as a way of life.

I guess I never wondered back then what it might be like to attend any concert, let alone a Zappa concert NOT under the influence??? Well, I can attest that Frank Zappa's genius was that his music was a mind expanding experience without side effects! Telepathic, transcendental, intoxicating without the Alcohol or weed. Dweezil proved that! Especially towards the end of the show that evening.

Surely it was a long haul for the band and Dweezil, on that road for several months, and here they are the last show of the tour. Emotions and expectations were no doubt high. That said, it was an emotional rollercoaster during the orchestral riffs of Sofa. I was feeling it, my youth was top of my mind, moments later, Dweezil's eyes welled up and tears burst to the point of him and band having to stop playing. The entire theater rose to their feet to cheer him on. As he regained his emotions and composure that powerful riff emulated long after the show was over. As I write this I keep playing Sofa 1 and Sofa 2 over and over and over and over. It has become a soundtrack for me.

The energy form Dweezil and his band and the graciousness conveyed as his father Frank would have done. On that Halloween night in 1978, I had the chance to meet Frank after the show. He was an amazing person, so attentive to his fans. So gracious, he extended backstage passed to all of us that stayed to see him leave the Palladium that night. He sat and talked with each and everyone of us, never in a rush to get out of there. There was a guy that brought his entire Zappa collection in a milk crate for Frank to sign, and that is what Frank did - he signed each and every one of them (with the exception of the LPs that Warner Brothers screwed him on). Talking, laughing and joking all the way.

Dweezil extended that same graciousness that his father did, when at the end of the last bow fans rushed the stage with tickets, CDs and Programs to sign. there seemed to be hundreds of people there and he patiently signed and shook hands all the way.

He was a good boy, although, he never cut my lawn, he was a good boy especially when he played that guitar and his father's music! FRANK IS PROUD!

This is the Central Scrutinizer — signing off...

The Best Comps on the Planet - Warner Brothers Loss Leaders

Nobody did it better! The birth of the freeform vinyl compilation. There have been imitators but Warner Brothers are the inventors. If you were savvy enough to check out the inner sleeves of your old Neil Young, Jethro Tull and Mothers LPs (to name only a few) and send in the couple of bucks your reward would arrive in a couple of weeks. The "Joy of a Toy" as your treasure arrives! hours of exploration, cool cover art, incredible linner note (Dr. Denento) and a fantastic compilation of sonic treats. Some very familiar and some to discovery. Sometime a familiar song in a different mix or two.

I don't think we will ever see these compilations remastered and released. With all the mergers and aqusitions in the music industry and the slow death of the CD format these records will remain just that - "records." They are an indellable peek into the history of an incredibly creative time. A movement as brilliant as the Renaissance. A catalog of incredible versitility at that moment in time. Although Columbia tried with their Music People 3 LP set and the Different Strokes (single LP) Comps they couldn't compete with Warner Brothers sheer volume of artists.

Believe it or not there are some 36 plus Warner Brothers Compilations. If you were lucky enough to collect these at the time you paid just a few dollars for each of these national treasure. Collection them nowadays can be a hefty price to pay as they become rediscovered. I have 22 of the 36 plus. there are several that I have just become fimiliar with and still looking. If you are an old dust bin & dumpster diver like me you enjoy the hunt likewise.

The fun of these comps are digitizing them each side at a time and NOT tracking them. Listening to each side as if they were a radio show, loading them into the iPod and listening to them in the car on a long drive. A great way to pass the time on a road trip. If you bought them for $1.00, $2.00 or the $3.00 price tag at the time it can surely offset the price of your gas tank on that road trip. Definitely worth the $85.00 to fill your gas tank!

More on the Warner Bros loss Leaders later, just think about what you have lost with your leaders NOW!

Check out this link for more info on Loss Leaders:
http://home.clara.net/fil/rocksamplers/warner.htm

G Train is My Vacation from Civilization

While listening to the G Train the other night on RandoRadio.com I was diggin' the groove that Giacomo was in. I always felt Giaco is a man in a time signature of his own. Walking and talking with Giaco is kind of like having a loop of Burbeck's "Take Five" proudly whirling around in the background of your head. That's what I love about listening to his show, there are no predictions of where it will end up, an adventure everytime. Listening and dreaming sure is a cheap alternative to the rising cost of a full-fledged vacation! HA!

The Madness Returns!

So here we are? Is this it? Is that what all the fuss was about?

Random Madness is back! After broadcasting for seven-and-a-half year run on WDFH 90.3 FM, Ossining, NY we have moved on to the Internet. As the dust settles on Monday evenings again it looks like I'll be coming at you live every Monday night at 7pm. Thats right, 7pm - 9pm every Monday! I'm looking forward to a regular ritual of random madness. This time its a bit more unique, at RandoRadio.com because there is so much talent to bounce off of. the entire station is based on radio the way it used to be. That is what its all about for each and everyone of the dedicated DJs and their shows. I'm amazed how different we are yet the same. We all grew up on great radio and it is so sad to cruise the FM dial to find nothing even remotely similar to what we grew up on. I don't know about you, but I needed music during my waking hours to survive, let-alone function. I was always at my most creative when a good groove is moving in the background. As I write these words, I'm having an earful of Christine's show. At this moment, life is good!