Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/ZuZu Man

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Sandstein 19:58, 21 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

ZuZu Man

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Fails WP:NALBUM. I originally redirected this article to Dr. John as it's not notable and not what it says in the text, but I was reverted by the editor Mudwater, who suggested I take the matter to AfD instead (not entirely certain about that, although he was absolutely correct to say that I should have altered the album chronologies accordingly). Nevertheless, this article and its existence is a confusing mess. It is not a studio album, as stated, but a compilation of old recordings. The infobox states that the album was released on Trip Records in 1989, but the track listing is from an identically-titled album on Charly/Topline Records from 1984/1985 [1], [2], while the Trip Records album is from 1973 [3]. There are also compilations titled "Zu Zu Man" on Thunderbolt Records from 1989 [4], Zillion Records from 1991 [5], [6], and Metronome Records from 2000 [7]. You'll notice that these compilations contain many of the same tracks as each other – they are all unofficial releases of the sessions that Dr. John recorded in the mid-1960s before the release of his debut album Gris-Gris. The AllMusic review of the 1975 compilation Cut Me While I'm Hot [8] explains this in more detail, and you can see that most of the tracks appear on that album as well (well before 1989). In short, this is not a studio album, or notable, and there are two options here. I still favour a redirect – "ZuZu Man" was one of Dr. John's best known songs, and it's a valid search term for him. The other option is to WP:TNT the article and write it again from scratch as one of the compilations, stating that it's a compilation and not a studio album, and correcting the track listing, record label and cover art for the chosen album. But seeing as there are at least five albums with this name and they are all unofficial releases, I wouldn't be that hopeful of finding any other reviews or detailed sources other than the two AllMusic reviews noted above. Richard3120 (talk) 14:22, 14 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Albums and songs-related deletion discussions. Richard3120 (talk) 14:23, 14 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Music-related deletion discussions. Richard3120 (talk) 14:23, 14 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Delete - The small amount of online commentary for this album indicates that it is indeed a compilation of old outtakes, so I have updated the article to that effect. However, I agree with the nominator in that this seems to be an unauthorized and/or unofficial quickie release that came and went without notice by anyone other than collectors and completists, and it can be confused with other quickie compilations of the same title. Many notable musicians have unauthorized cheap compilations like this, but that does not make the albums themselves notable. ---DOOMSDAYER520 (Talk|Contribs) 17:17, 14 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Comment – I would like to thank Richard3120 for looking into this, and for providing a thoughtful and detailed explanation. I've checked on this myself, and as far as I can tell, his main findings are correct. There are several different bootleg albums called ZuZu Man, with similar content but different track listings, that compile some early recordings of Dr. John. The article was getting a couple of those mixed together, and there's also the question of whether this is a studio album, a compilation, or what. That's all good stuff, but not in itself sufficient to warrant the deletion of the article. The real question there is whether or not one of the ZuZu Man albums is a sufficiently notable bootleg to meet the criteria of WP:NALBUM. If yes, the article should be kept. But, to paraphrase Robert Mueller... If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that one of the ZuZu Man bootleg albums met the notability criteria, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable Wikipedia guidelines, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. — Mudwater^(Talk) 00:19, 15 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Delete. It's a bootleg. Delete it.
–Vmavanti (talk) 17:38, 15 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Redirect it with the artist article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andy Kearns (talk • contribs) 07:26, 18 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Striking !vote by sock puppet, now blocked GirthSummit _(blether) 13:02, 18 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.