The Talking Asshole

FZ read The Talking Asshole section from William Burroughs' book Naked Lunch at The Nova Convention, New York, December 2, 1978. The book had been published in France in 1959 but was not published in the USA until 1962 after an obscenity trial. The book has a character called Willie The Disk.

William Burroughs and FZ

The Nova Convention took place on November 30, December 1, and December 2, 1978, with the principal performances being held on the last two days at the Entermedia Theater, on Second Avenue and Twelfth Street, which had in the fifties been the fabled Phoenix Theater. Attending were an odd mixture of academics, publishers, writers, artists, punk rockers, counterculture groupies, and an influx of bridge-and-tunnel kids drawn by Keith Richards, who made the event a sellout ...

Saturday night the Entermedia was packed, largely with young people waiting to see Keith Richards. There was a small hitch, however, which was that Keith Richards had cancelled. He was having problems as the result of a heroin bust in Toronto, and his office convinced him that appearing on the same program with Burroughs was bad publicity.

But the show had to go on, and the composer Philip Glass, playing one of his repetitive pieces on the synthesizer, was thrown to the wolves. The disappointed kids who wanted Keith Richards shouted and booed. Then Brion Gysin went on amid cries of "Where's Keith?" and found himself hoping that the riot would not start until he had done his brief turn.

In a last-minute effort, James Grauerholz had recruited Frank Zappa to pinch-hit for Keith. He volunteered to read the "talking asshole" routine from Naked Lunch. But as Zappa was preparing to go on, Patti Smith had a fit of pique about following him. James did his best to make peace, saying "Frank has come in at the last minute, and he's got to go on, and he's doing it for William, not to show you up." Patti Smith retreated to the privacy of her dressing room, and Zappa got a big hand, because that's what they wanted, a rock star.

(from Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs by Ted Morgan, New York: 1978)

FZ suggested to Burroughs that they should produce a musical version of wikipedia:Naked LunchNaked Lunch, although they often discussed it it never happened. They remained friends and FZ sent a dozen roses to Burroughs for his 70th birthday in 1984.

FZ's contribution can be found online and was issued on LP and reissued on CD:

The Nova Convention (2LP, Giorno Poetry Systems GPS 014-015, June 18, 1979)

You're A Hook. The 15 Year Anniversary Of Dial-A-Poem (1968-1983) (LP, Giorno Poetry Systems GPS 030, June 18, 1984 Reissue)

Cash Cow. The Best Of Giorno Poetry Systems 1965-1993" (CD, Giorno Poetry Systems ESD 80712, April 13, 1993)