Sacco & Vanzetti
Sacco & Vanzetti are the infamous Italian-American anarchists Nicola Sacco (1891-1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1888-1927), who were convicted of murder during an armed robbery in 1920 and sentenced to execution, which was carried out in 1927. Controversy has risen over the case because evidence shows that they were unjustly tried and sentenced for a crime they did not commit, solely because of anti-Italian prejudice and their anarchist ideology.
In a 1966 interview Zappa responded to the questiion: Who are your favorites in music?
In the old days, back before Rock 'n' Roll was what was happening, I used to go for Sacco & Vanzetti. And as I grew up I found that it got harder and harder to dance to them -- when you get old coordination is more difficult. I had to switch my preference, and now all I really like is Gary Lewis and the Playboys!
In a 1971 article by F.P. Tullius, they are cited again by "a critic":
A critic once said that Frank's songs and his renditions of them are "conglomerates of humor, satire, chance nonfiction and the grotesque, punctuated with snorts, oinks and boings, sprinkled with bits of Motown, Sacco and Vanzetti, R&B, Rosemary De Camp and Stravinsky."
Zappa included them in the list of names on the cover of Freak Out! along with Loeb & Leopold another pair 1920's convicted murderers who's names were used by Zappa and Ray Collins for some early performances.
See also
Wikipedia:
