Zappa Halloween '81
October 31, 1981 (late show)
The Palladium, NYC
Broadcast live by MTV and Westwood One Radio simultaneously
110 min.
Hosted by Nina Blackwood
Opening Credits:
MTV Music Television
Presents
StarFleet Simulcast
Zappa Halloween '81
Closing Credits:
Music performed by
Frank Zappa—guitar, vocal
Ray White—guitar, vocal
Tommy Mars—keyboards, vocal
Scott Thunes—bass, vocal
Chad Wackerman—drums
Ed Mann—percussion, vocal
Bobby Martin—keyboards, sax, vocal
Steve Vai—guitar, vocal
Produced by
Bill Boggs
Richard Baker
Directed by
Clark Santee
Lighting director—Jim Tetlow
Associate producer—Karen McLaughlin
Music associate—Dee Santee
Production manager—Marty Maloney
Stage manager—Keith Kevan
Transmission supervisor—Mark Schubin
Engineering consultant—Malachy Wienges
Engineer in charge—Ed Levine
Technical director—Paul Stiegelbauer
Music audio mixer—Mark Pinske
Production audio mixer—Mike Shoskes
Audio assistant—Mel Becker
(...)
2nd MTV Broadcast
October 31, 1981 (late show)
The Palladium, NYC
Broadcast date: October 31, 1982?
MTV
88 min.?
You Are What You Is
October 31, 1981 (early show, except where indicated)
The Palladium, NYC
Broadcast date: Night Flight, October 30, 1982
LBS Video—Compact Video—Boggs/Baker Productions
Also broadcast at least on the Netherlands and Sweden
59 min.
Opening Credits:
Frank Zappa
Live At The Palladium
New York City
October 31, 1981
You Are What You Is
Closing Credits:
Editorial Supervisor: Frank Zappa
Music performed by
Frank Zappa—guitar, vocal
Ray White—guitar, vocal
Tommy Mars—keyboards, vocal
Scott Thunes—bass, vocal
Chad Wackerman—drums
Ed Mann—percussion, vocal
Bobby Martin—keyboards, sax, vocal
Steve Vai—guitar, vocal
Produced by
Bill Boggs
Richard Baker
Directed by
Clark Santee
Lighting director—Jim Tetlow
(...)
Night Flight
January 3, 1983
28 min. or 58 min.?
Rebroadcast?
Additional informant: Glenn Leonard
The Torture Never Stops
October 31, 1981 (early & late shows)
1982
LBS Video
116 min.
DVD Track List:
- 0:00:00 Black Napkins (late show)
- 0:04:00 Montana (late show)
- 0:07:48 Easy Meat (late show)
- 0:14:37 Beauty Knows No Pain (late show)
- 0:17:33 Charlie's Enormous Mouth (late show)
- 0:21:13 Fine Girl (late show)
- 0:24:26 Teen-age Wind (late show)
- 0:27:28 Harder Than Your Husband (late show)
- 0:30:02 Bamboozled By Love (late show)
- 0:35:33 We're Turning Again (early show)
- 0:40:37 Alien Orifice (early show)
- 0:45:51 Flakes (early show)
- 0:51:05 Broken Hearts Are For Assholes (early show)
- 0:55:11 You Are What You Is (early show)
- 0:58:56 Mudd Club (early show)
- 1:01:49 The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing (early show)
- 1:05:01 Dumb All Over (early show)
- 1:10:43 Heavenly Bank Account (early show)
- 1:14:49 Suicide Chump (early show)
- 1:16:50 Jumbo Go Away (early show)
- 1:20:42 Stevie's Spanking (late show)
- 1:26:43 The Torture Never Stops (late show)
- 1:38:35 Strictly Genteel (early & late show)
- 1:45:13 The Illinois Enema Bandit (late show)
- 1:56:31 (Honker Home Video Credits)
- 1:56:51 —end—
DVD Extras:
Opening Credits:
An Evening With
Frank Zappa
during which . . .
The Torture Never Stops
Closing Credits
Editorial Supervisor: Frank Zappa
Music performed by
Frank Zappa—guitar, vocal
Ray White—guitar, vocal
Tommy Mars—keyboards, vocal
Scott Thunes—bass, vocal
Chad Wackerman—drums
Ed Mann—percussion, vocal
Bobby Martin—keyboards, sax, vocal
Steve Vai—guitar, vocal
Produced by
Bill Boggs
Richard Baker
Directed by
Clark Santee
Lighting director—Jim Tetlow
Associate producer—Karen McLaughlin
Music associate—Dee Santee
Technical supervisor—Mark Schubin
Engineering consultant—Malachy Wienges
Production manager—Marty Maloney
Stage manager—Keith Kevan
Engineer-in-charge—Ed Levine
Technical director—Paul Stiegelbauer
Music audio mixer—Mark Pinske
Production audio mixer—Mike Shoskes
Audio assistant—Mel Becker
Video—Paul Ranieri
Camera—Juan Barrera, Peter Blank, John Feher, Ron Leacock, Mike Lieberman, Jake Ostroff
Videotape operator—Rennie Dicuia
Gaffer—Chip Foody
Utility—Rick Anderson, Andy Burnaford
Electronic Graphics—Barry Fialk
Production assistants—Sabina Barach, Susan Franks
Production facilities—Unitel Production Services, Inc.
Videotape editor—Terry Greene
Assistant videotape editor—Ron Menzies
For Intercontinental Absurdities:
Bennett Glotzer—associate producer
Alan Santos—production manager
Coy Featherstone—lighting director
Mark Pinske, George Douglas, Bob Stone—sound
Chuck Eldridge on Jack Daniels
David Robb—towel boy and Kosher guitars
Larry Griffith—industrial tenderness
Thomas Nordegg—gadgets
John Smothers—iron sausage
Wartoke Concern—public relations
All music composed and arranged by Frank Zappa
Special thanks to The Palladium, New York City
© Copyright 1982 Boggs/Baker Productions Inc. and Frank Zappa
Notes & Comments
Nina Blackwood (interviewed by Jeb Wright, ClassicRockRevisited, August 2004)
The hardest and worst interview that I have ever done was with Frank Zappa. Ugh! It was a nightmare. I feel bad saying this because he is no longer with us, but he was a nightmare. I hope I never run into anything as terrible as that again. He was deliberately being Frank Zappa. It was the first live broadcast that MTV ever did. It was his yearly concert that he used to do from The Palladium on Halloween. I was the host. Even in rehearsals Frank was really obnoxious to me. Between my lack of experience and him being obnoxious, it was just a nightmare. Enough said. It was a very bad experience. (...) It was baptism by fire. Now, with the chip on my shoulder that I have developed, I wouldn't tolerate it. Back then, I was young and we were trying to do our best. I was an easy target. It was a cheap shot and he didn't have to do that. If Frank wanted to be smart then do it to Walter Cronkite or something, but not a twenty-something little girl doing her first live broadcast.
Gary Titone, November 2, 2024
Nina Blackwood [interviewed] me outside the Palladium, around 6PM on Halloween night before the early show. I was asked some questions, sang and conducted NYC finest crazy type persons, including Artis The Spoon Man, German Verse of Stick It Out. I have never seen the film footage. It could have been used in its entirety or edited into a 1 minute commercial, airing between the time of the interview and midnight show on MTV. All internet data shows that there was a 1 minute promo that evening. I contacted MTV in the later 80s and they referred to an archive fire.
From: unknown:
Songs: Interview w/ignorant MTV VJ, Black Napkins, Montana, Easy Meat, Society Pages, I'm a Beautiful Guy, Beauty Knows No Pain, Charlie's Enormous Mouth, Fine Girl, Teenage Wind, Harder Than Your Husband, Bamboozled By Love, Sinister Footwear II, Stevie's Spanking, Cocaine Decisions, Nigger Bizniss, Doreen, Goblin Girl, Black Page #2, Tryin' To Grow a Chin, Strictly Genteel, The Torture Never Stops.
There are several versions of this show; here are a few of them:
- "Halloween Concert" (MTV, 88 min.)
2nd show, missing band introduction and Sinister Footwear
3rd rebroadcast by MTV, air date 10/31/82
- "Dumb All Over" (LBS Video 47 min.)
Mixed footage of 1st & 2nd shows
- "The Torture Never Stops" (LBS Video, 116 min.)
Mixed footage of 1st & 2nd shows
- "You Are What You Is" (LBS Video, 58 min.)
Mixed footage of 1st & 2nd shows
- "You Are What You Is" (Night Flight, 28 min.)
The first 7 songs of the early show
From: Robbert Heederik
From Halloween, 1981 at the Palladium in NYC. MTV broadcast some of this show (or all of it?). It was subsequently spliced up and shown as various features such as Dumb All Over (45 minutes), You Are What You Is (45 minutes) and the Torture Never Stops (1 hour 50 minutes). Also parts are shown in Dub Room Special. Songs mainly consist of You Are What You Is plus songs from Sheik Yerbouti. Also has Strictly Genteel.
From: Sergio Martorelli (September 8, 2005)
Just got me this DVD-R that comes with what seems to be a mix of the two shows.
It's 1h 56 minutes, the "Torture Never Stops" intro (exactly as the screencap from your site), and the following songlist:
Black Napkins
Montana
Easy Meat
Beauty Know No Pain
I'm A Beautiful Guy
Charlie's Enormous Mouth
Fine Girl
Teenage Wind
Harder Than Your Husband
Bamboozled By Love
We're Turning Again
Alien Orifice
Flakes
Broken Hearts Are For Assholes
You Are What You Is
Mudd Club
The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
Dumb All Over
Heavenly Bank Account
Suicide Chump
Jumbo Go Away
Stevie's Spanking
The Torture Never Stops
Strictly Genteel
The Illinois Enema Bandit
From Milhouse Authentico (February 6, 2006)
From comparing the lists of songs performed at the early and late shows, I think "The Torture Never Stops" goes like this, because almost all of these songs were performed at one show, but not the other.
Black Napkins (late show)
Montana (late show)
Easy Meat (late show)
Beauty Know No Pain (late show)
I'm A Beautiful Guy (late show)
Charlie's Enormous Mouth (late show)
Fine Girl (late show)
Teenage Wind (late show)
Harder Than Your Husband (late show)
Bamboozled By Love (late show)
(10 out of the first 11 songs from the late show.. for some reason, FZ left "Society Pages" out of this video version.)
We're Turning Again (early show)
Alien Orifice (early show)
Flakes (early show)
Broken Hearts Are For Assholes (early show)
(From the approximate middle of the early show's set, though "Teenage Prostitute" was played before "Flakes" and left out of this sequence for the video release.)
You Are What You Is (early show)
Mudd Club (early show)
The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing (early show)
Dumb All Over (early show)
Heavenly Bank Account (early show)
Suicide Chump (early show)
Jumbo Go Away (early show)
(The first 7 songs from the early show. "Dumb All Over" has the guitar solo which was edited out of the YCDTOSA Vol. 1 version.)
Stevie's Spanking (late show)
The Torture Never Stops (late show)
Strictly Genteel (*pretty* sure this is from the late show.. the YCDTOSA Vol. 6 version is actually edited together from both.)
The Illinois Enema Bandit (late show)
Milhouse G (June 12, 2008)
Tiny exception being that "I'm A Beautiful Guy" isn't on the DVD. I thought it *should* have been there, but I checked by VCD copy (taken from a rip of an original VHS copy of the program) and it wasn't there. No big deal, but thought I'd point that out.
Chris West (March 15, 2006)
I just compared this 'Torture Never Stops' DVD with the DVD of the live MTV broadcast of the late show and it seems that Strictly Genteel on 'Torture' is an edit of the two shows, probably the same as YCDTOSA6 I would think. It starts with the early show and cuts to the late show just before the closing speech. (The camera angles on the two DVDs are different so it would have been hard to compare, but Tommy Mars has a silly mask on during the early show.)
Pat Buzby (March 15, 2006)
Just noticed this thread...one additional bit of info: there were two MTV broadcasts of the late show, the live one and a slightly shortened and modified rebroadcast.
The rebroadcast had the following changes (perhaps among others):
- pre-show interview omitted
- edit in Black Napkins to disguise the botched transition from FZ's solos to the outro melody (this edited version appears on As An Am)
- intros omitted
- Sinister Footwear omitted
- radio station break after Stevie's Spanking omitted
- camera error in Tryin' To Grow A Chin fixed
- autographed freeze-frames of the sidemen shown as FZ introduces them during Genteel
It also had the flanged guitar.
Yesterday Wafflez (July 10, 2008)
I bought [The Torture Never Stops] as 'Live at the Palladium' LBS vhs as advertised in a Playboy mag mail order only.
I got with color grid & time stamp:
LBS
Frank Zappa
You Are What You Is
Compact Video Boggs/Baker Productions
Ed. Master Stereo 59:20 1/6/82
YAWYI
MUDD
MEEK
DUMB
HEAVENLY
SUICIDE
JUMBO
TURNING
ALIEN-solo
TEENAGE PROSTY
FLAKES
BROKEN HEARTS
MONTANA
WHIPPING
-end credits
Frank Zappa
Dumb All Over
Compact Video
Boggs/Baker Productions
MONTANA
FLAKES
DUMB ALL-solo
HEAVENLY
FINE GIRL
TEENAGE WIND
HARDER THAN
CITY OF TINY-solo
YAWYI
GENTEEL-band intros-goodnight
Charles Ulrich (July 10, 2008)
Dumb All Over aired on [the cable television channel called] USA. My copy has the network ID and commercials.
YouTube: "Whipping Post" (Swedish broadcast) (06:48 min.)
From: ebay seller "bean4green"
This is the rarest Frank Zappa Video of all time. This one hour video is of Zappa's New York, HALLOWEEN appearance at The Palladium on October 31, 1981. This video was given to me personally by FZ and was lost until now. This is a multi-camera, superbly edited, commercial quality, final pre- release version. The digital sound quality and mixing is as good as any Zappa recording you'll ever hear. Sounds like a CD.
Originally produced for Intercontinental Absurdities (FZ's production company), and titled "You Are What You Is", this tape was never released. No one has it anywhere, except here. This video was copied from the actual 3/4 inch cassette Frank gave me. The video quality is good and the music is phenomenal. The musicians are Steve Vai, Chad Wackerman, Scott Thunes, Ike Willis, Tommy Mars, Ed Mann, Bobby Martin & FZ
. . . . . . .SONGS: You Are What You Is, Mud Club, The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing, Dumb All Over, Heavenly Bank Account, Suicide Chump, Jumbo Go Away, Turn,Turn, Instrumental, Teenage Prostitute, Flakes, Broken Hearts Are For Assholes, Montana and an incredible Whippin' Post.
As a special bonus, there is a five minute segment with "Music For a Low Budget Orchestra" being performed by an orchestra. I have used scanned and reduced labels from the original FZ cassettes and pictured them below. I was Zappa's still photographer for many years and have thousands of original photos of FZ and his mothers.
Rusty Pipes, January 27, 2008
Bean4Green is right about everything regarding the You Are What You Is video, except that it was broadcast at least once -on January 3, 1983 it was featured on USA Network's old show Night Flight. I know because I still have the (prized) videotape of that airing. My copy is mono but it's still very clear. It's 58 minutes long and does not contain the Music for Low Budget Orchestra section, but everything else he refers to is there. What Bean labels as "Instrumental" in his song list is "Alien Orifice".
Some cuts found on the video differ somewhat on the performances on the You Can't Do That series.
- On the CD Dumb All Over is missing Frank's guitar solo, which is on the video
- Heavenly Bank account seems complete on both sources
- On the CD Suicide Chump has a long instrumental jam in the middle that is missing from the video
- On the CD version of Alien Orifice Frank's guitar solo has been shortened, the song is about a minute longer in the video
Here is a bootleg version of this video which has been seen on Ebay:
