The Cover Art
Manuel Bello, Eric White Interview, Fecal Face, January 21, 2008
I was
working on this little book when Frank [Zappa] was still alive and I had
decided to dedicate the book in part to him. I knew he was ill, but I
didn't realize how sick he really was. The plan was to send him a copy
of the book when it was released. Unfortunately he died before the book
was published. I was always really sad to have missed meeting him and
thanking him for his work. When I was about to have my first show at La
Luz in Los Angeles I wrote Gail a letter. I really put a lot into the
thing, and it took me about a week to write. I mailed it and literally
forgot about it. Then a few weeks later I am at my opening at La Luz,
and there isn't a soul there but my mom and brother and a few other
friends. My first solo show, nobody knew who the hell I was. About
halfway through the opening I look over and see someone that looks like
Gail Zappa might look. But I couldn't imagine she would have come. Then
I look again and maybe see Dweezil? I didn't think it was possible. But
sure enough, it was them, so I went over and introduced myself. I just
couldn't believe that they had come. And then she bought a painting for
$4000 dollars, which at the time seemed like a huge amount of money. If
that weren't enough, she invited me to the house. My brother and I went
the next day and met the whole family, who were all really great. Frank
has been such a huge inspiration to me, and it was really incredible to
be inside his world. Gail and I are friends to this day.
The Titles
These are the titles as they were spelled and in the order they were registered
at the U.S. Copyright Office on August 26, 1994:
- Bowling on charen.
- Good lobna.
- A cold dark matter.
- Butter or cannons.
- Ask Mr. Stupid.
- Scratch & sniff.
- Trance-fusion.
- Gorgo.
- Diplodocus.
- Soul polka.
- For Giuseppe Franco.
- After dinner smoker.
- Light is all that matters.
- Finding Higgs' boson.
- Bavarian sunset.
And this is a scan of the actual J-Card insert that came with the Trance-Fusion
promo cassette years ago (courtesy of John Scialli & Bill Lantz):
Release Date Story (2000-2006)
Matthew Turk (January 13, 2000)
Ok. Last week I called 818-Pumpkin about an unrelated question, and I asked
also when Trance Fusion was being released. I was told, quite bluntly, "Trance
Fusion is not being released."
Mark Mott (June 2, 2000)
I ordered from Barfko-Swill last week (and got EIHN).
When I talked to B.J., she was unaware that zappaworld.com was repointed to
zappa.com. But she did tell me that ZFT did withhold Trance-Fusion from Ryko
(back to the lab) and that is why EIHN
came out at Xmas instead.
Joachim Ott (December 26, 2000)
Now look at the html-source of that page. (http://www.zappa.com/)
In the keywords, they didn't mention "Freak Out" and "Absolutely
Free" and "Läther". Otoh, there is "Dance
Me This", "Trance-Fusion",
"The Rage And The
Fury".
Wtf?
Trance-Fusion, CD - Fall 2003.
Record Collector, February, 2004
The Zappa Family Trust plans to issue several archive audio and video recordings by Frank Zappa later this year, overseen by Frank's wife, Gail, and his son, Dweezil Zappa. A documentary film about Zappa's classical music, directed by Frank Scheffer, should emerge by Christmas. Remastered reissues of the Dance Me This and Trance-Fusion albums are planned too, along with two films and their soundtracks. One is about one of Zappa's inspirations, Edgard Varese, and the other a revamp of the 1974 in-concert film, Roxy And Elsewhere.
Expect the Unexpected! Expect the long-anticipated release of Frank Zappa's
TRANCE-FUSION. Coincidence? Uh uh! Guitar fans welcome!
Trans Fusion CD
Frank Zappa
Scheduled to release October 24, 2006
Label: WEA
CD
Universe (c. September 19, 2006)
Trans Fusion CD
Frank Zappa
Scheduled to release October 24, 2006
Label: Rykodisc distribution
Trance-Fusion CD
Frank Zappa
Scheduled to release Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Label: Zappa Records (USA)
Trance-Fusion
Zappa, Frank
Trance-Fusion is the name of an album of guitar solos completed by Frank
Zappa shortly before his death, but not released until 2006. The album had
previously been announced for release in 2003, and again announced in 2005
in relation to the Zappa Plays Zappa tour. It had previously been only available
through bootlegs.
Trance-Fusion (Release Date: 10\24\2006)
E-mail from zappa.com
(October 25, 2006)
So you know Trance-Fusion is out at long (fill in the blank) last.
News at zappa.com
(October 28, 2006)
31 October
We hope to see you at the Halloween Show!
And should you need to Go With What You Know, or if you need an I.D., or
a Trance-Fusion or a copy of the Monstrous Memoirs of A Mighty McFearless
- they will be available before ZAPPA Plays ZAPPA starts at the Theater at
Madison Square Garden. If you are lucky you can even get the Memoirs signed,
in person by the Author his very self, Ahmet Zappa. When the doors open he
will be signing books and drawing monsters - to him and for you (if you ask
nice.)
Dingbat Charlie (November 1, 2006)
I have "Trance-Fusion" in my hand right now.
They were selling it at the NYC ZPZ show.
November 4, 2006:
Trance-Fusion starts shipping.
2. Bowling On Charen
aka "The Squirm"
Bossk (R)
"The Squirm" is an unreleased guitar solo. It was recorded at the
Palladium in New York on Halloween 1977 - the same concert that BABY
SNAKES is taken from. The title "The Squirm" was probably first
used on a bootleg LP called ZURKON
MUSIC (ZX 3659).
Charen or Charon?
Martin Gregorie
Charon is Pluto's only moon. In Greek mythology Pluto was the god of the
underworld and Charon was the boatman who ferried the souls of the dead across
the river Styx to his domain. I'd bet FZ was well aware of both connections.
Charles Ulrich (September 29, 2006)
Charon is not Pluto's only moon. Two more, Nix and Hydra, were discovered
in 2005.
Also, Pluto and Charon are arguably double dwarf planets rather than dwarf
planet and moon.
3. Good Lobna
overcooked
I think this title was part of a line in the Simpson's episode where Bart
falls in love with this "bad" girl. They are eating some food and
dipping it in this sauce called lobna when Bart makes a comment about "good
lobna". I wonder when the title of the song was given. We'd have to ask Matt Groening.
Charles Ulrich (July 29, 2004)
The Simpsons, episode 9F06 "The New Kid On The Block", written
by Conan O'Brien. Bart has a crush on the new neighbor, Laura (played by Sara
Gilbert). When Laura baby-sits Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, she orders dinner from
Two Guys From Kabul.
Laura: You take your kafta bi sanya and dip it in the labna.
Bart: Now that is good labna.
The closed captions spell both "kafta" and "labna" with
As. Web searches suggest that the first is commonly spelled either kafta or
kofta, while the latter is usually spelled labna.
Kafta/kofta are meatballs or dumplings. Labna is yoghurt cheese. Both are
general Middle-Eastern, not specifically Afghan.
According to Mike Keneally (affz, 2/14/96), "Frank was absolutely referring
to the Simpsons episode."
9. Gorgo
Isaac Baranoff (June 8, 2003)
"Gorgo" is the name of a bad movie made in 1961. The film has something
to do with a giant monster (An American "Godzilla") trashing some
city, looking for it's offspring, a walking sea monster named Gorgo. The film
aired as part of an "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episode in 1998.
Charles Ulrich (July 29, 2004)
Gorgo, short for Gorgonzola, was the name of FZ's cat. It can be seen on
the back cover of Russo's book Cosmik Debris.
Uwe Krüger
How come that it says FZ had no tapes from the scandinavian part of the
88 tour (because the recording truck broke) and could use the torture solo
from Stockholm 88 for trance-fusion.
Jon Naurin
As Pat Buzby wrote in another thread, it was only the Oslo and Helsinki concerts
(Apr. 27 & 29) that were affected. The truck broke in Malmö, Sweden,
right after the Lund concert on Apr. 26 and fixed in time for Stockholm, May
1.
12. For Giuseppe Franco
Jon Naurin (affz, October 25, 1999)
"Hot Plate Heaven" solo from Seattle 12/17/84 #2)
Uwe Krüger
For Giuseppe Franco should be from cleveland not from hot plate heaven.
Jon Naurin
Quite possible.
Eric
I really think that this solo is from "hotel"...Scott's bass part
certainly is very similar to what he plays on "hotel" in "Does
Humor Belong in Music"(and many concert tapes I have from '84)...I have
many versions of "cleveland" from '84...none of the solo sections
have this bass structure....IMHO...
Charles Ulrich (September 29, 2006)
This Trance-Fusion track is dedicated to FZ's hairdresser.
Go to <http://www.giuseppefrancosalon.com/>
and click on "Clients".
14. Light Is All That Matters
Jon Naurin (affz, October 25, 1999)
"Cleveland" solo(s) from Seattle, 12/17/84 #2)
Uwe Krüger
Light is all that matters cleveland solo from 8.5.88 Vienna (not 84!)
Jon Naurin
I believe Light Is All That Matters includes what sounds like two solos,
over two different loops (one faster and one slower, the second serving as
a nice bridge to the next track), and I think I once identified them as coming
from Let's Move To Cleveland, Seattle 12/17/84 #1 (can't find that tape right
now - damn!). There's no question that both solos (i.e the entire Light Is
All That Matters, if I'm right) are from 1984, though.
15. Finding Higgs' Boson
In 1993, the UK Science Minister, William Waldegrave, challenged
physicists to produce an answer that would fit on one page to the
question 'What is the Higgs boson, and why do we
want to find it?'
Here are the winning entries!
- Mary and Ian Butterworth, Imperial
College London, UK
Doris and Vigdor Teplitz, Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, Texas, USA
- Roger Cashmore, Department of Physics,
University of Oxford, UK
- David Miller, Department of Physics and
Astronomy, University College, London, UK
- Tom Kibble, Department of Physics,
Imperial
College, London, UK
- Simon Hands, Theory Division, CERN,
Geneva, Switzerland
The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. The existence of the particle is postulated as a means of resolving inconsistencies in current theoretical physics, and attempts are being made to confirm the existence of the particle by experimentation, using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the Tevatron at Fermilab. [...]
FZ, Them Or Us (The Book), p. 64
"You got ANY IDEA what they're doin' in there? THEY'RE MESSIN' WITH SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES! They shoot 'em down that long tunnel, then they SMASH 'em up and they MASH 'em up, they poke around in the DE-BRIS, then they mess up the 'WHATEVER-IT-IS' they got left over."