Eagle Rock Entertainment and the Zappa Family Trust are releasing another audio visual goodie from “The Vault,” the widely-bootlegged A Token of His Extreme TV special.
A Token of His Extreme was taped on August 27, 1974 at KCET studios in Hollywood. The line-up is Zappa on guitar and vocals; George Duke—keyboards and vocals; Napoleon Murphy Brock—sax, vocals; Ruth Underwood—percussion; Tom Fowler—bass; Chester Thompson—drums. The striking claymation of Bruce Bickford was featured in the program.
Frank Zappa described the A Token of His Extreme TV special to talkshow host Mike Douglas in 1976:
“This was put together with my own money and my own time and it’s been offered to television networks and to syndication and it has been steadfastly rejected by the American television industry. It has been shown in primetime in France and Switzerland, with marvelous results. It’s probably one of the finest pieces of video work that any human being has ever done. I did it myself. And the animation that you’re gonna see in this was done by a guy named Bruce Bickford, and I hope he is watching the show, because it’s probably the first time that a lot of people in America got a chance to see it.”
Set list: “The Dog Breath Variations/Uncle Meat,” “Montana,” “Florentine Pogen,” “Stink-Foot,” “Pygmy Twylyte,” “Room Service,” “Inca Roads,” “Oh No,” “Son Of Orange County,” “More Trouble Every Day,” “A Token Of My Extreme.”
The new DVD’s stereo audio tracks were mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering and it sounds really good. The video quality is the best we’re ever going to see as it was taken directly from the 2” inch Quad video master (how many working 2” Quad machines—they were the same size as a Fiat—still even exist in these United States of America? One? Two?). If you’re a Zappa fan, A Token of His Extreme, which comes out next Tuesday, is a must-have.
Below, Zappa plays “Black Napkins” on The Mike Douglas Show promoting the Zoot Allures album in 1976 (the full clip of this and the interview is included as a DVD extra):