Nova Convention in 1978 which saw Frank Zappa, anoint William Burroughs as king of the counterculture?

computeruser

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Sep 20, 2008, 5:18:28 AM9/20/08

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Disinfo.Con - DVD

Synopsis:
This Dual-Layer DVD contains an amazing 4 hours from The Disinformation
Company's massive counterculture event in New York City's Hammerstein
Ballroom. Highlights from the now legendary Disinfo.Con event include
appearances by Robert Anton Wilson, Marilyn Manson, Joe Coleman, Kenneth
Anger, Grant Morrison and many more. New York hadn't seen anything like this
since the Nova Convention in 1978 which saw Frank Zappa, Patti Smith and
others anoint William Burroughs as king of the counterculture. A quarter
century later Disinformation's keynote speakers Richard Metzger and Doug
Rushkoff ushered in a dizzying, day-long array of performances ranging from
sword-swallowing to sanskrit chanting, interspersed with lectures and
conversations with counterculture luminaries like industrial music
progenitor Genesis P-Orridge, Mondo 2000 founder R.U. Sirius, theorists,
performance artists and others from the extremes of popular culture. Unlike
the Nova Convention, Disinfo.Con was recorded with three cameras. Nothing
beats actually experiencing an event like this in the flesh but this DVD
comes pretty close to capturing the spirit of the counterculture as we lurch
into the 21st century.

Quoted material from: http://www.disinfo.com/catalog/itemdetail.php?id=266

Frunobulax

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Sep 20, 2008, 12:49:35 PM9/20/08

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I remember getting all juiced up to hear FZ reading the Talking
Asshole excerpt but he does so in such a stilted and out-of-his-
element way - as he always seemed to sound when doing someone else's
stuff for someone other than himself - and it was just disappointing,
like seeing him "act" on SNL but less snotty.

Yesterdays Wafflez

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Sep 20, 2008, 9:32:36 PM9/20/08

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Kinda like Mario Fuente?

Yesterdays Vice Fan

Strictly Commercial

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Sep 20, 2008, 10:30:20 PM9/20/08

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That's unfortunate, as Burroughs himself has a fantastic voice. Lately
I've been listening to a recording of him reading Junky a few years
before he died. Magnificent.

Rolf

Frunobulax

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Sep 21, 2008, 3:19:48 AM9/21/08

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> I've been listening to a recording of him reading Junky a few years
> before he died. Magnificent.

Oooh! I have a number of Burroughs albums (and agree with you
wholeheartedly about his reading voice) but haven't heard of this -
and Junky is one of my favorite works of his (though I've not read it
in over 20 years). Is this an official release?

Strictly Commercial

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Sep 21, 2008, 2:12:58 PM9/21/08

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Frunobulax wrote:
> Oooh! I have a number of Burroughs albums (and agree with you
> wholeheartedly about his reading voice) but haven't heard of this -
> and Junky is one of my favorite works of his (though I've not read it
> in over 20 years). Is this an official release?

Yes --- a Penguin, in fact. Apparently they did a series of
books-on-tape-on-CD in the early 1990s. This one's 3 hours / 3 discs.
It's at my office (Burroughs makes great ambient) so I can't check the
box for details at this moment.

Rolf

Frunobulax

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Sep 21, 2008, 2:36:20 PM9/21/08

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> Yes --- a Penguin, in fact. Apparently they did a series of
> books-on-tape-on-CD in the early 1990s.

How stupid is that? I'm so used to seeing his audio products being
marketed with and alongside pop music (I still think Gus Van Zant's
"The Elvis of Letters" is the best Burroughs related project I've
heard) that it never occurred to me to look for him under books-on-
tape!

Thanks!