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The Man From Utopia
''The Man from Utopia'' is the 36th album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1983 by Barking Pumpkin Records. The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou". Production "The Dangerous Kitchen", "Mōggio" and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" were all prepared for Zappa's unreleased album ''Chalk Pie''. The album was the second of two to credit Steve Vai with "impossible guitar parts", the first album being the preceding '' Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'' (1982). Cover art The sleeve art features the work of Tanino Liberatore. It portrays Zappa on stage trying to kill mosquitoes. That is a reference to a concert held in Italy in 1982, the year before the release of the album, on 7 July at Parco Redecesio (which is also referred in a street sign on the album cover) in Segrate, near Milan. While Zappa was playing, a huge number of mosquitoes began f ...
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Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and ''musique concrète'' works; he additionally produced nearly all the 60-plus albums he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Musical improvisation, improvisation sound experimentation, Virtuoso, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation. As a mostly self-taught composer and performer, Zappa had diverse musical influences that led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century ...
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Riot
A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted varies depending on the riot and the inclinations of those involved. Targets can include Shopping mall, shops, cars, restaurants, state-owned institutions, and religious buildings. Riots often occur in reaction to a grievance or out of dissent. Historically, riots have occurred due to poverty, unemployment, poor quality of life, living conditions, governmental oppression, taxation or conscription, conflicts between ethnic groups (race riot) or religions (e.g., sectarian violence, pogrom), the outcome of a sporting event (e.g., sports riot, football hooliganism) or frustration with legal channels through which to air grievances. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots typically consist of disorganize ...
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Ray White
Ray Shirley White Sr. is an African Americans, African American soul music, soul vocalist and rock and blues guitarist, best known as a member of Frank Zappa's touring ensembles. He was drafted into Zappa's band in late 1976, being featured on rhythm guitar and vocals, forming a vocal harmony partnership with Ike Willis on later tours in 1980 and 1984. White's vocals can be heard on ''Zappa in New York'' (March 1978) and ''You Are What You Is'' (September 1981) as well as others. White can also be found on a ''The Torture Never Stops (video), The Torture Never Stops'' and ''Does Humor Belong in Music? (video), Does Humor Belong in Music?''; the former is a DVD from Zappa's 1981 tour (without Ike Willis) and the latter filmed at the pier in New York in 1984; the video features White and Ike Willis' vocal harmonies. According to Zappa, White, who was deeply religious, was uncomfortable with the atheistic views of some of the other band members, which led to his departure. Whi ...
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Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977. It was the first Polyphony and monophony in instruments, polyphonic synthesizer with fully Computer memory, programmable memory. Before the Prophet-5, synthesizers required users to adjust controls to change sounds, with no guarantee of exactly recreating a sound. Sequential used Microprocessor, microprocessors to allow users to recall sounds instantly rather than having to recreate them manually. The Prophet-5 facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing "a standard package of familiar sounds". The Prophet-5 became a market leader and was widely used in popular music and film soundtracks. In 1981, Sequential released a 10-voice, double-keyboard version, the Prophet-10. Sequential introduced new versions in 2020, and it has been ...
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ARP 2600
The ARP 2600 is a subtractive synthesizer first produced by ARP Instruments in 1971. History Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Alan R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 as the successor to ARP's first instrument, the ARP 2500, at a retail price of US$2600. Unlike fully modular synthesizers, which often required modules to be purchased individually and wired by the user, the 2600 is semi-modular with a fixed selection of basic synthesizer components internally pre-wired. It sports clear text labels and front panel screen printed graphics indicating the function of different sections of controls, and the signal flow between them. The 2600 is thus ideal for musicians new to synthesis, due to its ability to be operated without patch cords, while still offering greater flexibility to sound designers who are comfortable using them. On its initial release it was heavily marketed to high schools and universities. Features and arc ...
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Drum Machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A drum machine often has pre-programmed beats and patterns for popular genres and styles, such as pop music, rock music, and dance music. Most modern drum machines made in the 2010s and 2020s also allow users to program their own rhythms and beats. Drum machines may create sounds using Analog synthesizer, analog synthesis or play prerecorded Sampling (music), samples. While a distinction is generally made between drum machines (which can play back pre-programmed or user-programmed beats or patterns) and electronic drums (which have pads that can be struck and played like an acoustic drum kit), there are some drum machines that have buttons or pads that allow the performer to play drum sounds "live", either on top of a programmed drum beat or ...
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Vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singing as the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. Other common definitions include "the utterance of words or sounds in tuneful succession" or "the production of musical tones by means of the human voice". A person whose profession is singing is called a singer or a vocalist (in jazz or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument (as in art songs or some jazz styles) up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Many styles of singing exist throughout the world. Singing can be forma ...
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Guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or Plucked string instrument, plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either Acoustics, acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or Amplified music, amplified by an electronic Pickup (music technology), pickup and an guitar amplifier, amplifier. The guitar is classified as a chordophone, meaning the sound is produced by a vibrating string stretched between two fixed points. Historically, a guitar was constructed from wood, with its strings made of catgut. Steel guitar strings were introduced near the end of the nineteen ...
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Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands, and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Record label#Major labels, Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its Initial public offering, IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The French Vincent Bolloré, Bolloré family still owns 28 percent of UMG (18 percent directly, and ten percent through Vive ...
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Rykodisc
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label in the United States, Rykodisc was founded in 1984 in music, January 1984 in Cannes, France, by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa and Don Rose. The name "Ryko," which the label claimed was a Japanese word meaning "sound from a flash of light," was chosen to reflect the company's CD-only policy. In the late 1980s, however, the label also began to issue high-quality Compact Cassette, cassette / Gramophone record, vinyl and MiniDisc versions of many releases under the name Ryko Analogue. Initially founded as an audiophile-oriented label, Rykodisc shifted its focus towards mainstream audiences following the worldwide success of Dire Straits 1985 album ''Brothers in Arms (album), Brothers in Arms'', which demonstrated that the compact disc's ...
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Barking Pumpkin
Barking Pumpkin Records is an American record label founded by Frank Zappa in 1981. Zappa named the label after his wife's smoker's cough when she tried to quit the habit. Barking Pumpkin was initially distributed by CBS Records. History Zappa had founded the Zappa Records label in 1977, and formed a deal with Phonogram Inc., to distribute the label in the United States and Canada. Its first releases were the (mostly) live album ''Sheik Yerbouti'', followed by the dystopian rock opera ''Joe's Garage''. Phonogram refused to distribute the single ''I Don't Wanna Get Drafted'' in the US, though they did distribute it in Canada. The song's lyrics criticized president Jimmy Carter's reintroduction of the military draft. Zappa later released the single independently in the US in early 1980. After spending most of 1980 on the road, Zappa founded Barking Pumpkin and released the album '' Tinsel Town Rebellion'' in 1981.Lowe, 2006, ''The Words and Music of Frank Zappa'', p. 161. Also ...
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Compact Disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of holding of uncompressed stereo audio. First released in Japan in October 1982, the CD was the second optical disc format to reach the market, following the larger LaserDisc (LD). In later years, the technology was adapted for computer data storage as CD-ROM and subsequently expanded into various writable and multimedia formats. , over 200 billion CDs (including audio CDs, CD-ROMs, and CD-Rs) had been sold worldwide. Standard CDs have a diameter of and typically hold up to 74 minutes of audio or approximately of data. This was later regularly extended to 80 minutes or by reducing the spacing between data tracks, with some discs unofficially reaching up to 99 minutes or which falls outside established specifications. Smaller variants, such ...
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