Zappa.com

Here's the results of the ZFT's failed lawsuit against Rykodisc. Ryko, however, won partial judgement on some of their counterclaims perhaps spelling an end to the MO's (MOFO, Lumpy Money, etc.).

http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/di ... 1313676451

Pretty tricky. Ryko agrees to only release certain material...in the USA, then releases other material in Japan, which is not covered by USA law.

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Stay with me flagrantly and we'll have ecstasy for all eternity.

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It definitely doesn't look good. Unless there is an appeal and it's won by the ZFT, I doubt we'll be seeing any additional multi-disc Project/Object sets in the future (ala, MOFO or Lumpy Money).

Thanks for posting this, KillUgly!

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ONE NATION UNDER SOCIALISM



Because of Obamination's spending & socialist BS, America and much of the world will endure one of the worst depressions in history in 5...4...3...2...

I did not see a cease and desist order. So i guess they can still sell those Mofo's and Lumpy money's. Why no ruben and the jets though??

20 Million bucks is pretty nice in a one lump sum dont ya think??

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"You can fly like a Penguin when you're dealing with Turkeys."

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ryko doesn't even have zappa listed on their website anymore... what's up with that?

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

Yep. Honestly, when all the MOFO/Lumpy Money stuff started coming out, I remember wondering how they were getting away with releasing that stuff with the Ryko deal presumably still in place. I took their choice to not release them as "The Freak Out Sessions" or whatever as a careful legal move. Guess Ryko felt differently.

There's been something funny going on with Ryko's FZ catalog for a few years now. A good chunk of the main catalog is unavailable on Amazon (well, aside from used copies).

Anyone?

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There must be someone decent over at Warner Bros as evidenced by the Wounded Birds re-issue label (including the FLINT album w/FZ cameo). Get it: WB.


http://www.woundedbird.com/

They also have the reissue 2cd set of Robert Craft conducting Varese
Lots of nice stuff there on the international sales link, thanks brainpang

How does this happen...

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I'm getting larger as I walk away.

I would think that part of this could be resolved if

• the Anniversary Box sets were released through Ryko
• It were made clearer to Apple which tracks on which albums were to be made available on an "album only" basis. They do provide for that option. For example "Twinkle Tits" on BTB III Disk one is available "Album Only".

What I find contradictory is that ZFT themselves have made available Zappa performances of "Black Napkins" and "Watermelon on Easter Hay" on Beat the Boots as individual downloads on iTunes. Although not the original released LP performances, they are still performances of the signature tunes by Frank.

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Bill

Some are available from Red Tag Market via Amazon, but at an exaggerated price, e.g. "Hot Rats" at $20.37, which to me indicates these are relatively rare or are being imported from outside the US.
What is amusing-and probably incorrect, unless these are pre-1995 European releases-is that Hot Rats is listed under the label "Zappa Records".

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Bill

It seems to me that the only thing that is threatened with anniversary packages is the inclusion of whole copies of original albums or tracks from the original masters. That doesn't threaten smaller one disc projects with historical materials relevant to any given album or several albums in one project if there isn't enough material. I always felt Gail was being a bit ambitious with the number of discs in that MOFO thing. Quality not quantity is what I'd like to see and by that I don't mean the quality of the sound of the item so much as its relevance and uniqueness.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

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I'm getting larger as I walk away.

If the ZFT wants to release anniversary sets, the can only do it through Ryko. I saw nothing in the decision which gives the ZFT much hope to independly release the original versions of LPs as parts of those products.

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If we're dumb . . .
Then God is dumb . . .
(An' maybe even a little bit ugly on the side)

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Apparently, according to the GZ Sez page, future vinyl issues will not be impacted by this suit:

On Jan 14, 2012, at 7:08 PM, Steven Ford wrote:

Are there any plans to rerelease Frank’s material on vinyl?
The remastered 200gm Hot Rats was really good.
I’ve got some holes in my early MOI collection and vinyl just kills digital on a good system.
Thanks,
Steve Ford
P.S.
Thanks to you and your family for making that statue dedication in Baltimore such a great day.

Thank you for your very kind words and your question. The answer is YES! And we are very happy to finally be able to do this but you will have to watch the skies for more information.

See you in Baltimore!

gz

Okay, I'm not always willing to do all the leg work, there are only 24 hours in a day, but what I have gathered is that not everything on the MOFOs, for example, would be verboten. Hence, more trim historical projects would still be possible. To me, that type of thing would be better value in the long run. As I said, quality, not quantity. I'm not going to quibble about the price of ZFT CDs, I would be happy to pay over the average CD price for an archival project that the ZFT had gone the extra mile to produce. Basically, smaller and more juicy. If I had the time, I have the tools to put one together that would make my point, I don't, but it's an obvious point, surely. (I mean in general, not you Slime, I'm sure you know what I mean).

Anyway Slime, what's your take on the legal allowability of cut down MOFO type projects? I'm assuming that's still possible.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.