The Dub Room Special

This audio companion to Frank Zappa's no-frills made-for-video Dub Room Special (1982) was originally to have been issued on vinyl and presumably cassette some 25 years earlier than its eventual release on CD in 2007. But hey, what's a quarter century, right? The material was gleaned from a Mothers of Invention in-studio KCET-TV appearance on August 27, 1974 in Los Angeles, as well as a Halloween 1981 show at the Palladium in New York City. In 1974, Zappa's revolving-door Mothers featured Zappa (guitar/vocals), George Duke (keyboards/vocals), Ruth Underwood (vibes/marimba/percussion), Chester Thompson (drums), Tom Fowler (bass), and Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals/tenor sax). Eight years later, Tommy Mars (keyboards), Ed Mann (percussion), Ray White (rhythm guitar/vocals), Scott Thunes (bass), Bobby Martin (keyboards/sax/harmonica/vocals), Chad Wackerman (drums), and Steve Vai (guitar) would provide instrumental support for Zappa.
Even though the exact same performances on this CD were also used for the video soundtrack, there are differences, addendums, and even omissions between the two. The disc kicks off with a spoken introduction from Brock, as the combo vamp the "Token of My Extreme" theme behind him. The blazing guitar duel between Zappa and Vai on "Stevie's Spanking" is nothing short of jaw-dropping as the pair go neck-to-neck for a chorus or two. Another alteration on the CD is the removal of the post-production sound effects -- used primarily to accent the on-screen action of Bruce Bickford's unique claymation -- during the "Dog Breath Variations"/ "Uncle Meat" medley. Now, listeners can revel in the complex time changes and even hear Zappa accompany throughout on snare drum. The 1974 lineup is responsible for excellent readings of "Stink-Foot" and "Montana," and during the hilarious "Room Service" dialogue, Zappa tries in vain to get nourishment sent to his lonely rock & roll hotel room. There are also epic readings of "Inca Roads" and "Florentine Pogen" -- with road manager Marty Perellis as "Chester's Gorilla." In fact, the artist was so pleased with the latter pair that he used them as the foundation for the versions on One Size Fits All (1975).
One glaring omission on the CD is the mostly visual "Approximate," a song that the combo actually dance and sing. Other items conspicuously missing are "Nig Biz," "Cocaine Decisions," and "Flakes" from the 1981 show. That said, "Easy Meat" and the previously mentioned "Stevie's Spanking" both stand as fine representation of the power and flexibility of the early-'80s lineup. Also not present is the dirty Italian ditty "Tengo Na Minchia Tanta" (which translates as: "I've got a big bunch of dick"), sung by Massimo Bassoli, an Italian rock journalist and promoter who befriended Zappa in the early '80s. For those who care, the Dub Room Special derived its name from the room at the Southern California-based Compact Video production facility, which Zappa compares to a closet. It was in this "dub room" that the various elements of the video were compiled into a finished product.