FZ album(s) in which song has appeared

• Joe's Garage Acts II & III (1979), as guitar solo on Outside Now (originally a guitar solo from City Of Tiny Lites), performed in Munich, March 31, 1979 (early show)
• Guitar (1988), as Outside Now (Original Solo) (guitar solo from City Of Tiny Lites), performed in Munich, March 31, 1979 (late show)
  • parts of the same guitar solo on Joe's Garage Acts II & III (1979) xenochronized in Keep It Greasey
• Joe's Garage Acts II & III (1979), as parts on Outside Now (0:51-1:18), performed in Zurich, April 1, 1979
• Joe's Garage Acts II & III (1979), as Outside Now, recorded at Village Recorders, LA, April 1979
• Zappa '80—Mudd Club/Munich (2023), as Outside Now, performed in New York, NY, May 8, 1980
• The Perfect Stranger (1984), as Outside Now Again, recorded at UMRK, February-April 1984
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4 (1991), as Outside Now, performed in Philadelphia, PA, November 10, 1984
• Broadway The Hard Way (CD, 1989), as Outside Now, performed in London, UK, April 19, 1988; Genoa, Italy, June 9, 1988

Tour(s) on which song is known to have been performed (main source: FZShows, v. 7.1)

• December 1978 (rehearsals)—known performances: 2
• February-April 1979 (Europe)—known performances: 11
• March-May 1980 (North America)—known performances: 15
• May-July 1980 (Europe)—known performances: 19
• October-December 1980 (North America)—known performances: 9
• August-September 1981 (rehearsals)—known quotations: 1
• May-July 1982 (Europe)—known performances: 1; know quotations: 1 (vamp)
• July-September 1984 (North America)—known performances: 7
• September-October 1984 (Europe)—known performances: 2
• October-December 1984 (North America)—known performances: 8
• February-March 1988 (North America)—known performances: 3
• April-June 1988 (Europe)—known performances: 8

Comments

Foggy G, "The Songs That Were Played," We're Only In It For The Touring

1979: Yes, this is the track that appears on "Guitar". In its actual context, this solo appears in the midst of an otherwise normal "City of Tiny Lites" from the 3/31 early show. The "City" starts off as always- vocals, then a Denny Walley slide performance. But upon concluding Denny's solo spot, the band stops playing while Vinnie keeps a rather frantic beat alive. Tommy and Petey start playing those very cheesy, Space Invaders-type sound effects, and Artie essentially solos. This continues for roughly a minute, when Artie starts playing the "Outside Now" arpeggio, which is eventually picked up by Warren. Once this arpeggio is firmly established, Petey gets a chance for a short solo, before Frank steps up and creates the masterpiece that we have on "Guitar". Upon finishing his workout, the band jumps right back into 'City", running-through the written guitar lines that occur at the end of the '79 solo section. While only the 3/31 performance is documented on "Guitar", Frank actually performs this weird musical sandwich in several of the final shows on the tour, with each guitar solo managing to achieve greatness. The transitions from the "City" part of the solo section into the "Outside Now" portion are consistently sloppy, and not all that pleasing to the ears; but once this segue is complete, and the arpeggio is firmly established, this Teenage Rockin' Combo repeatedly performs several of the most intense instrumental passages that this tour saw.

1980 Mar-Jul: Essentially performed as on YCDTOSA Volume IV, allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo.

1980 Oct-Dec: Essentially performed as on "Joe's Garage", with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. One of Ike's most consistently evocative singing spots.

1982: Essentially performed as on YCDTOSA Volume IV, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. As much as a treat as this song is to hear, Ike Willis' husky yet beautiful voice is sorely missed.

1984: Essentially played as on YCDTOSA Volume IV, with the standard deviation in Frank's solo. Unfortunately, not played enough..

1988: Essentially performed as on BTHW, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. One of Ike's continually better vocal performances, methinks.

There's Notes In It

The Synclavier piece "Outside Now Again" from The Perfect Stranger comes from a transcription that Steve Vai did of the guitar solo on "Outside Now" on Joe's Garage Acts II & III for The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.

Conceptual Continuity

• Joe's Garage
• Be In My Video ("Reen-toon-teen-toon-teen-toon/Tee-nu-nee-nu-nee")