Zappa CDs on the ZAPPA RECORDS label

Anybody here have a decent collection of these? Or, heck, only one or two?

If you do, post which ones you have on this thread. Information needs to be exchanged.

 

the Zappa discs were just clones of the US Rykodiscs issued in the 80s.

you want me to run down which ones sounded decent for ya? the 95 Rykodisc issues were upgrades for some of 'em, but not all.

or was sound quality not what you wanted info on?

 

The Zappa discs were *not* just clones of the US Rykodiscs. That's the problem. "Them or Us," for example, is apparently different, with the US 1986 Ryko using a low-volume-but-unfutzed-with master, and the 1990 Zappa using the crappy master that then showed up ont he 1995 stock CD. Similarly, many of the Zappa Records discs claim to be remixed. They're probably not, but I need confirmation.

Which do you have?

 

check out this site, i think it may have what you're looking for: http://www.science.uva.nl/~robbert/zappa/faq/text/vinyl.1. i've been using it for years now, pretty informative - hope this helps!

 

that link's a little out of date, though, and doesn't cover a lot of stuff (like noting that the version of 'Wistful Wit A Fistful' on the 95 issue of 'Thing-Fish' is an ENTIRELY different recording than the one on the LP or initial CD or that 'You Are What You Is' has been completely remastered by Spencer Chuslu in 1998.)

the Zappa titles that I did buy, I later replaced with 80s Rykodisc issues, just for continuity's sake. but I suspect that, at least as far as 'Them Or Us' is concerned, they may differ because EMI issued discs of much of the 79-85 material and Music For Pleasure (or whoever owned Zappa at the time) didn't feel like paying lawyers to fight for them. then, once the EMIs went OOP, they mastered new discs. but that's just a guess. I never owned any of the Zappa issues of the Phonogram/Barking Pumpkin years myself.

 

this, if anyone's interested, is my preferred Zappa comparison link:

http://lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/index.html

 

Heh, David wrote that one with some help, I think...

 

That's David's site!

 

"Wistful" isn't actually an entirely different recording. It's very weird. The two versions sync almost up to the line in question, and then it very brutally edits to a different compilation of the basic tracks. Stuff like that is what makes me wonder how much tampering went into Thing-Fish, and at what stage each step of the alteration occured. Problematically, I understandably already feel guilty about owning two copies (EMI/Ryko '95), and don't necessarily want more.

Perhaps. The whole legal situation regarding those releases has never been entirely clear to me, in all honesty.

I have a few Zappa Records discs: "Money/Gravy" (which I have to believe is identical to the Ryko), Roxy (NOT identical to the BP issue I have), and Sleep Dirt (same). That's not a great haul. I'm most intrigued by variations between things which were issued several years apart. For example, according to Bossk's information, JG was issued on Ryko in 1987 and on Zappa in 1990. Did the Zappa just use the 1987 master? It claims to be a UMRK Digital Remix.

These discs are occasionally available--there're a few on ebay right now--but I hesitate to pay sky-high prices for them. I've toyed with the idea of attempting to interlibrary loan a few titles, but I have no idea how the office would react.

Essentially, the problem handicapping the Zappa Patio right now is the same problem that nipped the Who version of the Stones FAQ in the bud (at least for the moment): a vast universe of versions that nobody's really interested in buying. My goal now is to find someone who has them anyway, but these people seem few and far between (perhaps all European Zappa fans are institutionalized by this point?).

Far too kind. It's Bossk's site, which I'm maintaining.

 

My Zappa Records Joe's Garage backcover and the booklet says "Digitally remastered for UMRK in 1989 by Bob Stone". Then again the second booklet (the one with musician credits) says "digitally remastered 1987"! Go figure...

I have some 15 or so Zappa Records cds but nothing to compare them to.

 

Which?

 

Ok, here goes...

Absolutely Free
Uncle Meat
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Fillmore East 71
Just Another Band From LA
One Size Fits All
Zappa In New York
Sheik Yerbouti
Joe's Garage
Tinseltown Rebellion
Ship Arriving Too Late...
Man From Utopia
Best Band You Never Heard (w/ original cover & Bolero)
all six volumes of YCDTOSA

so that's 20 actually!