United States of America
Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore, U.S., but later moved to the Mojave Desert.
In his work Zappa was very critical of his home country, especially the American government, its foreign policy, organized religion, media, advertisement corporations and the consumer culture. This is one of the reasons why his music was far more popular in Europe.
Despite his criticisms Zappa didn't hate his country.
Contents
- 1 Locations
- 2 Track and album references to America
- 3 References to American institutions and brands
- 4 Composers and conductors
- 5 Blues singers
- 6 Doo-wop and R&B singers
- 7 Rock, Folk and Pop Artists
- 8 Writers
- 9 Comedians and TV Presenters
- 10 Politicians, Religious leaders and Business People
- 11 Criminals
- 12 Fictional characters
- 13 Scientists
- 14 Bandmembers, Supporting Cast, Family Members and Other
- 15 Miscellaneous
Locations
- Washington DC
- New York
- Chicago
- Mojave Desert
- Baltimore
- California
- Glendale
- Cucamonga
- Garrick Theatre
- Pal Studio
- Granada Hall
- Sunset Strip
- Haight-Ashbury
- Lincoln Center
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Boston
- Hollywood
- Hollywood Boulevard
- Miami
- Alaska
- Fillmore East
- Fillmore West
- Wyoming
Track and album references to America
- Hungry Freaks Daddy
- Trouble Every Day: was inspired by the Watts Riots
- The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet: "America's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful... it really makes it!"
- Plastic People
- America Drinks
- Soft-Sell Conclusion: "Worshipping together in the church of your dreams. Only in America!"
- Brown Shoes Don't Make It
- America Drinks & Goes Home
- Who Needs The Peace Corps?: "Go to San Francisco"
- Concentration Moon: "American way/how did it start? Thousands of creeps killed in the park..."
- Harry You're A Beast: "That's you, American womanhood."
- Let's Make The Water Turn Black: "Selling lamps and chairs to San Ber'dino squares"
- The Idiot Bastard Son: "The father's a Nazi in Congress today/The mother's a hooker somewhere in L.A."
- It's From Kansas
- The Voice Of Cheese: "Hello teenage America!"
- Dog Breath, In The Year Of The Plague: "Going to El Monte, legion stadium"
- God Bless America
- If We'd All Been Living In California...
- Willie The Pimp ("standing on the porch of the Lido Hotel")
- Road Ladies: "I remember there was one time in Minneapolis..."
- Would You Go All The Way? (for the U.S.A.?)
- Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture
- Lonesome Cowboy Burt "I'm from Texas"
- Redneck Eats
- Just Another Band From L.A.
- Billy The Mountain
- Camarillo Brillo "... and every newt in Idaho" (...) "by the bush in Buffalo"
- Montana
- Village Of The Sun
- Cheepnis: "Then I watched a movie from Hollywood..."
- San Ber'dino
- Debra Kadabra "Just across East L.A."
- Poofter's Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead (about the 200th birthday of the U.S.A.)
- 200 Years Old: (Pennsylvania mentioned)
- Cucamonga
- Legend Of The Illinois Enema Bandit: "A famous criminal from right around Chicago".
- Flakes: "All what we got here is American made."
- Bobby Brown Goes Down "Oh God, oh God, I'm the American dream!"
- Tinsel Town Rebellion
- Conehead
- Mudd Club
- The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
- Dumb All Over
- Heavenly Bank Account
- I Don't Wanna Get Drafted
- Valley Girl (about girls from the San Fernando Valley)
- Cocaine Decisions
- The Radio Is Broken
- Love Story (about an old Republican couple)
- Truck Driver Divorce
- Stevie's Spanking
- Be In My Video (satire of MTV)
- What's New In Baltimore?
- Porn Wars
- H.R. 2911
- Let's Move To Cleveland
- The Beltway Bandits
- Republicans
- Do Not Pass Go (from the American board game "Monopoly")
- Jim & Tammy's Upper Room
- Were We Ever Really Safe In San Antonio?
- Hotel Atlanta Incidentals
- Orrin Hatch On Skis
- It Ain't Necessarily The Saint James Infirmary
- The Florida Airport Tape
- Broadway The Hard Way
- Elvis Has Just Left The Building
- Dickie's Such An Asshole (about Richard Nixon)
- When The Lie's So Big
- Rhymin' Man (about Jesse Jackson)
- Promiscuous (about C. Everett Koop)
- The Untouchables
- Why Don't You Like Me? (about Michael Jackson (CC))
- Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk
- Ride My Face To Chicago
- Nig Biz
- I Left My Heart In San Francisco
- Theme From "Bonanza"
- Lonesome Cowboy Burt (Swaggart Version)
- More Trouble Every Day (Swaggart Version)
- Penguin In Bondage (Swaggart Version)
- Star Wars Won't Work
- Take Me Out To The Ball Game
- JCB & Kansas On The Bus
- The Madison Panty-Sniffing Festival
- Emperor Of Ohio
- Agency Man: "Let's try California..."
- Outrage At Valdez
- Times Beach
- Food Gathering In Post-Industrial America
- Welcome To The United States
- Reagan At Bitburg
- Amnerika
- This Ain't CNN
References to American institutions and brands
- The CIA
- The F.B.I.
- The White House
- The First Lady
- The President
- The IRS
- The FCC
- The U.S.O.
- PMRC
- PTA
- M.P.A.A.
- MCA
- PTC
- PCP
- Department of Defense
- Statue Of Liberty
- Moral Majority
- Mormons
- CNN
- MTV
- MCA
- MGM
- MGM Records
- Capitol Records
- Warner Brothers
- Playboy
- Playgirl
- Hustler
- Rolling Stone
- The New York Times
- The New Yorker
- Guitar Player Magazine
- Life Magazine
- Relix
- Record World
- Stereo Review
- DownBeat
- The Washington Post
- Los Angeles Free Press
- Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
- The Village Voice
- Newport Jazz Festival
- Barbie, Ken and Cindy
- Studebaker Hawk
- Oldsmobile
- Lincoln
- Dodge
- Pepsi Cola
- Jack Daniels
- Lucky Strike
- Aunt Jemima
- Uncle Ben's Rice
- Burger King
- Ronald McDonald is mentioned in Packard Goose
Composers and conductors
- Charles Ives
- Conlon Nancarrow
- Robert Craft
- Fred E. Graff
- George Antheil
- John Cage
- Joel Thome
- Kent Nagano
- Sid Sharp
- Michael Zearott
- Leo Ornstein
Blues singers
Doo-wop and R&B singers
Rock, Folk and Pop Artists
- Elvis Presley
- Bob Dylan
- Joan Baez
- Beach Boys
- Jimi Hendrix
- Jim Morrison
- The Grateful Dead
- Janis Joplin
- Punky Meadows
- Peter Frampton
- Christopher Cross
- Michael Jackson (CC)
- Madonna
- The Byrds
- The Village People
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Sam The Sham & The Pharaos
- Sky Saxon & The Seeds
- Simon and Garfunkel
- Sonny & Cher
- Keith Moon
- Twisted Sister
- Helen Reddy
- Grand Funk Railroad
- Wild Man Fischer
- Captain Beefheart
- The Velvet Underground
- John Cale
- Lou Reed
- Mötley Crüe
- Jon Fishman
- Larry LaLonde
- John Frusciante
- Henry Kaiser
- The Leaves
- Kurt Cobain
- Tom Waits
- "Weird Al" Yankovic
- Jello Biafra
- The Monkees
- Bill Graham
- Alice Cooper
- Devo
- Trey Anastasio
- Tiny Tim
- Tim Buckley
- David Crosby
- The Allman Brothers Band
- Neil Sedaka
- John Denver
- Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick
- Chuck Berry
- Little Richard
- Kiss and Gene Simmons
- The Residents
- The Shaggs
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Bruce Springsteen
- Bon Jovi
- Amboy Dukes
- Joni Mitchell
- The Turtles
- The Fugs
- The Osmonds
- Nancy Sinatra
Writers
Comedians and TV Presenters
- Johnny Carson
- Steve Allen
- Pee-Wee Herman
- Lenny Bruce
- Soupy Sales
- Roseanne Barr
- Rod Serling
- 3 Stooges
- Harold LLoyd
Politicians, Religious leaders and Business People
- George Washington
- Thomas Jefferson
- Abraham Lincoln
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Spiro Agnew
- Richard Nixon
- Henry Kissinger
- Jimmy Carter
- Ronald Reagan
- Ed Meese
- John Poindexter
- Oliver North
- C. Everett Koop
- George Bush
- Billy Graham
- Jerry Falwell
- Jim Bakker and Tammy Bakker
- Pat Robertson
- Jimmy Swaggart
- Robert Tilton
- Oral Roberts
- L. Ron Hubbard
- Reverend Hymers
- Jesse Jackson
- George Lincoln Rockwell
- Al Gore and Tipper Gore
- Strom Thurmond
- Orrin Hatch
- Barry Goldwater
- John D. Rockefeller IV
- Ted Turner
- The Iran-contra affair
- The Cold War
Criminals
Fictional characters
- King Kong
- Donald Duck
- Duckman
- Uncle Remus
- Ren And Stimpy
- The Simpsons
- Raggedy Ann
- Superman
- Little Orphan Annie
- Santa Claus
Scientists
Bandmembers, Supporting Cast, Family Members and Other
Note: Most of the people listed here are or were Americans and therefore would be too numerous to list each one of them indvidually on this page. Occasionally some of them might be born in another country:
- Category:Bandmembers
- Category:Supporting Cast
- Category:Zappa Family
- Category:Zappa Household
- Category:Babysitters
- Category:Secretaries
- Category:Musicians
- Category:Arrangers
- Category:Managers
- Category:Roadies
- Category:Road Managers
- Category:Record Companies
- Category:Animators and Cartoonists
- Category:Producers
- Category:Actors
- Category:Favorite Films
- Category:Favorite TV shows
- Category:Cover Artists
- Category:DJs
- Category:Engineers
- Category:Film Directors
- Category:Lawyers
- Groupies (CC)