| Over-Nite Sensation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 original issue cover | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 7, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | March 19–June 1, 1973 | |||
| Studio | Bolic Sound (Inglewood,CA) and Whitney Studios (Glendale,CA) | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock,funk rock | |||
| Length | 34:37 | |||
| Label | DiscReet | |||
| Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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| The Mothers of Invention chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Over-Nite Sensation | ||||
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Over-Nite Sensation is the twelfth album byThe Mothers of Invention (credited as The Mothers), and the seventeenth album overall byFrank Zappa, released in September 1973. It was Zappa's first album released on hisDiscReet label.
Frank Zappa wanted to use backup singers on the songs "I'm the Slime", "Dirty Love", "Zomby Woof", "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana". His road manager suggestedThe Ikettes, andIke & Tina Turner were contacted.Ike Turner insisted that Zappa pay the singers, includingTina Turner, no more than $25 per song (equivalent to $180 in 2024).[1] However, an invoice shows that they were actually paid $25 per hour, and in total $187.50 each for7+1⁄2 hours of work (equivalent to $1,330 in 2024).[2] During the recording sessions atBolic Sound, Tina brought Ike into the studio to hear the highly difficult middle section of "Montana" which had taken the Ikettes a few days to learn and master. Ike listened to the tape and responded "What is this shit?" before leaving the studio.[1] Ike later insisted that Zappa not credit the Ikettes on the released album.[1] Zappa confirmed in 1973 that Tina and the Ikettes did appear on the record even though he was "not supposed" to say so.[3]
The recording sessions which producedOver-Nite Sensation also produced Zappa's followup,Apostrophe (') (1974),[1] released as asolo album rather than aMothers of Invention release.
Much of the album's lyrics deal with sex.[1][4] For example, "Dinah-Moe Humm" describes a woman who wagers that the narrator can't give her an orgasm and is ultimately aroused by watching him have sex with her sister.
On other topics, "I'm the Slime" criticizes television, and the playful and musically adventurous "Montana" describes moving to Montana to grow dental floss.[1]
The music ofOver-Nite Sensation draws fromrock,jazz andpop music.[4] "Zomby Woof" has been described as a "heavy metal hybrid ofLouis Jordan andFats Waller".[4]
The cover was done by Dave McMacken as somewhat in the vein ofSalvador Dalí's surreal imagery depicting a two-headed man sitting on a waterbed in aHoliday Inn hotel room surrounded by various objects like a Mothers backstage pass and a television set showing Zappa's face with slime oozing out of it. The entire painting is depicted in a frame showing many sexual acts.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Robert Christgau | (C)[6] |
| DownBeat |  [7] |
The album initially received mixed reviews due to its lyrical content, which some critics found puerile.[4]Rolling Stone magazine disliked the album, describing Zappa as a "spent force", and saying that his best work had been recorded with earlier incarnations of the Mothers.[4]New Musical Express said that the album was "not one of Frank's most outstanding efforts."[4]Robert Christgau gave the album a C, mocking the notion that Zappa's humor underscores serious commentary by asking "where's the serious stuff?"[6]
Writing forDownBeat, Ray Townley gave the album 3.5 stars.[7] "There's no pretentious concept behind the various tunes; just lots of electronically-twisted guitar runs, burning baritone violin, and a maze of sound colors/textures that pop in and out of the total picture without rhyme (but definitely with reason) . . . Compared to all the schlock being vomited onto the market these days,Over-night Sensation is a glass of quality cognac".[7]
Later reviews evaluated the album far better, withAllMusic writer Steve Huey writing, "Love it or hate it,Over-Nite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-'60s aesthetic was truly established".[5] Kelly Fisher Lowe, inThe Words and Music of Frank Zappa, wrote that "Over-Nite andApostrophe (') are important [...] as a return to Mothers of Invention form and as close to traditional pop albums as Zappa would ever come."[4]
The record was certified gold on November 9, 1976.[8]
Over-Nite Sensation (1973) andApostrophe (') (1974) are the subject of aClassic Albums series documentary fromEagle Rock Entertainment, released on DVD May 1, 2007.
The lines "She was buns-up kneelin' / Buns up! / I was wheelin an' dealin'" from "Dinah-Moe Humm" are quoted (as "So there she was / buns up and kneelin' / I was wheelin' and a-dealin'") in "Girl Keeps Coming Apart", onAerosmith'sPermanent Vacation. Zappa is credited in the liner notes.
All tracks are written byFrank Zappa.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Camarillo Brillo" | 4:01 |
| 2. | "I'm the Slime" | 3:35 |
| 3. | "Dirty Love" | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Fifty-Fifty" | 6:08 |
| Total length: | 16:47 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Wonderful Wino" (Complete Edit) | 3:16 |
| 9. | "Inca Roads" (1973 Version) (2023 Mix) | 3:49 |
| 10. | "RDNZL" (2023 Mix) | 4:17 |
| 11. | "For the Young Sophisticate" (Dolby EQ Copy) | 3:18 |
| 12. | "I'm the Slime" (Single Version) | 3:04 |
| 13. | "Montana" (Single Edit with Intro) | 5:29 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Inca Roads" (Bolic Take-Home Mix) | 3:47 |
| 15. | "RDNZL" (Take 2) | 4:41 |
| 16. | "X-Forts (Echidna's Arf (of You))" | 7:22 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Camarillo Brillo" (Alternate Mix) | 3:34 |
| 2. | "Face Down" (I'm the Slime - Demo) | 2:11 |
| 3. | "I'm the Slime" (Basic Track Outtake) | 5:56 |
| 4. | "Dirty Love" (Session Rehearsal) | 3:53 |
| 5. | "Dirty Love" (with Quad Guitar) | 4:13 |
| 6. | "Fifty-Fifty - Pipe Organ Improvisations" | 4:02 |
| 7. | "Fifty-Fifty" (Basic Tracks, Take 7) | 6:21 |
| 8. | "Dinah-Moe Humm" (Session Rehearsal) | 2:05 |
| 9. | "Dinah-Moe Humm" (Bolic Take-Home Mix) | 8:01 |
| 10. | "Montana" (Session Rehearsal) | 7:23 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Montana" | 7:26 |
| 12. | "Dupree's Paradise (Intro)" | 8:19 |
| 13. | "Dupree's Paradise" | 12:39 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cosmik Debris" | 6:35 |
| 2. | ""The Dynamic Sal Marquez!"" | 2:05 |
| 3. | "Big Swifty" | 12:47 |
| 4. | ""...The Successor to Willie the Pimp"" | 0:58 |
| 5. | "The Curse of the Zomboids (I'm the Slime)" | 6:10 |
| 6. | "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" | 23:26 |
| 7. | "FZ & the Percussion Section" | 5:17 |
| 8. | "Palladium Jam - Part 1" | 3:56 |
| 9. | "Palladium Jam - Part 2" | 9:01 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cobo Hall '73 Band Intros and Sound Check" | 6:08 |
| 2. | "Exercise #4" | 2:27 |
| 3. | "Dog Breath" | 1:16 |
| 4. | "The Dog Breath Variations" | 1:32 |
| 5. | "Uncle Meat" | 2:29 |
| 6. | "Fifty-Fifty" | 7:21 |
| 7. | "Inca Roads" | 11:47 |
| 8. | "FZ Introduces the Don't Eat the Yellow Snow Medley" | 1:20 |
| 9. | "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" | 1:17 |
| 10. | "Nanook Rubs It" | 6:04 |
| 11. | "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" | 2:14 |
| 12. | "Father O'Blivion" | 2:34 |
| 13. | "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast (Reprise)" | 5:25 |
| 14. | "Join the March" | 0:59 |
| 15. | "Cosmik Debris" | 7:34 |
| 16. | "Medley (King Kong / Chunga's Revenge / Son of Mr. Green Genes)" | 12:36 |
Musicians
Production
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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