Does Humor Belong in Music? Frank Zappa Live

Starring:Ed Mann, Bobby Martin, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman, Ray White, Ike Willis, Allan Zavod
Studio: Virgin Records Us
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

For longtime fans and un-Zapped neophytes alike, Does Humor Belong in Music? presents the late, great Frank Zappa at his mischievous best. Unlike the infamously rambling Baby Snakes, this hour-long, digitally remastered 14-song set (culled from FZ's performance at the Pier in New York City on August 26, 1984) is 95% music, punctuated with brief interview clips (including the inane titular question, and Frank's expectedly affirmative response), and featuring one of the tightest bands that Zappa ever assembled. Everybody participates in Zappa's unique parade of musical fusion, street theater, and defiant anti-establishment sarcasm, with Zappa playing masterful conductor when he's not riffing with nimble-fingered fretwork (notably during "Zoot Allures," "Cosmik Debris," and Greg Allman's "Whipping Post," the set's only cover song). His trademark humor extends to all of his bandmates, especially Ray White and Ike Willis (guitars, vocals) and Bobby Martin (keyboards, vocals), and any topic is fair game for Zappa's skewering, frequently explicit lyrics, from pop-culture sellouts and corrupt recording executives ("Tinsel Town Rebellion") to greedy politicians ("Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel"). Each song is performed to perfection while espousing FZ's impassioned philosophy of taking nothing seriously except the music. In that regard, this Zappa Live DVD represents pure genius at work, having fun and taking no prisoners. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Track Listing: Zoot Allures, Tinsel Town Rebellion, Trouble Every Day, Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel, The Dangerous Kitchen, He's So Gay, Bobby Brown, Keep It Greasy, Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me?, Dinah-Moe Humm, Cosmik Debris, Be In My Video, Dancin' Fool, Whippin' Post

Customer Reviews:

Crazy Guitar.......2007-05-24

This is a really good DVD. Humor does belong in music when it comes to Frank Zappa. My guitar teacher recommended it to me, and it was worth the cost (which wasn't that expensive in the first place).

Sweet Deal!

The answer is yes!.......2007-05-21

Zappa's Does Humor Belong In Music? Features musicians who are at the very top of their game acting like gleefull adolesecents as they mug to the camera on such diddys as Dynamo Hum and Tinsel Town Rebellion.The perfect mix of brilliance and vulgarity I have watched it over 20 times and still laugh out loud. The answer to the question is most definitely YES!

More shots of FZ working.......2007-05-21

Easily one of the greatest guitar stranglers to ever live. One of my complaints with other FZ vids is the lack of views of him actually working his fretboard magic. It's as though he goes to lengths to avoid footage of himself playing. But this video shows more actual hands-on guitar work than anything I've seen to date.

Not my personal favortie but..........2007-05-04

You should probably buy this DVD because you kinda want it and you've been watching that fifth generation dub for years now, it's time to buy a legitimate copy. If you owned a legit copy already, hey you could have it on DVD now.

The high points are definately the concret footage, I wasn't so fond of the FBI warnings and all of the corporate logo stuff, but I'm sure some people dig that kind of thing.

Rare Zappa.......2007-02-25

It is usually a treat to view Frank Zappa in his prime. His premature demise has left a hole in modern music. He was a humorist and a serious composer at the same time. The live music is still fresh and engaging even though it is twenty years old. The only disappointment is that there wasn't more of the concert to view. It is highly edited and interspersed with interview segments that highlight his views on life in general and humor in particular. The void that remains behind after his death will never be filled appropriately. The world lost a visionary when it lost Zappa who even in death remained cynical as he was buried in an unmarked grave in Golden Gate Park. Who will tweak the uptight and bloated souls of society now that he is gone? At least we can see this video and remember clearly how perceptive and biting his humor was. There will never be another one like him. Does humor belong in music? I think everyone knows the answer to that question.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Scorned 2

Felix The Cat - The Golden Bug And Other Stories

Street Fighter 2 - The Movie [1994]

DVD: Beverly Hills Cop (Special Collector's Edition)

Mortal Kombat 2