DiscReet Records
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DiscReet Records was a company founded by Frank Zappa and then business partner/manager Herb Cohen. DiscReet was created in 1973 when their previous companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records were discontinued. The name of the label was a pun derived from "disc" and the discrete (also known as "Compatible Discrete 4", "CD-4" or "Quadradisc") method of encoding Quadraphonic sound into phonograph records.
DiscReet issued many albums by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention between 1973 and 1979. Another notable artist on the DiscReet label was Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes, who recorded their final two albums for DiscReet. Soon after this Ted Nugent began his solo career.
Zappa's original intention was to release all albums on the DiscReet label in 4-channel Quadrophonic sound. DiscReet issued 2 albums specially remixed for Quadraphonic during 1973. These were Over-Nite Sensation by Frank Zappa and The Mothers and Apostrophe (') credited to Frank Zappa. Unfortunately, the all Quadrophonic policy had to dropped after just 2 releases. Also advertised were Quadraphonic versions of 2 other Zappa titles. These were the 2 LP live album from 1974, Roxy & Elsewhere, and the 1975 (mostly) studio album One Size Fits All. The 4 channel master tapes for these albums probably still exist somewhere in the Zappa archives but the Quadrophonic versions of these albums have never been released.
Herb Cohen also brought to the label recordings by Tim Buckley and Kathy Dalton. In 1976 the Zappa/Cohen business partnership turned sour and ended in litigation. At the same time Zappa also had disagreements with DiscReet's distributor, Warner Bros. Records. DiscReet was shut down in 1979 following the decision by Warner Bros. to release 3 albums for which Zappa claimed Warner did not have proper authorization, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, and Orchestral Favorites. The 3 disputed titles had no songwriting or production credits and used artwork by Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa.
Zappa moved on to create Zappa Records with distribution through PolyGram Records in 1979. This was followed by Barking Pumpkin Records in 1981, distributed by CBS Records.
In 1988 and 1989 DiscReet recordings by Tim Buckley and Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes were briefly re-issued on CD and cassette by the Enigma Retro label.
