Frank Zappa news

 - july 7, 2008: On 8 July, the Zappa Family Trust is belatedly celebrating Independence Day by making the Beat The Boots series, totaling 148 tracks, available on iTunes.

 - december 28, 2007: In recent weeks, the Zappa Family Trust has taken legal action against Killuglyradio.com, a Frank Zappa fansite, as well as a bunch of non-profit Zappa tribute bands (Project/Object, Bogus Pomp) and the Zappanale festival.

Even if you're not much of an FZ fan, the topic at hand may be of interest to you as it's all about fair use versus copyright and mechanical licenses.

Read more about the situation here.

 - may 1, 2007: Dweezil Zappa reports: For those of you who have been scratching your head and asking yourself, “I wonder what is going on with that Zappa Plays Zappa DVD?” I’ve got good news.

I am heading to Montreal to finish up post production so we can make it available to hold in your hot little hands by the time the new ZPZ Tour starts. As many of you know the DVD shoot took place last December in Portland and Seattle. The Portland show was actually on Frank’s birthday. We shot it all in High Definition and used a world class mobile recording studio (Le Mobile) to capture the audio. All 88 tracks will be mixed in stereo and 5.1 surround sound. It may include some special bonus material if there is enough room on the disc(s). That has yet to be determined.

Read full article here.

 - april 10, 2006: New Captain Beefheart 2CD available soon: The Captain's Last Live Concert.

 - december 15, 2005: "We've been in the Vault. We're back now with some highly seasoned treats for you in special consideration of events at this time - of year. Yule love the next adventure in the Corsaga Series - Joe's XMASage! Be present."
More info here.

 - october 16, 2005: Finally, at Zappa.com: "We regret to inform you Tour de Frank (Zappa Plays Zappa) has been postponed until Spring has sprung in 2006."…

 - september 25, 2005: No news about the Zappa plays Zappa tour, but there will be a few new Zappa releases before the end of the year. One of them will be the Dub Room Special DVD. Two new CDs are said to be released soon, but there are no details yet.

 - november 2004: Out now on Rykodisc: The best of Frank Zappa, a cheap 15-track comp of Zappa tunes you already own anyway

 - september 20, 2004: News from Zappa.com: NOW you have the option to be completely Sound Surrounded by QuAUDIOPHILIAc. OR you can stew in the zetta that is, Joe's Domage! Make your own Sauce. Now.

 - august 22, 2004: The Idiotbastard reports: we now have a release date for QuAUDIOPHILIAc, the next DVD-A release from the ZFT. “It is scheduled for a street date of 14th September on the DTS label. It is surround sound and is made up of tracks originally mixed/recorded by FZ during the 70s. It is essentially an audio documentary of ideas by FZ about quad and 4 channel mixes and multichannel recordings. Dweezil tweezed these items into a full on programme. Obviously, it will not translate on ordinary radio.” So quipped Gail. You can order it now from CD Universe, or direct from DTS…

 - july 16, 2004: "The family of the late Frank Zappa is putting together plans to release music from the composer-musician's vast vaults via a subscription service. They hope it will expand the Zappa legacy among his fans and establish a unique business model suited to such a unique artist."

 - may 31, 2004: New release from the Zappa Family Trust: Joe's corsage, celebrating 4ty years on with Frank Zappa and his rockin' teenage combo, the Mothers of Invention. Prehensile & pre1966.

 - may 7, 2004: Out now on Cordelia Records: Lemme take you to the beach, a CD full of (mostly) surf instrumental bands performing the music of Frank Zappa.

 - february 15, 2004: Record Collector magazine reports that the ZFT plan to issue several FZ archive audio and video recordings later this year, including Frank Scheffer’s ‘classical music’ documentary, Dance Me This, Trance-Fusion, two films (The Rage And The Fury and The Roxy Performances) and their soundtracks.

 - january 7, 2004: Zappa appears on the cover of the latest issue of Downbeat. There's also a 12-page article in Mojo Magazine.

 - november 21, 2003: The Baby Snakes DVD will be released on december 9.

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