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L. Shankar's album Touch Me There has been reissued for download via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/touch-me-there/id510952842

The Idiot Bastard Son says that it has been remastered: http://www.idiotbastard.com/news.htm

I have the original vinyl and the CD reissue anyway. Though the CD doesn't sound good, and I never liked the track resequencing.

The review on iTunes is another stupid one, BTW: "…The strange ballad "Touch Me There" has an odd vocal by Jenny Lautrec, who seems to have trouble following her cue at the beginning of one chorus. …" WTF? My opinion always was that the "out of cue" vocals either were intentional – or if accidental – anyway the best aspect there.

Th.

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Active forum member since 2005 - R E T I R E D from this forum in 2013

Interesting. I didn't like this record when it came out, ditched it at some point, but then bought it again on ceedee and liked it plenty. Very much so to this day. Didn't realize the tracklist had changed.

That said, this is the only Shankar work I like. He always sounded a bit too "ECM" for me....which is the label he fittingly ended up on. Tho' he is on Mel Gibsons "PASSION" soundtrack which I break out when I feel persecuted.

Thanks for the heads up.

I've always like TMT. Good record!

Yep, I liked it always as well. I got the vinyl and the cd, no need to purchase a remastered version.

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What's the ugliest part of your body ?

My wife thinks the song Touch Me There is one of the creepiest things she has ever heard. Hates It with a passion.

You should show her this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17qBKP0fKv0

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What's the ugliest part of your body ?

Until she found out FZ was involved (she hates Frank), my wife thought is was cool because it allowed the woman to be aggressive sexually instead of the usual male salivation.

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...

This album is beyond horrible and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I had the CD, paid maybe $10 for it used, got double that on ebay over 5 yrs ago, so no loss. Should have held onto it a little longer I guess.

L. Shankar sitting in with FZ Halloween '78 - priceless
L. Shankar making an album with FZ producing & writing a cheesy ballad - worthless

I did get to see it and I have no problem with the ZFT having it destroyed!!! heh heh

Thanks, bp

The title track of Shankar's Touch Me There is wretched. The worst of the 4 songs co-written by Zappa.

However, Dead Girls Of London is really good here.

Little Stinker was good. I don't recall it this morning but I know I liked it.

No More Mr Nice Girl sounded quite dated and cheesy until the 2nd half kicked in and the violin tone really stood out. A very original sound and one of the most interesting violin solos I've heard. Played over a cool, simple riff. Effective.

The song Love Gone Away was borderline smooth jazz. I will skip it from now on.

Darlene has some insane lines. Super fast and tight. Technically brilliant. It starts with some really nice acoustic guitar playing. Sounded very composed. Impressive all the way around.

Windy Morning has some more low end violin tone that really stands out. A very good song.

Knee Deep In Heaters features the vocals of Shankar singing weird Zappa lyrics about heaters. At least I'm assuming they are Zappa's lyrics. I like the song but it's not my favorite.

Overall, I think the disc was worth hearing and I will certainly listen again. Best cuts: Darlene, Dead Girls, Windy Morning and the second half of Mr Nice Girl which kind of blew my mind. Especially since the first half was pure cheese and I almost stopped listening to skip ahead. Glad I didn't. That violin tone (and the way it was played!) was special and I can see why Zappa wanted to produce this record.

I really like it, with the Indian tonality and all.......

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...

I remember when I bought the vinyl in my hometown the flat top proprietor with the Texas tie was horrified that a SHANKAR was making DISCO music. "It's Horrible! Horrible! It's DISCO...D I S C O."

Yet Zappa played Grease by Frankie Valley when he was a guest dj on the radio one star special.

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Each to his own I guess, but this album is not bad at all.