Starting in 1974 and continuing for nearly a decade, Frank Zappa`s annual Halloween concerts were a New York City institution. When the avant-rocker scored a Top 40 hit with
Valley Girl
in 1982, he skipped that year`s Halloween performance and instead chose to premiere a 90-minute documentary called FRANK ZAPPA`S DUB ROOM at New York`s Ritz Theater. Produced, directed, written, conducted, composed, arranged, and performed by Zappa, the documentary was comprised of two concerts--the 1981 Halloween show at the Palladium, and the December 1974 KCET television special, A TOKEN OF HIS EXTREME--as well as animation by claymation artist and longtime Zappa collaborator, Bruce Bickford. Released on home video in 1982, the Dub Room special has long remained a hard-to-find rarity, but this program rewards Zappa devotees with a presentation of the documentary in its entirety (albeit in a slightly different version after being remastered in 1992) for a fitting tribute to rock`s ultimate renaissance man.
