Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?

Shot on July 23, 1968, this historical 16mm footage of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, CA has been newly restored from the Vault! The film has been newly synced to the 2023 mixes, marking the first time it's ever been seen with audio. Frank Zappa never had the opportunity to see this footage synced to the music. Now you do. The film was shot in increments and features silent performance footage of The Mothers along with scenes involving The Freaks and the premier of The GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously). In the audience were Flo & Eddie (The Turtles), John Mayall, Elliot Ingber (The Fraternity Of Man), Alice Cooper and members of the Rolling Stones.

William Brown, a neurotic, self-absorbed musician determined to finish his prog-rock magnum opus, faces a creative roadblock in the form of a noisy and grotesque neighbor named Vlad. Finally working up the nerve to demand that Vlad keep it down, William inadvertently decapitates him. But, while attempting to cover up one murder, William’s accidental reign of terror causes victims to pile up and become undead corpses who torment and create more bloody detours on his road to prog-rock Valhalla.

For the past ten years Zappa in composing has turned away from Rock and Roll music - for which he first became famous - and has been working on new, contemporary, orchestral electronic music; in solitude and beyond any commercial conventions or commitments. It is the first time that Zappa has allowed a film crew to study him during compositional work, actually filming the first moments of a new compositional process. By contrast, in a staged interview Zappa gives comments on music. This film seeks to reveal the sensetivities of Zappa's personality and character also beyond narrative content.

This programme tells the story behind the conception, recording and release of this groundbreaking album. By use of interviews, musical demonstration, performance, archive footage and returning to the multi tracks with Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers we discover how Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention created the album with the help of legendary African- American producer Tom Wilson.

An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa is an Italian documentary that aired on the Videomusic channel on January 7, 1994. It includes footage from Zappa's Universe, Video From Hell, Does Humor Belong In Music?, Baby Snakes, The True Story Of 200 Motels, The Late Show, Zappa's May 17, 1988 show at Palacio de Deportes in Barcelona, Spain, The Dub Room Special, various other interviews and performances.

A musical audiovisual journey in four parts. A young man finds himself unexpectedly taking an audiovisual odyssey into a world of surreality, slowly recounting his memories, revealing the puzzle pieces that led him to where he is, and maybe how he can get out.

Made by film students, the short film is a tribute and authorial reinterpretation inspired by old Pink Floyd music videos as a psychedelic trip. Using overhead projectors to capture a liquid light show, the narrative is stitched together from a retro photograph, bringing a bit of 60s psychedelia with an air of nostalgia. With the combination of two of the band's songs ("Echoes" and "Astronomy Domine"), the music video brings the concept of the realism and ludic, of the present moment and insanity. Composed of characters who are part of a fictional band and travel through the delight of a mind that lives in the past while resting in reality.

Speaking upon the release of ‘Bodyguard’, Black Dahlia said: “Bodyguard is a theatrical exploration of gaining a new body but your soul remains. It is a sonnet to your past physical body in this realm and the new union that will inevitably be formed. A harsh and gentle celebration of your capabilities, your limits, and your destiny.” As well as being the Director for the music video, Black Dahlia was also Producer, Art Director, Choreographer, and Concept creator for the project. Donning various characters, Black Dahlia embodies performance art and its mediums such as contortion, mime, surrealism, Dada, the avant-garde, and body horror. ‘Bodyguard’ follows Black Dahlia in various theatrical forms and her journey to transformation through reanimation that looks reminiscent of a John Waters film. It also features cameos from Melbourne-based artists, Bura Bura as Dr Barget Hower, Manda Wolf as Dr Avanti and Cong Josie as Dr Cong.

The story of Yes is as controversial as their music. The twists and turns of band's career is now told for the first time in a series of exclusive interviews with Yes members past and present for this definitive and fully authorised documentary.

“For my film portrait of Sasha Grey, I wanted to focus on her expressive and psychological transformation into a cinematic actor, separate from the cues that have associated Sasha with her previous career as a performance artist working within the adult film world.” – Richard Phillips

Halloween, New York City, 1981 Live at The Palladium with Ray White, Steve Vai, Bobby Martin, Tommy Mars, Ed Mann, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman