Premiered on October 14, 2015
Gauman's Egyptian Theater, Los Angeles, CA
116 min.
Starring:
FZ
Ruth Underwood
Ralph Humphrey
George Duke
Tom Fowler
Bruce Fowler
Chester Thompson
Napoleon Murphy BrockWritten, directed & music composed by FZ
Audio mix & mastering—Bruce Botnick
Editor co-producer—John Albarian
Co-executive producer—Joe Travers
Camera—Barry Feinsteina Frank & Stein production
Produced by FZ, Gail Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, Jeff Stein
in association with Eagle Rock Entertainment
Executive producers—Geoff Kempin, Terry ShandDecember 8, 9, 10, 1973—Roxy, Hollywood
I called 818-PUMPKIN yesterday and ordered EIHN. I asked the girl about other things and she mentioned the long awaited Roxy video was to be released this spring and probably on DVD. Yeah, I know, but at least its a hope.
It's sitting in the vault. Waiting for a budget to do it properly. Basically the film footage, the negatives were transferred by Frank in the '80s using '80s technology. What we want to do is go back to the original negatives and do it in High Definition and then create a 5.1 mix from the original masters so that we have surround sound as well as Frank's 2 channel stereo mix. Once we get all that together, then we need to cut the program. Edit the program together, camera angles, what shows, what we are going to include from what shows or include all the shows. I have no idea what Dweezil and Gail want to do. It's great stuff, but the process of just getting to that point is going to cost a lot of money and take a lot of time.
The FZ ROXY audio is being assembled—tapes are being baked—so that the process of synchronization can occur. The film negative was transferred to Hi Def and the audio is captured at the highest resolution from the original analog tapes. YES this is getting underway...
It's all been transferred to high definition but the problem is it all has to be put in synch, and there's more than 30 hours of footage. That's hundreds of hours of time spent to get it all together. At the time it was filmed they really didn't have a great crew, they just didn't have it together. There are a lot of annoying hours ahead getting that stuff organized before you can properly edit it.
The final question (from Martin Ahrens via Amaretto Mick): when will we see The Roxy Performances DVD? "Not never," said Gail.
Re Roxy— Here is what we know so far: First of all there is no synch and there are 3 fairly consistent camera angles and on that is pretty random. Everything visual that we have found so far has been transferred into HD. All audio elements (stereo mixes and multi-track masters) now live in the digital world. What we need now is a director/editor (and/or both) and a budget to produce the whole of it. There is an astronomical amount of work to be done—conforming, synching, surround mix, general clean up and organizational stuff. All we have here is FZ's stereo mix, but that's it. Now we just need time and money. That and a few other value judgments based on what FZ actually saw are the reasons why he never made it a priority. The good news is we have a slightly different system of values and see it as a worthy artifact to keep pushing up the hill of possibility.
About 10 Years Ago, [we] decided to announce plans for the Roxy Performances to be unleashed at last on a wholly suspecting public and others besides. [...]
Because of the condition the condition was in—no synch, no idea what was what, no idea of the actual coverage, no idea of the quality; all the et ceterae that caused FZ to abandon the project completely—it took all this time (if you include all the other priorities and distractions) to get to this point, so near and yet so far: All of the footage has now been transferred on a best light basis into HD and all camera angles have been "synched" by eye and heart and hand and edit to the original Nagra tapes. We now need to identify all usable camera angles and begin the actual edit. [...]
Now that we have thoroughly identified all [its] parts and participles, we will deliver The Movie without further incident and maybe only a little ado. In theatres, DVD and Blue-ray, sometime before December, 2013.
We are also pleased to inform you that the MOVIE will be ready in time for the ZPZ Show at the Roxy on the 40tieth anniversary of FZ's Performances there.
The original Frank Zappa "Roxy" movie has finally been completed and the release date will be announced soon.
FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS ROXY THE MOVIE
Type of media Video
Approved Running time 116m 8s
Release dates 30/10/2015
BBFCInsight strong language, sex references
Genre(s) Musical, Performance
Director(s) Frank Zappa
Cast includes Frank Zappa, Ruth Underwood, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Tom Foweler, Bruce Fowler, Ralph Humphrey, George Duke, Chester Thompson
Cut This work was passed uncut.Details
Title FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS ROXY THE MOVIE
Year 2015
Distributor(s) Eagle Rock Entertainment
Classified date(s) 19/08/2015
Main language English
Submitted run time 116m 8s
BBFC reference AVV329794
Remarks Widescreen
Are these the original covers & tracks for the Blu-ray & DVD-Cd of the Roxy movie?
DVD Track List
1) Cosmik Debris
2) Medley: Penguin In Bondage / T'Mershi Duween / The Dog Breath Variations / Uncle Meat / RDNZL
3) Inca Roads
4) Medley: Echidna's Arf (Of You) / Don't You Ever Wash That Thing / Cheepnis—Percussion
5) Cheepnis
6) Medley: I'm The Slime / Big Swifty
7) Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzman's Church)
8) Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
9) Father O'BlivionCD Track list
1) "Something Terrible Has Happened . . . "
2) Cosmik Debris
3) Medley: Penguin In Bondage / T'Mershi Duween / The Dog Breath Variations / Uncle Meat / RDNZL
4) Medley: Echidna's Arf (Of You) / Don't You Ever Wash That Thing / Cheepnis—Percussion
5) Cheepnis
6) Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzman's Church)DVD Bonus Features
Additional tracks: (1) Medley: Pygmy Twylyte / The Idiot Bastard Son (2) Dickies's Such An Asshole
Blu-ray Track List
1) Cosmik Debris
2) Medley: Penguin In Bondage / T'Mershi Duween / The Dog Breath Variations / Uncle Meat / RDNZL
3) Inca Roads
4) Medley: Echidna's Arf (Of You) / Don't You Ever Wash That Thing / Cheepnis—Percussion
5) Cheepnis
6) Medley: I'm The Slime / Big Swifty
7) Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzman's Church)
8) Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
9) Father O'BlivionCD Track list
1) "Something Terrible Has Happened . . . "
2) Cosmik Debris
3) Medley: Penguin In Bondage / T'Mershi Duween / The Dog Breath Variations / Uncle Meat / RDNZL
4) Medley: Echidna's Arf (Of You) / Don't You Ever Wash That Thing / Cheepnis—Percussion
5) Cheepnis
6) Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzman's Church)Bonus Features
Additional tracks: (1) Medley: Pygmy Twylyte / The Idiot Bastard Son (2) Dickies's Such An Asshole
A Zappa movie experience unlike any other. Prepare to have your minds and ears blown!
World Premiere! Special Guests In Person!
ROXY: THE MOVIE
Discussion following the film with guests to be announced.
Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028Wed, Oct 14, 2015
7:30pm
Alex Winter, who is working on an authorized Zappa documentary, moderated the post-screening Q&A. Ralph Humphrey and Bruce Fowler came down from their seats to join the panel. Editor John Albarian, archivist (or "Vaultmeister") Joe Travers and producer Jeff Stein explained that the over 40-year delay in the movie's release was due to technical problems. A malfunction that took place four minutes into the first of the filmed concerts meant that the footage and sound could not be synced until the advent of digital technology; another glitch took out the crew's intercom, with the result that much of what they shot bore no relationship to what was happening onstage (e.g., the camera is on Zappa's foot while George Duke takes a solo). Albarian consequently had to do a lot of "cheating" in the editing room, which he said was made easier by the band's wardrobe (black T-shirts and blue jeans every night).
Regarding the sped up music on the easter egg [...]. Now I am thinking the same music on the easter egg comes at the end of Dog Breath on the Acetate Demo.
Maintained by Román García Albertos
