The Independent effectively having to function under siege from sacked print workers picketing outside. "The Independent" attracted some of the staff from the two Murdoch broadsheets who had chosen not to move to his company's new headquarters. Launched with the advertising slogan "It is. Are you?", and challenging both "The Guardian" for centre-left readers and "The Times" as the newspaper of record, "The Independent" reached a circulation of over 400,000 by 1989. Competing in a moribund market, "The Independent" sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as, within a few years, a price war in the market sector. When "The
You Are What You Is You Is", "Tinsel Town Rebellion" and two series of live albums, "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" and "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore". Zappa had performed most of the material from "You Are What You Is" on a tour running from March to July 1980 with a band including Ike Willis and Ray White on guitar and vocals, Tommy Mars on keyboards, Arthur Barrow on bass and keyboards and David Logeman on drums. This band recorded the basic tracks of the album in the summer of 1980 after finishing the tour, with guitarist Steve Vai and vocalist Bob