FROM STRAIGHT TO BIZARRE: A bloody amazing DVD

Format: Colour, DVD-Video, PAL
Language English
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Sexy Intellectual
DVD Release Date: 27 Feb 2012
Run Time: 161 minutes

I have just finished watching an extraordinary DVD about 'Straight' and 'Bizarre' ; the twin record labels set up by Frank Zappa and Herb Cohen in the late 1960s.

It is a completely rivetting film, and I suspect that I shall be returning to it again and again in these pages over the next few weeks, not only because it does exactly what a good rock music documentary is supposed to do (and very seldom does), but there are quite a few links here to Gonzo artists.

I am the first to admit that I am very much a rock and roll nerd. I am an obsessive collector of useless data, and obscure records alike, and I actually know quite a lot about the subject matter of this DVD. Or rather - let me rephrase that - I thought that I knew quite a lot about he subject matter of this DVD. Golly, was I wrong!

There are film clips here that I have never seen before, and interviews with people I thought I would never see. Even the contemporarily made psychedelic sequences which obviously had to be made to pad out some of the less visual bits, were very well crafted.

I first approached 'Sexy Intellectual' who made this DVD after reading a mildly lacklustre review in one of the monthly glossies. It complained that there were too many talking heads, and not enough music. So I approached this DVD with a mildly cynical point of view. The first five minutes rid me of that. This is a magnificent film, and I very much look forward to seeing others in the series to see if they are all as good as this one. I suspect they are.

The other night I was talking to Michael Des Barres, and he was talking fondly of his ex (Miss Pamela, of the GTOs). Here they are singing one of my all-time favourite songs.



I'm gonna put on my rubber chicken suit with the beak.

You go and buy this dvd:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frank-Captain-Beefheart-Straight-Bizarre/dp/B006HGXH3I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336302157&sr=8-1