Barking Pumpkin Records
DiscReet existed until FZ filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers, its distributor and parent company. FZ then sought out Capitol Records for distribution assistance, but these plans fell through. Finally, Mercury Records stepped in, so FZ then created Zappa Records in 1977. When the "Läther" album slated for release by Zappa/Mercury on October 31, 1977 was blocked by Warner Brothers, FZ had to wait until 1979 before he could release his own product on the Zappa Records label.
After a short relationship with Mercury, FZ erected Barking Pumpkin Records in 1981. This time, distribution was handled by CBS (1981-1983), and then Capitol (1984-1987). With a fully independent record label in Barking Pumpkin Records, FZ was now in full control. Concurrent with Barking Pumpkin releases and unauthorized UK EMI CDs, FZ signed a CD agreement with Rykodisc (and Zappa Records outside of the US and Canada) at the end of 1984 to release his material. In return, Rykodisc gave FZ full control over all aspects of each release. Outside the US and Canada, the Zappa Records CDs originating from Barking Pumpkin Records have been distributed by the Music For Nations label.
By the summer of 1993, US distribution for Barking Pumpkin releases moved over to Rhino Records. With Gail Zappa's sale of the FZ catalog to Rykodisc in early 1995, Rykodisc controlled all the existing recordings plus all the non-classical unreleased masters worldwide.
The logo of "Barking Pumpkin" feature a jack-o-lantern pumpkin saying "Arf!", while a cat says "Holy shit!" in Chinese. The name "barking pumpkin" was inspired by Gail Zappa's smoker's cough when she tried to quit the habit.
