• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Jun 30, 2025 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis

In June of 1974, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were ready for their television closeups, but technology was unfortunately not on their side. Over 50 years later, Cheaper Than Cheep finally showcases what Zappa and his camera-ready players were ready to present on the small screen. Where the show’s shelving was undoubtedly heartbreaking for all involved at the time, the minor miracle of finally seeing this priceless time capsule opened is something to celebrate.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to invite you to the world’s cheapest television special,” announces Zappa as he opens the show. With a small audience in attendance, Zappa and the Mothers filmed a two-hour-plus performance at their rehearsal hall, with the intention that it would be shopped for TV broadcast. Tragically, after it was later discovered that the audio and video fell out of sync, the project was set aside for decades until technology enabled a correction.

Whether Zappa envisioned this as something he could bring to television due to not having received invitations to appear on shows such as “The Midnight Special” and “In Concert,” or his concern that the production standards for those shows might not have met his exacting standards, Cheaper Than Cheep would have given his audience much more, and far better. Multiple cameras capture the action from all angles, including some highly-entertaining group interplay as well as plenty of solo shots that provide each member spotlight moments, even if they’re just stepping back and beaming during their bandmates’ star turns.

Clearly, this was a band that not only seemed superhumanly in sync, but one who genuinely enjoyed their time together as well–even given the pressures of performing some of the period’s most staggeringly complex compositions.

One of the Mothers’ most acclaimed and accomplished lineups joins Zappa for a setlist with something for everyone, spanning from the band’s earliest albums to then-current songs, such as “Cozmik Debris” and “Montana.” The spectacle of Zappa conducting the band through the positively hellish twists of “Get Down Simmons” is one of many highlights that also include the intensely meticulous “T’Mershi Duween,” the breathtaking musical equivalent of having the players run across a trapeze wire in high heels. After all these years, Cheaper Than Cheep lets you finally see and hear this stage full of stars pull off arguably TV’s greatest loss of 1974.

Along with multiple vinyl editions, the set is available in formats that feature the concert film on Blu-ray including a limited-edition super deluxe box edition and a Blu-ray video/2-CD soundtrack set.

(www.zappa.com)