Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels returns on DVD!

Released in 1971, the movie 200 Motels was the actualization of a lifelong dream for Mothers of Invention founder Frank Zappa. Absurd, entertaining, and totally off the wall, the film attempts to capture the reality of life on the road for a touring rock ‘n’ roll musician…in a manner. Comprised of a number of individual nonsensical vignettes threaded together into a loose story and intercut with concert footage of the Mothers, the film is punctuated with the innovative use of special effects like double-exposures, solarisation, speed changes and such in an attempt to create a surreal rock ‘n’ roll documentary. It made history as the first feature film shot on videotape and transferred to 35mm film stock using a Technicolor film printer used by the BBC.

200 Motels was co-written and directed by Zappa and Tony Palmer, a British music critic and filmmaker who had previously produced documentary films on Cream, Peter Sellers, Jack Bruce, and Fairport Convention. The movie starred Academy Award nominee Theodore Bikel as the “Master of Ceremonies” and also included Zappa friends like Ringo Starr, Keith Moon of the Who, and infamous L.A. groupie Pamela Des Barres. Zappa had put together a new version of the Mothers prior to working on the film that included guitarist Jeff Simmons, keyboardist George Duke, journeyman British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist Jim Pons and singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (i.e. “The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie”), all three from the Turtles.

This new version of the Mothers debuted on Zappa’s 1970 solo album Chunga’s Revenge, which was produced as a sort of precursor to the film. Scoring for 200 Motels was provided by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and all the then-current members of the Mothers as well as former members like Don Preston, Ian Underwood, “Motorhead” Sherwood, and Jimmy Carl Black (as “Lonesome Cowboy Burt”) appeared in the movie, which was underwritten by United Artists with a $650,000 budget. The movie was released to mixed reviews as many middle-aged film critics just didn’t ‘get’ the surreal nature of the story, and it was accompanied by a double-LP soundtrack that included music from the film, new music not in the film, and spoken word pieces. Grabbed up by Zappa fanatics, the 200 Motels soundtrack peaked at a respectable #59 on the U.S. charts.

Needless to say, the film didn’t make a lot of money at the box office, and its history of availability on home media is spotty, to say the least. The soundtrack album didn’t come out on CD until 1997, released by RykoDisc under a licensing deal with the Zappa Family Trust and has long since been out-of-print and available only on the collectors’ market. The film itself was restored and released on DVD in 2009 with audio commentary by Tony Palmer, but has also long been unavailable stateside.

For Zappa fans that have never had the pleasure of watching this notorious cult film, MVD Entertainment is reissuing 200 Motels on DVD on August 14th, 2018 for the realistic price of $19.95 retail (but you can probably find it cheaper online). Check out the film that legendary movie critic Roger Ebert said “assaults the mind with everything on hand” and which Daily Variety called the “zaniest piece of filmusical fantasy-comedy since the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night.” It would be grand if the Zappa Family Trust could manage to reissue the soundtrack album on vinyl, like they are with the upcoming release of Chunga’s Revenge.


Buy the DVD on Amazon.com: Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels



Also on That Devil Music.com:
Mothers of Invention - Burnt Weeny Sandwich LP review 

Finding Joseph I: The HR From Bad Brains Documentary DVD

Hardcore punk pioneers Bad Brains were formed in 1977 by members of the Washington, D.C. based jazz-rock fusion outfit Mind Power after the bandmates became enamored of the first wave of punk rock. Fronted by charismatic, albeit troubled frontman Paul “H.R.” Hudson, the earliest incarnation of Bad Brains was comprised of guitarist Dr. Know (a/k/a Gary Miller), bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson (H.R.’s brother). The band members were also followers of Rastafarian spirituality, so they mixed energetic reggae rhythms into their groundbreaking blend of punk, funk, heavy metal, and soul music.

Bad Brains would become one of the most influential bands of the decade of the 1980s, inspiring a generation of hardcore punk bands to follow as well as stylistically-diverse outfits like the Beastie Boys, Sublime, Living Colour, Fishbone, and Faith No More, among many others. On November 3rd, 2017 MVD Visual will release Finding Joseph I: The HR From Bad Brains Documentary on DVD. Representing filmmaker James Lathos’ debut movie, Finding Joseph I chronicles the turbulent life of Bad Brains frontman H.R., offering the in-depth story of the singer’s career with never before seen archival footage and exclusive interviews.

Finding Joseph I provides a complex portrait of a unique artist, interviews with H.R. featuring the singer discussing his life, career, and spiritual philosophy. Exclusive interviews with Earl Hudson, Ras Michael, and Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) as well as members of Sublime, the Deftones, Fishbone, the Wailers, Living Colour, and others round out the story; the film also features original music from Miguel Happoldt (Long Beach Dub All Stars), and Aaron Owens (Hepcat). The film itself was inspired by the 2016 book Finding Joseph I: An Oral History of HR From Bad Brains, which was written by Lathos and Howie Abrams. Check out the trailer below and use the Amazon.com link to order the DVD.

Buy the DVD from Amazon.com: Finding Joseph I: The HR From Bad Brains Documentary

Go Johnny Go! with Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran & Ritchie Valens

Rock ‘n’ roll was still in its infancy as an art form in the late ‘50s, which led to the creation of a number of films (the predominant form of pop culture at the time) targeting the red-hot teenage market. Although today we look back in embarrassment at a lot of these movies, they helped create a youthful rock ‘n’ roll demographic that would carry the music better than five decades until the present day.

Directed by Paul Landres – who made movies like Destiny and Johnny Rocco and directed episodes of Maverick, Flipper, and other TV shows – Go Johnny Go! was released in 1959 and starred celebrity DJ Alan Freed, rocker Chuck Berry, and singers Johnny Clanton and Sandy Stewart as the romantic couple at the heart of the film. Clanton was a respected talent, part of the New Orleans music scene, working with legends like Dr. John (nee Mac Rebennack) and Allen Toussaint. Clanton’s best-known hit was 1958’s “Just A Dream,” the singer placing seven singles in the Top 40 during the 1950s and early ‘60s.

On October 17th, 2017 VCI Entertainment – the oldest surviving home video company in the USA – will reissue Go Johnny Go! on DVD, to be distributed by our friends at MVD Entertainment Group. Previously released under titles like Johnny Melody, The Swinging Story, and The Swinging Story of Johnny Melody, the film has become a cult favorite for its engaging story and rockin’ soundtrack. The film offers the only cinematic appearance of singer Ritchie Valens before his untimely death, and features Eddie Cochran’s third and final appearance on film.

Featuring a based-in-reality story of DJ Freed searching for the next rock star, the soundtrack to the 75-minute film features performances by Clanton, co-star Chuck Berry, and such luminaries as Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, Jackie Wilson, Harvey Fuqua, the Cadillacs, the Flamingos, and others. Go Johnny Go! is an interesting and entertaining artifact of the early rock ‘n’ roll era.

Roger Glover’s Butterfly Ball revisited

Way back in 1974, former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover agreed to produce an album by his longtime bandmate Jon Lord, The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast a concept album based on a popular British children’s poem. When Lord couldn’t find time away from his obligations with Purple, Glover decided to go forward with the project, writing most of the songs and then opening up his phone book and recruiting a veritable “who’s who” of ‘70s British rock ‘n’ roll to record the project, including vocalists Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale, and Glenn Hughes.

Released in November 1974 in the U.K. (almost a year later in the U.S.), the album earned a modicum of critical acclaim and performed respectively on its home turf, the Dio-sung “Love Is All” hitting the U.K. charts and reaching #1 in the Netherlands. As a result, a single performance of the production was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 16th, 1975. With singer Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, duh…) appearing in place of Dio, who was touring with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, the performance also included narration from the great Vincent Price and included model/actress Twiggy as one of the singers. The live concert was filmed and released in 1976, produced and directed by Tony Klinger.

Klinger has produced a limited edition, deluxe edition of the live performance of The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast which includes a double DVD containing the original concert film as well as the re-edited, re-mastered 2017 version; a previously-unreleased double-CD soundtrack from the live performance, a reproduction of the original press pack including five 8”x10” glossy promotional photos, and an A3 sized (roughly 11.5”x16.5”) reproduction film poster. Each box contains a numbered certificate signed by Klinger, and will be strictly limited to 250 copies. The deluxe edition of this beloved performance is available for order from the PledgeMusic website and runs roughly $129 plus shipping.

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast is also available in other, less expensive formats from PledgeMusic, including just the two-disc DVD set of the concert (roughly $26) and the two-disc CD set (roughly $19) as well as t-shirts, a poster, and other memorabilia of the event. This is a gift for the Deep Purple fanatic as the concert features vocals from Ian Gillan, David Coverdale, and Glenn Hughes as well as music by Roger Glover and Jon Lord. The concert also includes talents like John Gustafson and Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music, John Lawton (Lucifer’s Friend, Uriah Heep), and Eddie Hardin (Spencer David Group), among others. A cool relic of the classic rock era, check out all the goodies available on the PledgeMusic website.

The Plasmatics – Live! Rod Swenson’s Lost Tapes 1978-1981 DVD

Formed in 1977 by manager/svengali Rod Swenson and notorious lead singer and former porn actress Wendy O. Williams in NYC, the Plasmatics were a wonderful trainwreck from day one.  The controversial punk/metal outfit was known for its anarchic live performances, with the scantily clad Williams – the nipples of her bare breasts covered with strategically-placed black electrical tape – often taking a chainsaw to speaker cabinets or joyfully applying the business end of a sledgehammer to a television set. Arrests for public indecency were not uncommon and, in spite of their outrageous reputation, the band managed to eke out several studio albums and a handful of EPs in the five or six years after their first gig at CBGBs, including Coup d’Etat, released by major label Capitol Records.

Williams recorded three solo albums during a mid-80s band hiatus before releasing a final Plasmatics album, Maggots, in 1987 after which she retired from the music biz. The band’s influence cannot be dismissed, though, their ground-breaking punk rock/heavy metal hybrid and high voltage stage show influencing both contemporaries and bands to follow including Anthrax, the Cro-Mags, the Ramones, and Motörhead. Because of the visual nature of the Plasmatics’ stage show, there have been several DVDs released of the band’s performances, but on May 19th, 2017 Pandemonium Studios, with Music Video Distributors, will release The Plasmatics – Live! Rod Swenson’s Lost Tapes 1978-1981, the DVD featuring rare, previously-unreleased video footage of the band.

During the band’s early years, Swenson – who had directed all the Wendy O. Williams and Plasmatics videos, as well as videos for Blondie, the Ramones, and Motörhead – filmed a number of Plasmatics shows, the footage of which had never been edited or released and, in fact, was thought lost or rotted away. While moving the WOW/Plasmatics archives, however, some of this long-lost footage was rediscovered and while much was damaged, producer/director Randy Shooter was able to salvage, restore, and edit this rare video to create The Plasmatics – Live! Rod Swenson’s Lost Tapes 1978-1981 DVD, which includes two performances from CBGBs which come from the first Plasmatics’ shows. We’ve included the DVD’s complete tracklist below as well as a link to buy the DVD from Amazon. Enjoy!

The Plasmatics – Live! track listing:

1. Want You (Baby) (July 26, 1978)
2. Tight Black Pants (June 9, 1979)
3. Dream Lover (May 17, 1980)
4. Sometimes I Feel It (May 17, 1980)
5. Squirm (May 17, 1980)
6. Butcher Baby (May 17, 1980)
7. Living Dead (May 15, 1981)
8. Summer Night (May 15, 1981)
9. Fast Food Service (May 15, 1981)
10. Nothing (June 19, 1981)
11. Summer Night (June 19, 1981)
12. Sex Junkie (September 22, 1981)
13. Squirm (September 22, 1981)
14. Lunacy (September 22, 1981)
15. Black Leather Monster (September 22, 1981)
16. Monkey Suit (June 18, 1980)

DVD Preview: Black Metal Documentary Blackhearts

Blackhearts is a fascinating documentary film on a seldom-covered sub-genre of heavy metal – black metal. The shaggy, unloved dog of the rock ‘n’ roll world, heavy metal gets little love from critics, but over the decades the genre has built up a dedicated following of loyal fans. Birthed in Europe during the early ‘80s by bands like England’s Venom, Sweden’s Bathory, and Denmark’s Mercyful Fate, the aggressive sound of black metal found sympathetic ears with Norwegian fans, and the northern tundra soon became home to its very own brand of influential dark-hued heavy metal.

Differing from most music documentaries, Blackhearts tells the tale of three hardcore black metal fans from three very different parts of the world – Sina, Hector, and Kaiadas. The three young men journey to Norway, the home of their fascination; the film captures the three fans’ personal stories as they risk death or imprisonment to follow their dream. Sina is the only active black metal artist in the Moslem country of Iran, which carries severe risks, while Hector…a practicing Satanist…puts together a satanic ritual to help his cause. Kaiadas represents the far-right Golden Dawn political party in the Greek Parliament and fronts black metal band Naer Mataron; he is also facing a lengthy prison term after being arrested for association with a criminal organization.

Blackhearts still features a lot of black metal, including music by bands like Burzum, Gorgoroth, Naer Mataron, Luciferian, and others. The film’s unique perspective on the music has earned it widespread critical acclaim, including the “Best International Documentary” award at the 2016 Sound On Screen Film Festival. Blackhearts will be released on DVD, digitally, and on VOD on April 11th, 2017 by our friends at MVD Entertainment. Aside from the film itself, the DVD also includes bonus material like White Metal Ministry, a short documentary on Christian black metal, and interviews with Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone and Obsidian C of Keep of Kalessin.

Buy the DVD from Amazon.com: Blackhearts

DVD Preview: Scarred But Smarter – Life N Times of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’

They never broke through to a mainstream rock ‘n’ roll audience, but Southern rockers Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ have made a hell of a lot of great music since forming in Atlanta, Georgia in 1986. Led by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kevn Kinney, the band has released over a dozen studio and live albums and EPs over the past 30 years – critically acclaimed discs like Fly Me Courageous and Wrapped In Sky – earning the band a well-deserved reputation as an entertaining, electrifying live band. Projected for great things in the wake of R.E.M.’s enormous success in the 1990s, Dn’C nevertheless has remained a cult band known and appreciated only by a relative few fans.

On September 23, 2016 MVD Entertainment will release Scarred But Smarter - Life N Times of Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, a documentary film that delves into the history of the legendary Southern rock band, on DVD and digitally. Director Eric Von Haessler spent several years making the film, trying to discover why the otherwise engaging band hadn’t been more successful. The film uses album tracks and videos, never-before-seen performances, archival video, and interviews with Dn’C fans like R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Darius Rucker, Jason Isbell, David Lowery, Ed Roland, Michelle Malone, and Ty Pennington as well as band leader Kevn Kinney to tell the story of this amazing, influential band.

The MVD Entertainment release of Scarred But Smarter on DVD includes extras like new music videos and full-length live performances by the band. If you’re not already hip to Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, you owe it to yourself to check out Scarred But Smarter as an introduction to the best band that you’ve never heard.

Buy the DVD from Amazon: Scarred But Smarter - Life N Times of Drivin' n' Cryin'

DVD Preview: Louder Than Love - The Grande Ballroom Story

It was one of a handful of legendary American music venues, and the epicenter of the high-octane Detroit rock ‘n’ roll scene. Originally opened in 1928 as a popular dance hall, the historic Grande Ballroom was bought in 1966 by local high school teacher and radio DJ Russ Gibbs, who envisioned a venue similar to the Fillmore in San Francisco. Working with like-minded local counterculture figures John Sinclair (poet, musician, and MC5 manager) and High “Jeep” Holland (producer and manager of local bands), they booked a veritable “who’s who” of classic rock and blues artists to perform at the venue between 1966 and 1972, including Eric Clapton and Cream, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Howlin’ Wolf, the Who, and the Grateful Dead. Motor City rock legends the MC5 were frequent performers at the Grande, as were local rockers like Iggy & the Stooges, SRC, Catfish, Frost, Ted Nugent, and Savage Grace, among others.

On June 10th, 2016 our friends at Music Video Distributors will release Louder Than Love - The Grande Ballroom Story on DVD. Produced and directed by Tony D’Annunzio, the award-winning documentary film has enjoyed boffo screenings at nearly three dozen different film festivals around the world since its April 2012 debut to sold-out audiences in Detroit, including the Nashville Film Festival, Australia DocWeek, and the CBGB/NYC Music & Film festival. Filmmaker Michael Moore – a Flint, Michigan native – personally chose Louder Than Love for his Traverse City Film Festival, describing the movie as “an amazing look back at the talent and creative culture produced in this state.”  

“The Grande Ballroom era is potentially the greatest untold story in rock and roll history,’ says director D’Annunzio, a Detroit native, in a press release for the DVD. “With everything Detroit has been through in the last several decades, I wanted to let folks know that aside from the automobile industry, the city has some amazing musical history which helped shape American pop culture.” The filmmaker collected more than 75 hours of interviews with both local and international musicians who performed at the Grande Ballroom, including B.B. King, Alice Cooper, Scott Morgan (The Rationals), Wayne Kramer (The MC5), Dick Wagner (Frost), Ted Nugent, and James Williamson (The Stooges), among others.

D’Annunzio also gathered over 500 never-before-seen archival photos taken by professional photographers and fans of Grande Ballroom performers like the Who, Albert King, Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, the MC5, Traffic, and others. “We have incredible 8mm film of The Who performing ‘Tommy’ for the first time, including an audio recording by Pete Townsend explaining ‘Tommy’ to The Grande audience. Both have never been seen or heard in any documentary,” D’Annunzio notes. Showcasing the legacy of of one of the most influential music venues in rock ‘n’ roll history, you’re going to want to check out Louder Than Love - The Grande Ballroom Story!

Buy the DVD from Amazon.com