Frank Zappa – Unfasten Yerself: Live in Munich, 1980 (Limited Edition 12-Inch Album on Red Vinyl)

This release is limited to 300 copies.

This album showcases Frank Zappa’s stellar concert at the Olympiahalle, in Munich, Germany, on 3 July 1980.

In Zappa terms, the early 1980 band was a small outfit – featuring Frank, Ike Willis and Ray White, all on guitars and vocals, plus Arthur Barrow on bass, Tommy Mars on keyboards and newcomer David Logeman on drums, who had stepped in for a few months whilst regular drummer, Vinnie Colaiuta, was otherwise occupied.

In mid-May 1980, the band left the United Sates and crossed the Atlantic, to open the European leg of the tour at the Voorst Nationaal Arena in Brussels. The tour continued to take in shows in The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and France, before the entourage returned to Germany on 2 May for three final shows in Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne.

So, it was a well-honed band that took the stage at Munich’s 15,000-capacity Olympiahalle on the evening of 3 May 1980. The set’s highlights include a blistering rendition of A Pound for a Brown On the Bus, a stunning version of Cosmic Debris, a live favourite of the period from Zappa’s 1974 Apostrophe(’) album, and a preview of Pick Me, I’m Clean, which would appear the following year on the Tinseltown Rebellion album.

Here, it is Ike Willis who steals the show. If anything, his voice had become even more soulful as the tour had progressed and, here, his delivery of Joe’s Garage, and, in particular, City of Tiny Lites is sublime.

Track Listing

Side One

1. Chunga’s Revenge
2. Mudd Club
3. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
4. Joe’s Garage
5. A Pound for a Brown On the Bus
6. Cosmik Debris
7. Keep It Greasey
8. Pick Me, I’m Clean

Side Two

1. The Illinois Enema Bandit
2. You Didn’t Try to Call Me
3. Ain’t Got No Heart
4. Love of My Life
5. City of Tiny Lites

Format: Vinyl / 12” Album (Coloured Vinyl)

Label: Dear Boss

Catalogue No: JACK053CV

Barcode: 0637913710360

Release Date: 27 May 2024