ZBS Foundation

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ZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez (aka "Meatball Fulton") in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune, located on a donated farm in Upstate New York. ZBS stands for "Zero Bull Shit". [1] The commune's purpose was to raise consciousness through media, specifically full-cast audio dramas. The foundation is "one of the most prolific producers of contemporary radio drama." [2]

Contents

The commune started with 18 people, and an island in the Hudson River was chosen as the location because it was between New York City and Montreal. [3] Eventually, the commune disintegrated, and the foundation moved to create an artists-in-residence program over the next decade. Allen Ginsberg recorded at ZBS in 1981, and Laurie Anderson visited in 1975. Philip Glass also worked on the opera Einstein on the Beach at ZBS. The residency program ended in the mid 1980s.

The foundation also became the outlet for audio dramas written by writer/producer Lopez. His dramatic programs, notably Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe , The Fourth Tower of Inverness and Travels with Jack Flanders , are noted for their meticulous production values and New Age mysticism. Lopez has won numerous awards including the Prix Italia, and his work enjoys a cult following.

ZBS did a 1984-85 radio series, The Cabinet of Dr. Fritz , later releasing some shows in the series on cassettes and CDs. These productions were recorded binaurally using a Neumann Ku81 Kunstkopf microphone. ZBS also produced a widely acclaimed [4] [5] dramatization of Stephen King's The Mist , recording in binaural sound.

Releases

TitleReleasedSeriesNotes
Ha! Fat Chance1963Meatball Fulton's first radio drama, produced at KPFA Pacifica Radio. This story predates the founding of ZBS, but was released on the ZBS site to streaming subscribers. [6]
The Fourth Tower of Inverness 1972 Jack Flanders
Moon Over Morocco 1973Jack Flanders
Stars & Stuff1977Science Fictionincludes The Ah-Ha Phenomenon , Tired of the Green Menace, The Adventures of Rocket Pierre, The Thing That Ate Aunt Sophie, Boogie Woogie to the Stars, and more
The Ah-Ha Phenomenon 1977Jack FlandersOriginally part of Stars & Stuff
Tired of the Green Menace1977 Ruby The original Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe story, originally part of Stars and Stuff
The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders 1978Jack Flanders
The Taj Express1980DramaFeatures stories written by contemporary Indian writers
Ruby: The Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe 1982Ruby
The Android Sisters: Songs of Electronic Despair1984Android SistersSpinoff of Ruby
The Cabinet of Dr. Fritz 1984-1985Science Fiction, Drama, HorrorIncluding The Mist, Mumbo Jumbo, Aura, Sticks, The Bleeding Man and Saturday Night at the White Woman Watching Hole, recorded in binaural sound
Ruby 2: The Further Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe 1985Ruby
Starflight One1986MusicMusic by Tim Clark
Dreams of Rio 1987Jack Flanders
Music from the Dreams of Rio1987SoundtrackMusic featured in Dreams of Rio
Myth: The Music of Tim Clark1987MusicMusic by Tim Clark
A Night on the Rio Negro1987SoundtrackBackground audio featured in Dreams of Rio
Saratoga Springs1989HumorProduced as a series for National Public Radio
Tales of the Sun People1990MusicMusic by Tim Clark
Ruby 3: The Underworld/The Invisible World 1990-1991Ruby
Dishpan Fantasy: A Real Soap Opera1991Humor
The Music from Ruby 31991SoundtrackMusic featured in Ruby 3
Travels with Jack1992-1993Jack FlandersIncludes Dreams of the Amazon , Dreams of India , Dreams of Bali and Dreams of Sumatra
Journey to Qayyum1992SoundtrackMusic featured in Dreams of India
Dinotopia 1993DinotopiaAdaptation of the book by James Gurney
The Maltese Goddess1994MysteryRecorded in binaural sound
Ruby 4 1994-1995RubyIncludes The Moon Coins of Sonto Lore, The Turban of El Morya, Dark Night of the Reptoids, and Mad Moon for Rubina
rain1995MusicMusic by Tim Clark and Kevin Breheney
Dinotopia: The World Beneath1996Dinotopia
The Spell1996MusicMusic by Tim Clark and Kevin Breheny
O Boy O Boy O1996Science FictionRecorded in binaural sound
The Mystery of Jaguar Reef 1996Jack Flanders
The Land of Enchantment1997Mojo SamSpinoff of Jack Flanders
Ol' Cactus Kapoor, and Other Prickly Tales1997Rodant KapoorSpinoff of Ruby
The Insiders' Lounge1998Science Fiction
Midnight at the Casa Luna 1998-2000Jack Flanders
Ruby 5: The Land of Zoots 1998Ruby
Fat Cats1999Fat CatsLater reissued as Saratoga Fat Cats, recorded in binaural sound
Recipe for Murder1999Mystery
The Android Sisters: Greatest Hits2000Android SistersSpinoff of Ruby
Return to Inverness 2000Jack Flanders
Little Frieda's Life Lessons2001Little FriedaSpinoff of Jack Flanders
Mojo Plays Morocco1977SoundtrackMojo Sam's music from Moon Over Morocco
Mojo's Concert at Inverness2001SoundtrackMojo Sam's music from Return to Inverness
Ruby 6: The Illusionati 2001Ruby
The Ultimate 3D Thunderstorm2001SoundtrackBinaural recording of a thunderstorm
Travelling Jack2002-2003Jack FlandersIncludes Dreams of the Blue Morpho , Somewhere Next Door to Reality , Do That in Real Life? , and The Eye of Van Gogh
The Android Sisters: Pull No Punches2003Android SistersSpinoff of Ruby
The Best of the Android Sisters2004Android SistersSpinoff of Ruby, released in Japan
The Best of Saratoga Springs2004HumorCompilation of Saratoga Springs episodes
Fat Cats 2: All the Cat's Meow2004Fat Cats
Ruby 6.5: Far Flung Farouk 2004Ruby
A Streetcar Named Le Petit Lafitte2004Little Louie LafitteSpinoff of Jack Flanders' Do That in Real Life?
The Wee Weever: A Little Frieda Mystery2004Little Frieda, Mojo SamSpinoff of Jack Flanders
The Case of the Disappearing Witch2005Little Frieda, Mojo SamSpinoff of Jack Flanders
The Fantastic Voyages of Captain Jack Flanders2005-2008Jack FlandersIncludes Orchids and Moonbeams , The Ghost Islands , Tropical Hot Dog Night and The White Castle
Ruby 7: Dream Weaver, Dream Deceiver 2006Ruby
90 Second Cellphone Chillin' Theater2008Humor
Blue Bamboo2008MusicMusic by Tim Clark
Dinotopia Suite2008SoundtrackMusic from Dinotopia
Two Minute Film Noir2008Film Noir
More! Two Minute Film Noir - "Joe & Moe"2008Film Noir
The Music from Ruby 42008SoundtrackMusic from Ruby 4
Ruby 7.5: The Tookah's Tales 2008The TookahSpinoff of Ruby
The World Beneath Suite2008SoundtrackMusic from Dinotopia: The World Beneath
Even More! Two Minute Film Noir2009Film Noir
Four Minute Film Noir2009Film Noir
Fallen Angels That Bounce2009Film Noir
Mojo's Vest Pocket Voodoo Adventures2009Mojo SamSpinoff of Jack Flanders
Ruby 8: The Good King Kapoor 2009Ruby
World Sounds2009SoundtrackAudio used in Jack Flanders adventures
Steam Dreamers of Inverness2010-2011Jack FlandersSteampunk spinoff, 4 parts
Lady Windermere's Brass Fantabulous2010Lady Windermere
Lady Windermere's Brass Fantabulous, Part 2: You Can't Outrun the Flying Dead2011Lady Windermere
Ruby Refreshed2011-2013RubyA reissue of the original Ruby: The Galactic Gumshoe, with new music and sound effects
Do Angels Really Have Wings?2012Jack Flanders
Ruby 9: Masque of the Red Moon 2012Ruby
Dixon and Sparks: Excuse Me While I Disappear2013Dixon and Sparks
Dixon and Sparks: The Night Has Begun2013Dixon and Sparks
Dreams of Tiffany Blue2013Jack Flanders
The Music of Steam Dreamers of Inverness2013SoundtrackMusic from Steam Dreamers of Inverness
The Music of the Tookah's Tales2013SoundtrackMusic from Ruby 7.5: The Tookah's Tales
Saratoga Noir2014Mystery
The Secret of the Crystal Maidens2014Jack Flanders
Dixon and Sparks: Shadows in the Night2015Dixon and Sparks
The Green Velvet Chair2015Jack Flanders
Ruby 9.5: Who Knows How This Ends? 2015Ruby
League of the Green Velvet Chairs2016Jack Flanders
Tiny Dreams2017Humor
Madonna in a Green Velvet Chair2018Jack Flanders
Ruby 10: The Black Star of Summa Nulla 2018Ruby

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References

  1. Roger Gregg (20 July 2002). "Meet the Artists: Tom Lopez". natf.org. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2015. We don’t normally tell people that. We couldn’t really go to the National Endowment for the Arts representing ourselves from the ‘Zero Bull Shit Foundation’. So we just made it ‘ZBS.’.
  2. J Michael Straczynski (1 July 2002). The Complete Book of Scriptwriting. Writer's Digest Books. pp. 261–. ISBN   1-58297-158-7.
  3. Thomas Dimopoulos (1 February 2012). "Studio on the river: ZBS continues four decades of audio". Glens Falls Post-Star. Glens Falls, New York. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  4. Hi-fi News & Record Review. Link House Publications. 1986. p. 17. It was a knock-out.
  5. Jesse Willis (25 October 2012). "News: The Mist". SFFaudio.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015. …how astoundingly great an audio drama it really is.
  6. "HA! FAT CHANCE". ZBS Media. Retrieved 18 November 2018.