Frank Zappa’s 1977 NYC Shows Revisited For ‘Halloween 77’ Costume Box Set

From 28-31 October 1977, Frank Zappa and his band played six historic shows at the 3,000 capacity New York Palladium. All the performances were recorded and while four were filmed for Zappa’s mammoth film project Baby Snakes, the audio of the six Halloween concerts will be released in their entirety as the massive Halloween 77 costume box set on 20 October 2017 via Zappa Records/UMe – just in time to celebrate the shows 40th anniversary.

The Halloween 77 box set will include all six concerts with 158 tracks (mixed in 2016 from original vault masters) loaded onto a “Zappa’s Oh Punky” fun size candy bar-shaped USB drive in 24-bit WAV audio. The package will also include a 28-page digital booklet featuring never-before-seen photos and liner notes from vault meister Joe Travers, co-producer of the box alongside Ahmet Zappa, and personal firsthand accounts from many of Zappa’s bandmates, crew and fans who were there, including guitarist Adrian Belew, percussionist Ed Mann, keyboard tech Thomas Nordegg, tour manager Phil Kaufman, and fan Janet ‘The Planet’ Walley.

In the spirit of Zappa’s favorite season, the specially designed, limited run Halloween 77 box will include a retro Halloween mask and costume of the maestro himself. In addition to the box set, a 3CD version will also be available featuring the entire Halloween night show plus select tracks from the October 30th gig. Fans looking for a specific show will be able to purchase the concert of their choice digitally on release day.

“This box set was a very special experience for me to work on,” said Ahmet Zappa. “I wanted to make sure we honored these legendary shows, so it was important to me that this box set felt of the era. It was a blast working with our partners to create the late ‘70s-inspired Frank Zappa Mask and costume and the candy-shaped USB stick filled with tons of Zappa goodness. It was yet again a labor of love gathering up all the archival materials, reading notes by people who were there, and most importantly making sure the audio was up to par. All of us at Zappa Records are mighty pleased with it, and hope that fans of Frank Zappa and of Halloween will be too.”

Originally scheduled for four shows from October 28-31, Zappa added two more shows due to intense popular demand, with the final total tallying six shows in four days. The full residency is presented as it happened with no overdubs or additional tinkering. The audio was remixed from scratch using fresh transfers from the master multi-track tapes, which all had to be heat treated for transfer by Travers.

The Halloween 1977 line-up of the band featured Terry Bozzio on drums, Tommy Mars and Peter Wolf on keyboards, Adrian Belew on guitar and vocals, Ed Mann on percussion and Patrick O’Hearn on bass; this band could really burn. Over the six shows, the ensemble averaged 25 songs per night with exciting improvisations and audience participation from “New York’s Finest Crazy Persons” at every show, making each uniquely different. At these shows Zappa really got into the spirit with Halloween antics including bringing tech Thomas Nordegg on stage to perform some magic tricks and the band’s tour manager, the “Road Mangler,” Phil Kaufman, performing as the human trombone. Original Mothers’ bassist Roy Estrada also joined the festivities.

The songs performed during the Halloween 77 musical marathon spanned Zappa’s then 11-year career with tracks from Hot Rats, Over-Nite Sensation, Bongo Fury, One Size Fits All, and his most recent album at the time, Zoot Allures. Many of the songs played were previously unreleased and would go on to be recorded for Zappa’s acclaimed 1979 album, Sheik Yerbouti, including ‘Flakes’, ‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes,’ ‘Jones Crusher,’ ‘Bobby Brown Goes Down,’ ‘City Of Tiny Lites,’ ‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin,’ and ‘Wild Love.’

Continuing the Zappa Family Trust and UMe’s Zappa on-going vinyl initiative, Zoot Allures will also be reissued on 180-gram vinyl on 20 October. Zoot Allures features two of Zappa’s signature guitar pieces, ‘Black Napkins’ & ‘Zoot Allures’. The album became a fan favourite after its release in 1976. Originally conceived as a double-disc, Zappa re-edited it to a single record after pressure from his record company. This 180-gram reissue was mastered and cut directly from the analog tape master by Bernie Grundman in 2017.

The costume box set and 3CD editions of Halloween 77 will be released on 20 October. Scroll down to read the full track listings and order the box set here and explore our Frank Zappa Artist Page. 

The full Halloween 77 costume box set and digital box set tracklist is:

10-28-77 Show 1
‘Show 1 Start/Introductions’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
‘Conehead (Instrumental)’
‘Flakes’
‘Big Leg Emma’
‘Envelopes’
‘Terry’s Solo #1’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties N Beer’
‘Audience Participation #1’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Encore Audience #1’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’

10-28-77 Show 2
‘10-28-77 Show 2 Start/Introductions’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
‘Conehead (Instrumental)’
‘Flakes’
‘Big Leg Emma’
‘Envelopes’
‘Terry’s Solo #2’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties N Beer’
‘Audience Participation #2’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Encore Audience #2’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’

10-29-77 Show 1
‘10-29-77 Show 1 Start/Introductions’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
‘Conehead (Instrumental)’
‘Flakes’
‘Big Leg Emma’
‘Envelopes’
‘Terry’s Solo #3’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties N Beer’
‘Audience Participation #3’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Encore Audience #3’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’

10-29-77 Show 2
‘10-29-77 Show 2 Start/Introductions’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
‘Conehead (Instrumental)’
‘Flakes’
‘Big Leg Emma’
‘Envelopes’
‘Terry’s Solo #4’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties N Beer’
‘Audience Participation #4’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Encore Audience #4’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’

10-30-77 Show
‘10-30-77 Show Start’
‘Stink-Foot’
‘The Poodle Lecture’
‘Dirty Love’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘I Have Been In You’
‘Dancin’ Fool (World Premiere)’
‘Jewish Princess (Prototype)’
‘King Kong’
‘Terry’s Solo #5’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Envelopes’
‘A Halloween Treat with Thomas Nordegg’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties N Beer’
‘Audience Participation #5’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Encore Rap’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’
‘San Ber’dino’

10-31-77 Show
‘Halloween 1977 Show Start/Introductions’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘The Demise Of The Imported Rubber Goods Mask’
‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
‘Conehead (Instrumental)’
‘Flakes’
‘Big Leg Emma’
‘Envelopes’
‘Terry’s Halloween Solo’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties ’N’ Beer’
‘Halloween Audience Participation’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Halloween Encore Audience I’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’
‘San Ber’dino’
‘Black Napkins’
Bonus Section:
‘King Kong’
‘A Halloween Treat With Thomas Nordegg’
‘Audience Participation #5’
‘The Black Page #2’

Halloween 77 3CD

Disc 1
‘Halloween 1977 Show Start/Introductions’
‘Peaches En Regalia’
‘The Torture Never Stops’
‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
‘City Of Tiny Lites’
‘Pound For A Brown’
‘The Demise Of The Imported Rubber Goods Mask’
‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
‘Conehead (Instrumental)’
‘Flakes’
‘Big Leg Emma’

Disc 2
‘Envelopes’
‘Terry’s Halloween Solo’
‘Disco Boy’
‘Lather’
‘Wild Love’
‘Titties ’N’ Beer’
‘Halloween Audience Participation’
‘The Black Page #2’
‘Jones Crusher’
‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’

Disc 3
‘Punky’s Whips’
‘Halloween Encore Audience’
‘Dinah-Moe Humm’
‘Camarillo Brillo’
‘Muffin Man’
‘San Ber’dino’
‘Black Napkins’
Bonus Section:
‘King Kong’
‘A Halloween Treat With Thomas Nordegg’
‘Audience Participation #5’
‘The Black Page #2’

Format: UK English