Russian Flexi-Discs
- See also: Polish flexi-disc postcards
HARD FACTS: At some point in time, BUDKON records in Russia made a series of Frank Zappa flexi-discs. They were all 6 by 6 inches square, except one, which was 5 by 5 inches, and they were all available in several (probably none in fewer than three) different colour variants, except two of them, which were picture discs. They were housed in picture covers.
In 1999, A VERY BIG and SERIOUS ZAPPA COLLECTOR in Italy sold a big collection of these flexis. Mikael Agardsson, another big and serious Zappa collector in Sweden and "also a cute guy", also has a big collection of them, and those two collectors have provided all the corny information on this page. Kudos!
From Mikael Agardsson:
The Russian flexis exist in a variety of colours. Collecting them all in all colour variants would be expensive! :) I'm satisfied with one. [A VERY BIG and SERIOUS ZAPPA COLLECTOR] gave me a list long ago of the different colour variants, but unfortunately, the list is not complete, so there are still some question marks left. (Probably, though, there are at least three different colour variants of each flexi, except the picture singles.)
| TITLE | NUMBER | COLOURS (REPORTED) |
| St Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast [5"] | Budkon 1100 | clear, yellow, brown |
| Deseri | Budkon 2059 | clear, yellow, green |
| Ian Underwood Whips It Out | Budkon 2131 | clear, yellow, blue, brown, green |
| Any Way the Wind Blows |
Budkon 2060 (disc) Budkon 2115 (sleeve) (once listed as 2015) |
clear, brown, green |
| Help, I'm a Rock | Budkon 2115 | clear, light yellow, dark yellow, red |
| Help, I'm a Rock [picture disc] |
Budkon 2115-X (disc) Budkon 2115 (sleeve) |
clear & black |
| Tengo 'na Minchia Tania | Budkon 2171 | clear, yellow, red, blue, brown, green |
| Sting + Zappa: Murder by Numbers | Budkon 2248 | clear, red, yellow |
| Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus | Budkon 2371 | clear, red, blue, green |
| Muffin Man | Budkon 2372 | clear, yellow, green |
| Room Service Part 1 | Budkon 2491 | clear, yellow, red |
| Willie the Pimp | Budkon 2512 | clear, red, blue, brown |
| Poodle Lecture | Budkon 2520 | clear, red, blue |
| Magdalena | Budkon 2552 | clear, yellow, green |
| Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin | Budkon 2556 | clear, red, blue, green |
| I Have Been in You | Budkon 2593 | clear, red, brown |
| Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? |
Budkon 2659 (disc) Budkon 2683 (sleeve) |
clear, yellow, red |
| The Nancy & Mary Music | Budkon 2694 | clear, red, brown |
| Room Service Part 2 | Budkon 2700 | clear, yellow, blue |
| RDNZL | Budkon 2810 | clear, yellow, brown |
| What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning? | Budkon 2822 | clear, blue, green |
| Let's Make the Water Turn Black | Budkon 2825 | clear, red, brown |
| Elvis Has Just Left the Building | Budkon 2827-X | picture disc |
| For the Young Sophisticate | Budkon 2925 | clear, blue, green |
| King Kong | Budkon 2928 | clear, yellow, red |
| Dummy Up | Budkon 2940 | clear, red, brown |
| Berliner Immigration Office ["My Name Is Fritz"] | Budkon 2985 | clear, blue, brown |
| Suicide Chump | Budkon 3203 | clear, brown, green |
| Status Back Baby | Budkon 3340 | clear, brown, blue |
| G-Spot Tornado | Budkon 4031 | clear, yellow, blue, green |
| Charva | Budkon 4033 | clear, red, blue |
| The Orange County Lumber Truck | Budkon 4046 | clear, yellow, brown |
| Amnesia Vivace / The Duke Regains His Chops | Budkon 4067 | clear, red, green |
| Inca Roads | Budkon 4167 | clear, yellow, blue |
| Little Green Rosetta | Budkon 4173 | clear, red, brown |
| Zappa/Beefheart: Tiger Roach | Budkon 4297 | clear, red, green |
| 20 Small Cigars | Budkon 4397 | clear, brown, blue |
| Village of the Sun | Budkon 4599 | blue |
| Bob Guy: Dear Jeepers | Budkon 4620 | brown, red |
| Mom & Dad | Budkon 4650 | green |
| San Ber'dino | Budkon 4654 | clear, blue, green |
| Later That Night |
Budkon 4655 (once listed as 3656) |
clear, yellow, brown |
| Keep It Greasy [Stage #3 version] | Budkon 4780 | green, red |
| What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? | Budkon 4873 | brown |
| Massagio Galore | Budkon 4906 | brown, blue |
| Packard Goose | Budkon 4907 | yellow, brown |
| Keep It Greasy [Joe's Garage version] | Budkon 5449 | brown |
| Lobster Girl | Budkon 5465 | green |
(List updated by Hasi in September 2002.)
From the VERY BIG and SERIOUS ZAPPA COLLECTOR in Italy:
I perfectly know when they have been made and in what quantity, where and how they are ...! But I cannot know WHY they have been made (I suppose to make money? :<) ... By the way, these have been made without any permission! So we can consider them as BOOTLEGS! But in RUSSIA there are no records released with permission, so ... NO OFFICIAL RELEASES in any format! You can understand that this makes this fact important for collectors! And this is the reason why they are SO RARE! The records, the music, is from various official releases and some unofficial too! They have been made between 1989 and 1995 (the Zappas are from 1994 ... the last). These are very very nice on a wall in your room, there are great PS covers with Russian writings and the color vinyls are great too! For each flexi there are several colors (always different) and all have the only CLEAR vinyl ...! But, if you decide to play them, the sound is not so good! But, WHY PLAY THEM? If you want to listen to Zappa, You can use a CD or an LP, no? These are rarities and, as everything not necessary, are ABSOLUTELY un-useful :<) But they have a BIG success because every BIG Zappa collector only heard about! Also I'm going to get some of the WORLD-FAMOUS POLISH POSTCARDS! Musical postcards released in Poland! The same things (unofficial etc ...), but very very rare and nice! Regarding the reason, seriously, I really think that EVERY RECORD is released to make money! For what I think, I use to buy them because I can and I use to sell or trade them because I AM A VERY BIG and SERIOUS ZAPPA COLLECTOR!
Da capo:
In RUSSIA there is NO legal market for records ...! Every Russian vinyl or CD is made (I suppose) without any permission. You can understand that this makes the RUSSIAN records very rare. But you must know that many supposed RUSSIAN records ARE IN REALITY FROM OTHER EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. By the way, ALL THE FLEXI are from RUSSIA ...! These are RARE items, very hard to find (especially in USA, I suppose).
Additional Informants
- Ryan Davenport