Infra Steff's Red Devil Band 1979 and 1982

This is a Zappaesque band from Switzerland that came out with a manic album called (I ain't gonna work no more at the) Gas Station (cf. Zappa's Joe's Garage Act I, 1979), with absolutely wonderful artwork I might add, but very uneven music.  Think Dr. Dopo Jam, The Locals, etc., but with a great deal of that annoying simple fifties music that for some reason Frank loved and threw in or threw up in every album, plus the dumb fake voices that sound like the stupidest screwball sixties comedy 'screenwriting' outta Hollywood's La Brea Tarpits.  Oddly enough it was the follow up called Red Devil Band with the ridiculous boy on the cover which I just hate to look at (perhaps that's the idea), that was the superior work since the silliness was minimalized.  It's obvious there's someone in there who is able to compose great music because here and there, like on Dopojam, or later Zappa, there are symphonic or chamber passages that are quite intricately beautiful.

From the Gas Station album, Two Miles on a Brown plus reprise of the Gas Station Theme:





Note the use of vibraphone copied from Zappa's composed instrumentals.  But don't get excited, the above sample is totally not representative of the remainder, the majority of which is garbage.

From the second album, the Valley Moon TV Theme:





I have to wonder if that reference to valley moon is in homage to Frank's daughter (Moon Unit Zappa)'s megahit Valley Girls ("gag me with a spoon," "grody to the max") which came out around the same time.