Frank Zappa’s legendary 1981 Halloween residency at New York’s Palladium is set to be the subject of an upcoming 6-CD box set Halloween 81.
This is the third instalment in a series of collections dedicated to documenting the legendary rockers Halloween gigs. Following on from the previously released Halloween 77 in 2017 and Halloween 73 in 2019.
Halloween 81 will document three complete gigs from Zappa’s five-show, four-night stand at the Palladium: Both the early and midnight gigs from Halloween Night 1981, and the November 1st concert the following evening. The collection will feature over 70 previously unreleased live recordings.
The box set is truly glorious and features a Zappa-themed costume — a Count Frankula mask with an accompanying red and black cap. It also features a 52-page booklet comprised of rare photos from the performance and liner notes by Zappa’s keyboardist Robert Martin, archivist Joe Travers and super fan Gary Titone.
“Halloween 1981 became one of Zappa’s most popular of all the Halloween residencies in New York City,” Travers writes in the box sets liner notes. “The image of Frank in his hot magenta jumpsuit has gone on to become an iconic one in the world of rock and roll.”
You can pre-order the set here.
Check out ‘I’m The Slime’ performed by Frank Zappa from Halloween 81:
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Halloween 81 Track List
DISC 1 10/31/81 – 8pm Show 1
1. ‘Chunga’s Revenge’
2. ‘The Finest Night Of The Year’
3. ‘You Are What You Is’ – Take 1
4. ‘You Are What You Is’ – Take 2
5. ‘Mudd Club’
6. ‘The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing’
7. ‘Dumb All Over’
8. ‘Heavenly Bank Account’
9. ‘Suicide Chump’
10. ‘Jumbo Go Away’
11. ‘Envelopes’
12. ‘Drowning Witch’
13. ‘What’s New In Baltimore?’
14. ‘Moggio’
15. ‘We’re Turning Again’
16. ‘Alien Orifice’
DISC 2 10/31/81 – 8pm Show 1 – cont’d
1. ‘Teen-age Prostitute’
2. ‘Flakes’
3. ‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
4. ‘The Blue Light’
5. ‘Tinsel Town Rebellion’
6. ‘Yo Mama’
7. ‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’
8. ‘City Of Tiny Lites’
9. ‘“We’re Not Gonna Stand For It!’
10. ‘Strictly Genteel’
11. ‘Dancin’ Fool’
12. ‘Whipping Post’
DISC 3 10/31/81 – 12am Show 2
Black Napkins
2. ‘“A Historical Event’
3. ‘Montana’
4. ‘Easy Meat’
5. ‘Society Pages’
6. ‘I’m A Beautiful Guy’
7. ‘Beauty Knows No Pain’
8. ‘Charlie’s Enormous Mouth’
9. ‘Fine Girl’
10. ‘Teen-age Wind’
11. ‘Harder Than Your Husband’
12. ‘Bamboozled By Love’
13. ‘Sinister Footwear II’
14. ‘Stevie’s Spanking’
15. ‘Commercial Break’
DISC 4 10/31/81 – 12am Show 2 – cont’d
1. ‘Cocaine Decisions’
2. ‘Nig Biz’
3. ‘Doreen’
4. ‘Goblin Girl’
5. ‘The Black Page’ #2
6. ‘Tryin’ To Grow A Chin’
7. ‘Strictly Genteel’
8. ‘The Torture Never Stops’
9. ‘“The Real Show Keeps Going”‘
10. ‘Joe’s Garage’
11. ‘Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?’
12. ‘The Illinois Enema Bandit’
13. ‘“The Halloween Tradition”‘
14. ‘King Kong’
15. ‘Auld Lang Syne’
DISC 5 11/01/81
1. ‘Zoot Allures’
2. ‘“The Last Of Our Halloween Shows”‘
3. ‘I’m The Slime’
4. ‘Pound For A Brown’
5. ‘Dave & Al’
6. ‘Cosmik Debris’
7. ‘Montana’
8. ‘Easy Meat’
9. ‘Dumb All Over’
10. ‘Heavenly Bank Account’
11. ‘Suicide Chump’
12. ‘Jumbo Go Away’
13. ‘Envelopes’
14. ‘Drowning Witch’
DISC 6 11/01/81 – cont’d
1. ‘What’s New In Baltimore?’
2. ‘Moggio’
3. ‘We’re Turning Again’
4. ‘Alien Orifice’
5. ‘Teen-age Prostitute’
6. ‘Sinister Footwear II’
7. ‘Stevie’s Spanking’
8. ‘Cocaine Decisions’
9. ‘Nig Biz’
10. ‘Goblin Girl’
11. ‘The Black Page’ #2
12. ‘Whipping Post’
13. ‘Broken Hearts Are For Assholes’
14. ‘The Torture Never Stops’
Halloween 81 Highlights Track List
1. ‘Chunga’s Revenge’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 1)
2. ‘“The Finest Night Of The Year”’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 1)
3. ‘I’m The Slime’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81)
4. ‘Montana’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 2)
5. ‘Easy Meat’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81)
6. ‘Joe’s Garage’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 2)
7. ‘Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 2)
8. ‘Sinister Footwear II’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 2)
9. ‘Stevie’s Spanking’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81)
10. ‘Goblin Girl’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81)
11. ‘The Black Page #2’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81)
12. ‘Strictly Genteel’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81) – Exclusive Bonus Track
13. ‘Whipping Post’ (Live at the Palladium – 11/1/81)
14. ‘The Torture Never Stops’ (Live at the Palladium – 10/31/81 – Show 2)
