Dynamo Frank - Revision history

Spider of Destiny at 22:42, 8 July 2026

2026-07-08T22:42:29Z

Spider of Destiny at 22:03, 10 June 2026

2026-06-10T22:03:25Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 18:48, 17 September 2021

2021-09-17T18:48:47Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 15:08, 4 August 2021

2021-08-04T15:08:15Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 01:22, 24 July 2021

2021-07-24T01:22:27Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 03:13, 22 July 2021

2021-07-22T03:13:59Z

Spider of Destiny at 21:32, 17 November 2020

2020-11-17T21:32:54Z

Spider of Destiny at 20:30, 4 November 2020

2020-11-04T20:30:52Z

Spider of Destiny at 12:16, 7 October 2013

2013-10-07T12:16:12Z

Spider of Destiny at 11:12, 7 October 2013

2013-10-07T11:12:09Z

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 By Alan di Perna<br>
-[[Guitar World]], 2003 December<br>
+[[Guitar World]], 2003 December (based on a 1988 interview with Frank Zappa)<br>
 [[Image:GuitWorld-2003-Dec2.jpg|frame|]]
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 '''Is there a reason why you've been so active lately in releasing live concert recordings that you've done over the years and reissuing your older albums?<br>
-The reason we are releasing those older albums is that people want them on CD. I've got one major problem in life, which is the bootleg situation: every time I step out the door, somebody is bootlegging what I do. I'm finding discs of interviews that I've done that have been bootlegged. CDs of interviews going years back! And concerts all over the place are bootlegged. So rather than just give up and let the bootleggers handle my musical output, I feel I should release something. Hardcore fans are already buying these bad-quality recordings of the live concert material. The best thing I can do right now is give them the best versions and the best recording quality I can provide.
+The reason we are releasing those older albums is that people want them on CD. I've got one major problem in life, which is the [[bootlegs|bootleg]] situation: every time I step out the door, somebody is bootlegging what I do. I'm finding discs of interviews that I've done that have been bootlegged. CDs of interviews going years back! And concerts all over the place are bootlegged. So rather than just give up and let the bootleggers handle my musical output, I feel I should release something. Hardcore fans are already buying these bad-quality recordings of the live concert material. The best thing I can do right now is give them the best versions and the best recording quality I can provide.
 '''So has reissuing all this stuff prompted you to go back and reevaluate the early phase of your career?<br>
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 [[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]
-[[Category:2003]]
+[[Category:1988]]

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 It's hard to fathom that a full 10 years have gone by since Zappa passed away, succumbing to prostate cancer at age 52 on December 4, 1993. Because he was so hardworking and prolific during his lifetime, we've been continually blessed with posthumous releases of brand-new Zappa music during the decade that he's been gone. But what we've been sadly deprived of is the benefit of Frank's intelligent, highly original take on the phenomenon we call reality, and his tireless crusading against stupidity in all its infinite manifestations. No wonder the world is in such a sorry mess.
-Frank Zappa was one of the smartest people ever to play rock and roll, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. First emerging in 1966 as the leader of the [[The Mothers|Mothers of Invention]], he stood out as a fiercely iconoclastic and innovative artist in what was arguably rock's most wildly creative era. The very term and concept "to freak out" entered the English language and worldwide collective consciousness via Zappa and the Mothers' 1966 debut album, [[Freak Out!]] Raunchier than the ''[[The Rolling Stones|Stones]],'' more experimental than the ''[[The Beatles|Beatles]],'' more dangerous than the ''[[The Velvet Underground|Velvet Underground]],'' uglier than sin, Zappa and his hirsute cohorts blended populist forms such as doo-wop and blues with highbrow art tactics like [[wikipedia:Dada|Dadaism]] and [[wikipedia:Musique concrète|musique concrète]] [the art of capturing and manipulating raw sounds on tape – Ed.], dramatically expanding rock's musical lexicon. Early Mothers of invention albums lambasted the mainstream American society of the Sixties, with its racial tensions, imperialist aggression (the Vietnam War was raging), sexual hang-ups and boozy hypocrisy. But Zappa was equally hard on the emerging Sixties counterculture, suggesting that maybe hippies weren't any brighter than their parents. Resolutely drug-free all his life, a clearheaded champion of independent thinking, Zappa never joined anyone's movement, party or fashion parade.
+Frank Zappa was one of the smartest people ever to play rock and roll, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. First emerging in 1966 as the leader of the [[The Mothers|Mothers of Invention]], he stood out as a fiercely iconoclastic and innovative artist in what was arguably rock's most wildly creative era. The very term and concept "to freak out" entered the English language and worldwide collective consciousness via Zappa and the Mothers' 1966 debut album, [[Freak Out!]] Raunchier than the ''[[The Rolling Stones|Stones]],'' more experimental than the ''[[The Beatles|Beatles]],'' more dangerous than the ''[[The Velvet Underground|Velvet Underground]],'' uglier than sin, Zappa and his hirsute cohorts blended populist forms such as doo-wop and blues with highbrow art tactics like [[Dada|Dadaism]] and [[wikipedia:Musique concrète|musique concrète]] [the art of capturing and manipulating raw sounds on tape – Ed.], dramatically expanding rock's musical lexicon. Early Mothers of invention albums lambasted the mainstream American society of the Sixties, with its racial tensions, imperialist aggression (the Vietnam War was raging), sexual hang-ups and boozy hypocrisy. But Zappa was equally hard on the emerging Sixties counterculture, suggesting that maybe hippies weren't any brighter than their parents. Resolutely drug-free all his life, a clearheaded champion of independent thinking, Zappa never joined anyone's movement, party or fashion parade.
 As the Sixties bled into the Seventies, it became increasingly clear that Zappa was far more than the proprietor of rock's strangest freak circus. A serious disciple of the 20th century composers [[Edgard Varèse]], [[Anton Webern]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]], Zappa brought his own considerable compositional prowess to the fore on soundtrack albums like [[Uncle Meat]] (1969) and [[200 Motels]] (1971). At the same time, he established himself as a guitar hero par excellence via solo discs like [[Hot Rats]] (1969). He was one of the most accomplished and distinctive guitar soloists that rock has ever produced – a player who possessed an equally brilliant command of 20th century avant-garde modalities and the lowdown, greasy blues.

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 Several generations of rock musicians have learned to count weird time signatures by listening to Frank Zappa records. But he also cultivated a bizarre and controversial brand of gross-out humor that made Zappa standards like "[[Don't Eat The Yellow Snow]]" and "[[Dinah-Moe Humm]]" concert favorites for fans who wouldn't know an ostinato from horseradish. Zappa's perversely fecund imagination extended beyond music into other media, such as film. Long before the MTV era, Frank was experimenting with cutting-edge video techniques, searching for a visual equivalent to his music's cut-and-paste, dream-logic discontinuity in cult movie faves like the aforementioned Uncle Meat, 200 Motels and [[Baby Snakes]] (1979).
-Long before [[wikipedia:Courtney Love|Courtney Love]] and others started the current campaign for artists' rights, Zappa was battling against corporate control of music, splitting acrimoniously with Warner Bros. in 1977, and setting up his own [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]] record label and merchandising operation in 1980. This was long before the internet made it easy for artists to reach the public directly. One of the first things Zappa did was release 1981's [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (The Series)|Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]] series, three albums consisting of nothing but guitar solos, culled mainly from live concerts. Meanwhile, Zappa's orchestral and chamber compositions began to be performed and recorded with increasing frequency by such prestigious ensembles as the [[London Philharmonic]], [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]], [[Aspen Wind Quintet]] and [[Ensemble Modern]]. Indeed, the Eighties saw an avalanche of Zappa releases in an abundance of styles and formats – concert albums and pristine studio discs featuring the work of noted players like guitarists [[Steve Vai]] and [[Adrian Belew]] and drummers [[Terry Bozzio]] and [[Vinnie Colaiuta]].
+Long before [[wikipedia:Courtney Love|Courtney Love]] and others started the current campaign for artists' rights, Zappa was battling against corporate control of music, splitting acrimoniously with Warner Bros. in 1977, and setting up his own [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]] record label and merchandising operation in 1980. This was long before the internet made it easy for artists to reach the public directly. One of the first things Zappa did was release 1981's [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (The Series)|Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]] series, three albums consisting of nothing but guitar solos, culled mainly from live concerts. Meanwhile, Zappa's orchestral and chamber compositions began to be performed and recorded with increasing frequency by such prestigious ensembles as the [[Wikipedia:London Philharmonic Orchestra|London Philharmonic]], [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]], [https://www.discogs.com/artist/2780951-The-Aspen-Wind-Quintet Aspen Wind Quintet] and [[Ensemble Modern]]. Indeed, the Eighties saw an avalanche of Zappa releases in an abundance of styles and formats – concert albums and pristine studio discs featuring the work of noted players like guitarists [[Steve Vai]] and [[Adrian Belew]] and drummers [[Terry Bozzio]] and [[Vinnie Colaiuta]].
 For Zappa, music was not a career but a calling. He possessed a work ethic unlike anything that exists in current music. And while we'll never know precisely what Frank would have said about today's issues, we do have the following interview from 1988. Never before published in full, it was originally conducted for a brief prose piece in Musician magazine. What's most remarkable about this document is Zappa's uncanny prescience. Many of his comments about American society and the music business sound like they could have come out of this week's Billboard or [[The New York Times|New York Times]].

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 Several generations of rock musicians have learned to count weird time signatures by listening to Frank Zappa records. But he also cultivated a bizarre and controversial brand of gross-out humor that made Zappa standards like "[[Don't Eat The Yellow Snow]]" and "[[Dinah-Moe Humm]]" concert favorites for fans who wouldn't know an ostinato from horseradish. Zappa's perversely fecund imagination extended beyond music into other media, such as film. Long before the MTV era, Frank was experimenting with cutting-edge video techniques, searching for a visual equivalent to his music's cut-and-paste, dream-logic discontinuity in cult movie faves like the aforementioned Uncle Meat, 200 Motels and [[Baby Snakes]] (1979).
-Long before [[wikipedia:Courtney Love|Courtney Love]] and others started the current campaign for artists' rights, Zappa was battling against corporate control of music, splitting acrimoniously with Warner Bros. in 1977, and setting up his own [[Barking Pumpkin]] record label and merchandising operation in 1980. This was long before the internet made it easy for artists to reach the public directly. One of the first things Zappa did was release 1981's [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (The Series)|Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]] series, three albums consisting of nothing but guitar solos, culled mainly from live concerts. Meanwhile, Zappa's orchestral and chamber compositions began to be performed and recorded with increasing frequency by such prestigious ensembles as the [[London Philharmonic]], [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]], [[Aspen Wind Quintet]] and [[Ensemble Modern]]. Indeed, the Eighties saw an avalanche of Zappa releases in an abundance of styles and formats – concert albums and pristine studio discs featuring the work of noted players like guitarists [[Steve Vai]] and [[Adrian Belew]] and drummers [[Terry Bozzio]] and [[Vinnie Colaiuta]].
+Long before [[wikipedia:Courtney Love|Courtney Love]] and others started the current campaign for artists' rights, Zappa was battling against corporate control of music, splitting acrimoniously with Warner Bros. in 1977, and setting up his own [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]] record label and merchandising operation in 1980. This was long before the internet made it easy for artists to reach the public directly. One of the first things Zappa did was release 1981's [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (The Series)|Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]] series, three albums consisting of nothing but guitar solos, culled mainly from live concerts. Meanwhile, Zappa's orchestral and chamber compositions began to be performed and recorded with increasing frequency by such prestigious ensembles as the [[London Philharmonic]], [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]], [[Aspen Wind Quintet]] and [[Ensemble Modern]]. Indeed, the Eighties saw an avalanche of Zappa releases in an abundance of styles and formats – concert albums and pristine studio discs featuring the work of noted players like guitarists [[Steve Vai]] and [[Adrian Belew]] and drummers [[Terry Bozzio]] and [[Vinnie Colaiuta]].
 For Zappa, music was not a career but a calling. He possessed a work ethic unlike anything that exists in current music. And while we'll never know precisely what Frank would have said about today's issues, we do have the following interview from 1988. Never before published in full, it was originally conducted for a brief prose piece in Musician magazine. What's most remarkable about this document is Zappa's uncanny prescience. Many of his comments about American society and the music business sound like they could have come out of this week's Billboard or [[The New York Times|New York Times]].

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 [[Image:GuitWorld-2003-Dec2.jpg|frame|]]
-Visionary composer, genius guitarist and hilariously acerbic social critic [[Frank Zappa]] continues to be an indisputable force, one decade after his death. In a special 10th anniversary tribute, ''Guitar World'' presents the one and only Grand Wazoo in his own words.
+Visionary composer, genius guitarist and hilariously acerbic social critic [[Biography|Frank Zappa]] continues to be an indisputable force, one decade after his death. In a special 10th anniversary tribute, ''Guitar World'' presents the one and only Grand Wazoo in his own words.
 What would Frank Zappa say if he were alive today? What would he say about being recontextualized, in recent years, as some kind of "jam band" phenomenon? What would he say about the 2000 "election" of Bush II? The "liberation" of Iraq? Clear Channel's growing monopoly over the airwaves? The shrinking of the record biz? Our fucked economy? For anyone at all familiar with Zappa, it's a safe bet that his take on all these issues would have us peeing our pants with laughter while simultaneously savoring the increasingly rare sound of a public figure speaking the truth.
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 In short, the scene was quintessential Frank, with its sense of methodical, highly productive work taking place amid gypsy domestic disarray. And this is arguably what was at the heart of all Zappa's best work – the confluence of his obsessively organized habit of mind with the messy, chance occurrences of his immediate situation. Frank loved to conduct chaos – carefully orchestrating random noises, belches, rude jokes and the stoned ruminations of band members into Dadaist constructs of beguiling fascination.
-In 1988, when the following interview took place, [[George Bush|Bush the First]]  was just coming into power, hair metal and bland pop ballads ruled the charts, the economy was tanking and Zappa had recently emerged as an eloquent defender of our Constitutional right to free speech in the Congressional "porn rock" hearings that had followed in the wake of a concerted effort by the religious right to censor and suppress rock music. That was the year Zappa retired from touring, disgruntled by interband feuding that broke out during his final outing, the Broadway the Hard Way tour. In '88, Frank was still two years away from being diagnosed with the illness that would take his life in '93. But one would never have guessed Zappa had just five years to live. Barefoot, dressed in a bright yellow shirt and black running pants, he looked trim and fit. Never a lover of the rock press, Zappa was nonetheless cordial and generally patient in answering the journalistic queries posed for him.
+In 1988, when the following interview took place, [[George H.W. Bush|Bush the First]]  was just coming into power, hair metal and bland pop ballads ruled the charts, the economy was tanking and Zappa had recently emerged as an eloquent defender of our Constitutional right to free speech in the Congressional "porn rock" hearings that had followed in the wake of a concerted effort by the religious right to censor and suppress rock music. That was the year Zappa retired from touring, disgruntled by interband feuding that broke out during his final outing, the Broadway the Hard Way tour. In '88, Frank was still two years away from being diagnosed with the illness that would take his life in '93. But one would never have guessed Zappa had just five years to live. Barefoot, dressed in a bright yellow shirt and black running pants, he looked trim and fit. Never a lover of the rock press, Zappa was nonetheless cordial and generally patient in answering the journalistic queries posed for him.
 ----
 '''When you first started releasing albums comprised exclusively of guitar solos, with Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar in '81, did the idea give you any trouble? Didn't it seem kind of like taking all the sex scenes out of a good novel or film and stringing them all together?<br>

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 '''If you had come along today as a brand-new, 20-year-old artist doing what you did when you were a brand-new, 20year-old artist ... <br>
 I wouldn't get a contract.
 [[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]

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 '''Is there anyone on the current scene who you particularly enjoy?<br>
-In spite of the negative things that are said about him, I happen to think that Yngwie Malmsteen really can play. I saw some videos when I was in Europe that they were playing on ''Sky Channel.'' I was really impressed. And of course [[Eddie Van Halen|Eddie]] [Van Halen] is unbelievable. And this guy in ''Ratt,'' [[Warren Di Martini]], he's pretty unbelievable too. And the guy that played with ''[[Ozzy Osbourne]]'' on the album with the red eyes coming out the front. I can't remember his name. He was great. [[[Jake E. Lee]] – Ed.]
+In spite of the negative things that are said about him, I happen to think that Yngwie Malmsteen really can play. I saw some videos when I was in Europe that they were playing on ''Sky Channel.'' I was really impressed. And of course [[Eddie Van Halen|Eddie]] [Van Halen] is unbelievable. And this guy in ''Ratt,'' [[Warren DeMartini]], he's pretty unbelievable too. And the guy that played with ''[[Ozzy Osbourne]]'' on the album with the red eyes coming out the front. I can't remember his name. He was great. [[[Jake E. Lee]] – Ed.]
 [[Image:GuitWorld-2003-Dec.jpg|frame|]]