Released on August 10, 1970, Weasels Ripped My Flesh was the final album to feature the original line-up of The Mothers Of Invention, whom Frank Zappa had disbanded the previous year. It was compiled by Zappa from recordings made between 1967-69 and painstakingly edited into an original and vital album that showcases what the Mothers were capable of. The title of the album came from the cover story of the September 1956 issue of Man’s Life magazine. The article featured the strapline, “Many claws tore at my skin, putting razor sharp teeth in easy reach of my flesh. The furry animals came from all directions – chewing, gnarling, turning the water red with my blood.” It was sensational stuff and illustrated by an equally out-there cover by Will Husley, featuring a muscle-bound hunk waist-high in water, writhing in agony as he’s set upon by a multitude of weasels. It’s easy to see why it stuck in Zappa’s memory. He showed artist Neon Park the magazine and asked, “What can you do that’s worse than this?” Neon Park delivered a pop art-inspired illustration that was modeled on a Schick electric razor advertisement that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1953, replacing the razor with a weasel dragging its claws across the face of an all-American man. The music contained within is every bit as witty and uncompromising, making it a perfect entry into the imaginative and unhinged world of the Mothers. Tracks 00:00 Didja Get Any Onya? 06:51 Directly From My Heart To You 12:08 Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gasmask 15:56 Toads of the Short Forest 20:44 Get a Little 23:15 The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue 30:08 Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula 32:20 My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama 35:53 Oh No 37:38 The Orange County Lumber Truck 41:00 Weasels Ripped My Flesh

Catherine Wheel formed in 1990, comprising singer-guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson), guitarist Brian Futter, bassist Dave Hawes, and drummer Neil Sims. Hawes had previously played in a Joy Division-influenced band called Eternal. They took their moniker from the firework known as the Catherine wheel, which in turn had taken its name from the medieval torture device of the same name.