FRANK ZAPPA / MOI 200 Motels RARER ORIG UK COMPLETE

	£		111
	$		147

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Artist or Band: THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Album Title: Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels

Producer(s): Frank Zappa.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Semi-Fraudulent/Direct from Hollywood Overture; Mystery Roach; Dance of the Rock and Roll Interviewers; This Town is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich (prologue); Tuna Fish Promenade; Dance of the Just Plain Folks; This Town is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich (reprise); The Sealed Tuna Bolero; Lonesome Cowboy Burt.

Side 2: Touring Can Make You Crazy; Would You Like a Snack?; Redneck Eats; Centerville; She Painted Up Her Face; Janet’s Big Dance Number; Half a Dozen Provocative Squats; Mysterioso; Shove It Right In; Lucy’s Seduction of a Bored Violinist and Postlude.

Side 3: I’m Stealing the Towels; Dental Hygiene Dilemma; Does This Kind of Life Look Interesting to You?; Daddy, Daddy Daddy; Penis Dimension; What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning.

Side 4: A Nun Suit Painted on Some Old Boxes; Magic Fingers; Motorhead’s Midnight Ranch; Dew on the Newts We Got; The Lad Searches the Night for his Newts; The Girl Wants to Fix Him Some Broth; The Girls Dream; Little Green Scratchy Sweaters and Corduroy Ponce; Strictly Genteel (the finale).

Label/Format: United Artists – original cream and brown format. This is only album Zappa ever issued on this label. (Please see my label scan, all are practically the same).

Label Conditions: All four ultra clean, super fresh and highly attractive with only very light and faint spindle traces seen under light – all evidence, including superb sound, suggest both records have hardly been played. Just one very small scuff near the bottom of side one as seen on my scan.

Cat Number: UDF 50003.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of these Records: 106 / 106 grams. These weights not unusual on this album – this has always been a somewhat strange one in that respect. Pressings weights do vary somewhat, often within the same set. The major positive is this pair are amongst the cleanest for sound I have heard for some time. This, for me, is the most difficult and challenging Zappa album to find as a very clean pressing with a number of very quiet areas.

Country of Manufacture: England original. So many copies offered are French pressed and did not include the original inserts.

Rarity: Original first-pressed UK copies that include the book, stickered cover and giant poster are now quite rare and seldom offered complete especially with the magnficent poster in such lovely condition. This one being unmounted and the book hardly handled. The cover is massively prone to all forms of wear and is seldom seen even a strong excellent. Last, but far from least, pressing quality of the records was almost a lottery. But this pair play superbly with little unwanted and are amongst the very best I have heard. Never underestimate just how difficult this set is to find like this.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: UDF-5001-A1 / UDF-5001-B1 / UDF-5002-A1 / UDF-5002-B1.

Brief Artist & Album Info: “Ladies and Gentlemen – 200 MOTELS!” One of Zappa’s most beautifully packaged albums, a double set including the super full size book with stills from the film and the giant movie poster with artwork from Dave McMacken, a hugely talented graphic artist who also designed Zappa’s ‘Over-Nite Sensation’ and US ‘Rare Meat’ covers. The magnificent poster one of the most elusive UK inserts from his vinyl catalogue. Seldom seen these days, finding the two major inserts complete with two hardly played records will be a major bonus to any Zappa fan needing this album. Also nice to see the original front cover sticker present too – these at the time were often removed by those who did not wish part of the cover front to be obscured by what was considered to be an intrusive promotional marketing ploy. But times have now changed, and the serious collectors want ALL aspects of the original product – that was simply not considered 40 years ago but the majority. The removal of the early stickers often also meant damage to the cover’s surface with pulling and tears hardly unusual. Often not one of the very best pressed albums in Frank’s huge catalogue, this is without doubt one of the best copies I have seen and heard. An album with some ultra quiet orchestral passages so a clean pressing that does not suffer from crackle or any scratches is of paramount importance for the more discerning vinyl and Zappa fan. This early pressing clearly has hardly been played. I have never heard a copy of this album that will play dead silent through it’s entirity but this plays brilliantly overall and will prove very difficult to find better – this is as close as it ever gets and equals my own personal copy. ‘200 Motels’ is a unique and very interesting Zappa project - United Artists offered him a budget of $630,000 to make his first feature film proper. He decided to make it in England and employ the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - some 100 musicians at £1,000 a day. This gave him a chance to actually hear his own orchestral compositions while writing on tour. The film is a very surreal experience of being on tour, the movie, predictably, was not well received, generally being far too avant garde, surreal and inpenetrable for most people’s tastes. Typically for early 70s Zappa this was very bawdy and the resulting tour of the UK at this time, resulted in prosecution, which Zappa eventually lost. I still regard this as one of Frank’s most underrated albums. As the cover states, some of the music on the record is not in the movie and some of the music in the movie is not on the record.

The music and songs work beautifully on album. Zappa’s music has always been about the collision of social attitudes and genres and the action here is centred around ‘Centreville’, a town that’s portrayed as a concentration camp. The physical presence in Pinewood Studios of a symphony orchestra and genuine ‘pop stars’ (Volman and Kaylan, along with Ringo Starr as ‘Larry the Dwarf’, Keith Moon as a nun and trainee groupie, and drummer Aynsley Dunbar) allowed him to make the collision palpable. On the record, these forces are manifested in magnificent sequences between the string-orchestra and hard-rock fury. ‘Magic Fingers’ showed that Zappa had been listening to Black Sabbath; the fact that his scores were finally being interpreted by a proper orchestra seemed to push him to the opposite extreme in his song-writing. The riff and his own live-on-screen guitar solo detonated new depths of heaviness. An orchestral version of ‘Holiday in Berlin’ from Burnt Weeny Sandwich provides the ‘Semi-Fraudulent/Direct from Hollywood Overture’. The original introduction - Ringo’s speech about how the rock revolution has putrified the minds of the young and meant retraining orchestral musicians for the modern world - is reduced to compere Theodore Bikel telling us that Larry the Dwarf is dressed up like Frank Zappa (in the film, Ringo was dangled on the end of a wire like a puppet. ‘Mystery Roach’ detailed drug/road fatigue (What are we singing about?...We must be flipping out...)’. Jimmy Carl Black plays the part of Lonesome Cowboy Burt - the hippie-hating redneck - with particular glee, the irony being that he was a Cherokee Indian. The next few tracks describe how band and groupies meet each other. In the film, ‘Lucy’s Seduction of a Bored Violinist’ used video technology to project Lucy Oferall’s erotic gesticulations over the obedient arm-movements of an RPO violinist. In this satire, no-one was left off the hook. ‘I’m stealing the towels’ and ‘Dental Hygiene Dilemma’ were the soundtrack to Cal Schenkel’s animations, emphasising the affinity Zappa’s’ music has for cartoons, with it’s swiftness, violence and humour. ‘Daddy’ was as tender a song as Zappa ever wrote, describing the allure of a confident groupie for sex-starved musicians. ‘Penis Dimensions’ mocked male anxieties over the size of their manhood and ‘What will this evening bring me this morning’ brought out the attitudes of sexual encounter. All this music is tightly organized, with Flo and Eddie’s vocals soaring over complex orchestrations. Devoid of the in-jokes and absurdism and chaos, this could have been hailed as a rock opera. At the movie’s end in a close-up of Zappa’s eyeball, Howard Kaylan says ‘he is the guy that is making me do all this s**t - it did not impress the film critics but followers of Zappa’s work generally loved it. It took rock music, satire and orchestration to new levels of intenseness, paving the way for future ideas in this great man’s career. What is for certain, there has been no other movie or album quite like ‘200 Motels’ and is dedicated to anyone who ever played for the Mothers.

The Mothers on this Album: Frank Zappa - Guitar, bass; Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan - vocals and special material; Ian Underwood - keyboards, winds; Aynsley Dunbar - drums; George Duke - keyboards, trombone; Martin Lickert - bass; Jimmy Carl Black - vocals; Ruth Underwood - orchestra drum set; Jim Pons - vocals. Guest appearances in the movie include: Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel, Keith Moon, Jeff Simmons, Pamela Miller (from the GTO’s), Don Preston, Motorhead Sherwood, Phyllis Bryn-Julson is the soprano soloist.

Cover Condition and Details: EXCELLENT(+): and I have seen few a great deal better than this. An unlaminated gatefold with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by E. J. Day Group. This one includes the now prized and elusive sticker with it’s original price tag of £3.75. Comes with 16-page book and giant poster.

Cover Front: Very colourful and highly attractive with superb artwork by Dave McMacken – a sinister looking Zappa overlooks the mayhem. This is very clean, fresh and impressive with barely a crease to be seen and any surface marks very few and faint. For a change this shows barely any encroachment of edge rubbing, or rubs at all for that matter. Being a double gatefold set, this is very prone to ringwear on both sides and I have seldom seen one that has avoided it – but this one pretty much has. The sticker (seen in close-up) is little short of pristine – the complex shape is totally crisp, unrubbed or picked-at. Removal often proved disasterous, but it did not stop many trying back in the day when many considered these things an intrusion into the artwork. Only a relatively small percentage of these covers remain with a pristine sticker – more are seen with sticker tears where they once were. Over the years, this McMacken designed cover has been regarded as a classic on a rock cover. The detail and complexity of the art is simply fantastic and worthy the price alone – the poster brings it out still further. This front itself will take a huge amount of beating.

Cover Back: Massively prone to wear and seldom seen devoid of often significant ringwear. Well this has avoided it pretty much totally and the lack or rubbing and grubbiness is evident on my picture. However, things in life and record covers is rarely perfect, and this does have a fairly light crease towards the to left corner, it has only very modest visibility. That apart, little else to fault on what is still a near equally impressive back.

Cover Gatefold Inner: This inside is superb and even betters my own copy with practically nothing to fault at all.

Top Edges: Light, patchy rubbing on the back – both remain very straight.

Top & Bottom Edges: Mainly light patchy rubbing on the front this time. These storage edges rarely fail to attractive rubbing and in terms of it here, this can be considered very modest.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly sharp with little wear and both guaranteed untrimmed. Viewed end-on, very slight thickening is just evident, but how many 40-year-old covers will have razor sharp edges that have not been trimmed up? Records entered on the edges.

Spine and Text: Immensely difficult to find decent – very prone to all forms of wear. Solid and thick, straight with minimal hints of compression and folded square, so the edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. There is a moderate rub on the lower back fold and a tiny one near the top, but little on the actual spine itself where all the text is present and unworn. One small tone spot about a quarter of the way down also. In terms of this uncompromising spine, this is way above average having seen a number of near threadbare ones in the past.

Corners: Mainly light tip rubs, more moderate on the bottom front right, again a cover that rarely escapes them. Very fine to excellent shape is retained.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this very fragile early 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. Finding a near perfect example of this cover is hugely difficult, this one certainly merited direct comparison to my own, and in some areas this is actually better. I think it was about an even match overall and personally, I would be satisified to own either. So all considered, this is quite exceptional and has clearly been well looked after. It should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeves: EXCELLENT: both unlined with open windows and a mirror-image matching pair. Just a little aged with a fairly modest amount of discolouration. All four circle windows neat and crisp with all edges intact with any creasing very little and light.

The Book: MINT(-): a superb example, neat and clean and still stapled together strongly with no tarnishing. Very minor handling traces on the front cover the only reason a full Mint grading was not considered. All 16 pages have razor sharp edges, fully intact and undamaged or soiled, this book looks hardly even ‘used’. A very faint semi-crease on the front near the bottom being the only minuscule blemish.

Poster MINT(-): only marked down from full Mint due to light darkening on a couple of the folds on the back. Very big, attractive and spectacular (please see picture), very clean, fresh, unfaded and UNMOUNTED. Yes, no pin-holes or cellotape marks and being such a spectacular poster, many of these were mounted. Hence when taken down, often torn, faded or even with chunks missing – even worse – disgarded altogether. This is an album that is up there with the most ‘missing’ poster ones ever issued – unmounted posters are genuinely getting rare – in my book, rarer than the Black Sabbath poster in ‘Master of Reality’ that sold better than this. McMacken did three superb Zappa cover graphics – this one, ‘Over-Nite Sensation’ and the US version of ‘Rare Meat’ – all are superb. Also a rare promotional collage of the Roxy-era Mothers in post card and poster form. I am currently offering the rare post card with ‘Over-Nite’ sensation that is well worth a look.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): and it could be strongly argued, undergraded at even that. Very clean and shiny and fairly solidly pressed. Even under light, these surface have little to fault and again, this matches (at least) my own copy. I feel certain most discerning Zappa collectors will enjoy this pair, they hardly get better and in vinyl terms, they look barely even run-in.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This double set is always a tough one with so many quiet passages with dialogue and some delicate orchestral passages. This one is up there with the very best I have ever heard playing consistently well and quiet with very little unwanted. I always state ‘there will always be the odd sporadic light click or crackle trace’, such is the nature of the material, it is nigh-on impossible to not have. UA were not always the quietest of pressings but this one does this complex album maximum justice. The sound quality is high, and the UK original pressings will always be preferable to the later French versions that seem to be far more abundant. Any orchestral music needs to be pressed supremely well to give anything like perfect repro, UA (unlike Decca, EMI et al.) did not specialise in this type of music, but that said, this copy impressed me and will prove near impossible to find better. A copy hardly played for sure (and that helps from an era when many were still using heavy-tracking mono record players) and my play-grade was immensely enjoyable with more subtle details emerging from this demanding recording. No distortion, pressing sounds or degrading of the sound, this album should please all Zappa fans and with the super packaging too, this remains one of the most essential albums in the huge Zappa catalogue.

End Piece: I have probably gone OTT with my detail on this one, but a complex work like this needs some explanation for those less than familiar. I take my Zappa albums VERY seriously and I have always found this a hard one to find complete and in such fine all-round condition. So often a case of a part missing, or an element damaged or worn – there are NO easy parts to this set. If you have not experienced this album (or movie) you are in for some unique sounds from the mind of one of the greatest entertainers ever. Unreserved recommendation applies for those with a taste for the bizarre.

And a final word – A HUGE THANK YOU to Dweezil Zappa and his magnificent band, who I watched at Cambridge last night (23rd) – keeping the memory of his father alive with nearly 2.5 hours of stunning music played impeccably. For anyone who has not seen him perform, my highest possible recommendation applies again. One seriously great evening of high-octane and brilliant entertainment.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.