Frank Zappa

Any Zappa fans out there?

Love Frank Zappa.

He said something that I use quite a lot to describe my philosophy on life (from the album listed above, I think): Whatever you have to do to have a good time, get on with it, as long as it doesn't cause a murder.

Hi Bob, maybe you know more of his music than I do. I am more acquainted with his life than his music. I tend to like biographies. "Watermelon in Easter Hay" is just about it for me. Recently I read a download cheapy than ran through his entire output and its made me want to delve a bit. That book contained the following:-

"In a 1982 interview, Zappa's music was described to him as being quite possibly weird, and the word weird disjointed the conversation a little. “I’ll tell you what I think is weird," Frank said, sounding anything but weird. "I think the Moral Majority is weird. I think television religious fanaticism and send me your money is weird. I think the people who send the money are weird. I think the people who broadcast the shows are sick. And I think the people who do the shows are the worst. That’s what I think is weird. Other people wouldn’t. They think, ‘Oh, it’s nice. It’s Jesus. It’s nice.’ It’s not; it’s weird. What I do is real. I write songs about people who really exist and do things that maybe you haven’t heard of before, but they’re real things. And these people deserve to have songs written about them just because they have the audacity to perform these acts and should be commemorated in story and song. Just the same as folk music. Just like John Henry and the steam hammer, I’ll write the song about the mud shark. This is folklore. It needs to be perpetuated. I’m doing a nice job for people. And I’m not doing sick things like the religious maniacs on television.”

A fan in the sense that I like Zappa more than many other bands out there.
I'm a prog fan and like the music usually not heard on radio - and Frank fits that bill.

One album that sticks out for me is "Jazz from Hell"
I know if I goggle his albums, I'd say "Oh yeah, and that one .. and that one and ...."

I have him tagged for a number of my Pandora stations, and that has dug up some great tracks, such as Things That Look Like Meat

Also, one of my favorite artists got his start touring with Zappa - Adrian Belew. He went on to join The Talking Heads, King Crimson, formed a few of his own groups and has a lot of solo material.

Then there's this:


Me and a few of my friends I never met.
I'm on keys, lower left.

I'm aware of Frank Zappa and the sort of music he created. There was (what we call) a 'mature student' on my course at Uni. He was in his mid forties or something like that and had a poster of Frank Zappa sitting on the toilet. He called it the 'Zappa Crapper' poster and apparently it has been around since the 1960s. I took his word for that.

I have heard some of Zappa's material and, well... it's different, I'll say that. I borrowed the Hot Rats album from my library out of curiosity. "Willie The Pimp" is about the only thing on the album that was anything like listenable.

I also heard a tape and I can't remember the name of the song but it was a live track where a biker dude gets into an argument with the Devil about beer and his girlfriend's breasts.

Not my usual listening material and I would probably have completely forgotten all about it had it all not been so...... weird. It was the weirdness of it all that has made any of it stick in the back of my mind in a way that talking about the dude brings it back.

He's dead now, isn't he..?

I think this is where we say "yes, but his music lives on". (Frank Zappa himself might well have jeered at such banality)

But as said, I have very little acquaintance with his actual music. I get from biographical details that he was genuine and serious about his music (the lyrics are another matter - often they were a send up of the average "pop" lyrics)

Maybe its a case of what we listen for, what we expect? Innovation will very often be outside of current expectations.

I knew he had died but, holy cow - I looked it up - that was back in '93 (age 53, cancer I believe it was)

And his music is relevant still / again



Check out "Strictly Commercial" (there's a playlist on youtube) for a "best of" selection if interested.

Not only a great muso, but knew what pizza was too

THING-FISH:
I's sure dere be lotsa folks like to know what yo' plans are... how y'intend t'be gwine about dis uncredibly serious bidniss o' GROWIN' UP IN HERMERICA!

in the 60's, we had the album, " mother of invention ", i really like cover of it. i thought i was music was weird. i wasn't much of fan of his.