Interview with the Composer - Revision history

Jason.Kreitzer at 17:21, 22 September 2021

2021-09-22T17:21:33Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 19:05, 21 September 2021

2021-09-21T19:05:04Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 20:03, 13 August 2021

2021-08-13T20:03:19Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 03:47, 13 August 2021

2021-08-13T03:47:26Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 19:22, 31 July 2021

2021-07-31T19:22:15Z

Spider of Destiny at 20:14, 17 November 2020

2020-11-17T20:14:01Z

Spider of Destiny at 01:02, 15 October 2011

2011-10-15T01:02:47Z

Spider of Destiny at 09:33, 20 May 2011

2011-05-20T09:33:32Z

Spider of Destiny at 15:06, 2 January 2011

2011-01-02T15:06:22Z

Propellerkuh at 20:20, 28 December 2007

2007-12-28T20:20:16Z

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 The culprit? Restrictive mass media, especially radio. "Such a narrow spectrum is broadcast that a person doesn't have much to choose from. Your options are being narrowed down. Your taste is being manufactured for you by a program director."
-"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Gerry And The Holograms|Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [https://www.discogs.com/artist/144423-The-Mothmen The Moth Men], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [https://www.discogs.com/artist/1018811-Bruce-Hampton Hampton B. Coles] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
+"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Gerry And The Holograms|Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [https://www.discogs.com/artist/144423-The-Mothmen The Moth Men], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Bruce Hampton|Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
 If you have to hang a tag on Zappa, call him an individualist. "I think that's the way you were born. If you want to dump it along the way, submerge yourself to become part of some larger stupidity, that's your business. But I think you'd probably have more fun if you stay true to yourself."

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 The culprit? Restrictive mass media, especially radio. "Such a narrow spectrum is broadcast that a person doesn't have much to choose from. Your options are being narrowed down. Your taste is being manufactured for you by a program director."
-"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Gerry And The Holograms|Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [[The Moth Men]], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
+"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Gerry And The Holograms|Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [https://www.discogs.com/artist/144423-The-Mothmen The Moth Men], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [https://www.discogs.com/artist/1018811-Bruce-Hampton Hampton B. Coles] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
 If you have to hang a tag on Zappa, call him an individualist. "I think that's the way you were born. If you want to dump it along the way, submerge yourself to become part of some larger stupidity, that's your business. But I think you'd probably have more fun if you stay true to yourself."

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 The culprit? Restrictive mass media, especially radio. "Such a narrow spectrum is broadcast that a person doesn't have much to choose from. Your options are being narrowed down. Your taste is being manufactured for you by a program director."
-"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [[The Moth Men]], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
+"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Gerry And The Holograms|Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [[The Moth Men]], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
 If you have to hang a tag on Zappa, call him an individualist. "I think that's the way you were born. If you want to dump it along the way, submerge yourself to become part of some larger stupidity, that's your business. But I think you'd probably have more fun if you stay true to yourself."

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 The culprit? Restrictive mass media, especially radio. "Such a narrow spectrum is broadcast that a person doesn't have much to choose from. Your options are being narrowed down. Your taste is being manufactured for you by a program director."
-"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: '[[Gidget Goes to Hell]]' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Jerry and the Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [[The Moth Men]], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
+"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Jerry And The Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [[The Moth Men]], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
 If you have to hang a tag on Zappa, call him an individualist. "I think that's the way you were born. If you want to dump it along the way, submerge yourself to become part of some larger stupidity, that's your business. But I think you'd probably have more fun if you stay true to yourself."

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:22, 31 July 2021
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−	[[Frank Zappa]], approaching 40 years of age and 30 albums, is one of rock's most valuable institutions, a treasure trove of musical lore and sociological oddities. He's also one of the most terrifying figures in the industry. He's the ultimate mad scientist, the skeleton at the cultural feast, the vulture poised to pounce on the slightest pretension. He wields sarcasm like a straight razor in a gang fight, and his rhetorical weaponry is almost as sharp.	+	[[Biography\|Frank Zappa]], approaching 40 years of age and 30 albums, is one of rock's most valuable institutions, a treasure trove of musical lore and sociological oddities. He's also one of the most terrifying figures in the industry. He's the ultimate mad scientist, the skeleton at the cultural feast, the vulture poised to pounce on the slightest pretension. He wields sarcasm like a straight razor in a gang fight, and his rhetorical weaponry is almost as sharp.

	Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] includes the following categorical denunciation: ''"All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze / Selling [[punk]] like some new kind of English disease / Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!"'' He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press – this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding – he promises to be a formidable interview.		Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] includes the following categorical denunciation: ''"All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze / Selling [[punk]] like some new kind of English disease / Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!"'' He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press – this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding – he promises to be a formidable interview.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:14, 17 November 2020
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	"Nobody's ever asked me. I thought it looked good on bluesman [[Johnny Otis]], so I grew it."		"Nobody's ever asked me. I thought it looked good on bluesman [[Johnny Otis]], so I grew it."
		+
		+	[[Category:1980]]
	[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]		[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 [[Frank Zappa]], approaching 40 years of age and 30 albums, is one of rock's most valuable institutions, a treasure trove of musical lore and sociological oddities. He's also one of the most terrifying figures in the industry. He's the ultimate mad scientist, the skeleton at the cultural feast, the vulture poised to pounce on the slightest pretension. He wields sarcasm like a straight razor in a gang fight, and his rhetorical weaponry is almost as sharp.
-Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] includes the following categorical denunciation: ''"All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze / Selling punk like some new kind of English disease / Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!"'' He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press – this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding – he promises to be a formidable interview.
+Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] includes the following categorical denunciation: ''"All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze / Selling [[punk]] like some new kind of English disease / Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!"'' He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press – this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding – he promises to be a formidable interview.
 But I suspected that if I ignored the adversary relationship and treated him like a human being, Zappa might respond as one. And it worked! Zappa metamorphosed into a bona fide nice guy. He talked at length about issues he feels are important, from spicy food ('When it starts sweating right through under your eyes then you know they did it right") to contemporary serious music ("I think 'November Steps' (by [[Tōru Takemitsu|Tōru Takemitsu]]) kicks the shit out of '[[Olivier Messiaen|Turangalila]]'"). And I think he had a good time. I certainly did.
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 Zappa deals more kindly but just as firmly with the other popular misconception: that he speaks for a subculture. Carlo asked if he'd ever felt an affinity with popular culture. Zappa quickly quashed the idea: "Meaning will I endorse the behavior of hippies and so forth? No. I don't think there is any one mass behavior spectrum I could put my stamp of approval on." So much for a so-called founding father of psychedelia. But the typewriter cadre won't take no for an answer, so they come back with a query about punk – much of which, to be sure, claims his aesthetic influence. Growing pedantic, he amplified:
-"There's always unknown bands, there's always garage bands, and there's always upsurges. Some of it is wonderful and some of it is not. It's only because everybody is looking at it. Somebody writes in the newspaper, 'Punk is really happening,' bingo bango bongo, a thousand punk groups. The same guy who was singing like the Eagles the other day has just slashed his face with razor blades, stuck pins all over his nose, dyed his hair blue, got a mohawk haircut, ripped all his clothes, forgotten everything he ever learned on his instrument, bangs the fuck out of it and gets a contract for a hundred thousand dollars-because that's the way record companies think."
+"There's always unknown bands, there's always garage bands, and there's always upsurges. Some of it is wonderful and some of it is not. It's only because everybody is looking at it. Somebody writes in the newspaper, '[[Punk]] is really happening,' bingo bango bongo, a thousand punk groups. The same guy who was singing like the Eagles the other day has just slashed his face with razor blades, stuck pins all over his nose, dyed his hair blue, got a mohawk haircut, ripped all his clothes, forgotten everything he ever learned on his instrument, bangs the fuck out of it and gets a contract for a hundred thousand dollars-because that's the way record companies think."
 However much Zappa's been touted as an acute sociological observer – and he willingly cops to the title – most of his schtick consists of sensitivity to, and abhorrence of, trends. The same methodology that trashed the figureheads of peace and love in [[We're Only In It For The Money]] back in 1968 is still functioning. In [[Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III|Joe's Garage]], besides the lyric already quoted (from "[[Packard Goose]]"), there's the title track, as heavy-handed a piss-take of the three-chord cult as you'll find anywhere. It's not that he hates the genre, he just hates the conformity. "Usually, when a trend starts, once you've assessed from photographs what the clothing style is supposed to be, you're in. That's what constitutes the bulk of the participants in any movement: this army of people wearing the uniform." By contrast, he paid his audience a great compliment: "The profile of a Zappa record buyer is not very uniform."

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] includes the following categorical denunciation: ''"All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze / Selling punk like some new kind of English disease / Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!"'' He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press – this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding – he promises to be a formidable interview.
-But I suspected that if I ignored the adversary relationship and treated him like a human being, Zappa might respond as one. And it worked! Zappa metamorphosed into a bona fide nice guy. He talked at length about issues he feels are important, from spicy food ('When it starts sweating right through under your eyes then you know they did it right") to contemporary serious music ("I think 'November Steps' (by [[wikipedia:Tōru Takemitsu|Tōru Takemitsu]]) kicks the shit out of '[[Olivier Messiaen|Turangalila]]'"). And I think he had a good time. I certainly did.
+But I suspected that if I ignored the adversary relationship and treated him like a human being, Zappa might respond as one. And it worked! Zappa metamorphosed into a bona fide nice guy. He talked at length about issues he feels are important, from spicy food ('When it starts sweating right through under your eyes then you know they did it right") to contemporary serious music ("I think 'November Steps' (by [[Tōru Takemitsu|Tōru Takemitsu]]) kicks the shit out of '[[Olivier Messiaen|Turangalila]]'"). And I think he had a good time. I certainly did.
 Of course, Zappa has a reputation for parboiling journalists. But then they have a propensity for pigeonholing: either making him out to be a spokesman for some vaguely defined weirdo caste, or (worse) digging for hippie dirt in the name of good copy. Consequently, Zappa keeps his guard up, and his guard varies from jargon to abrasion.

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] includes the following categorical denunciation: ''"All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze / Selling punk like some new kind of English disease / Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!"'' He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press – this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding – he promises to be a formidable interview.
-But I suspected that if I ignored the adversary relationship and treated him like a human being, Zappa might respond as one. And it worked! Zappa metamorphosed into a bona fide nice guy. He talked at length about issues he feels are important, from spicy food ('When it starts sweating right through under your eyes then you know they did it right") to contemporary serious music ("I think 'November Steps' (by [[wikipedia:Tōru Takemitsu|Tōru Takemitsu]]) kicks the shit out of '[[wikipedia:Turangalîla-Symphonie|Turangalila]]'"). And I think he had a good time. I certainly did.
+But I suspected that if I ignored the adversary relationship and treated him like a human being, Zappa might respond as one. And it worked! Zappa metamorphosed into a bona fide nice guy. He talked at length about issues he feels are important, from spicy food ('When it starts sweating right through under your eyes then you know they did it right") to contemporary serious music ("I think 'November Steps' (by [[wikipedia:Tōru Takemitsu|Tōru Takemitsu]]) kicks the shit out of '[[Olivier Messiaen|Turangalila]]'"). And I think he had a good time. I certainly did.
 Of course, Zappa has a reputation for parboiling journalists. But then they have a propensity for pigeonholing: either making him out to be a spokesman for some vaguely defined weirdo caste, or (worse) digging for hippie dirt in the name of good copy. Consequently, Zappa keeps his guard up, and his guard varies from jargon to abrasion.
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 The culprit? Restrictive mass media, especially radio. "Such a narrow spectrum is broadcast that a person doesn't have much to choose from. Your options are being narrowed down. Your taste is being manufactured for you by a program director."
-"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: 'Gidget Goes to Hell' by the Suburban Lawns, Jerry and the Holograms, 'Irene Does It Matter' by the Moth Men, One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by Hampton B. Coles under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like 'Debra Cadabra'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
+"Radio as a medium can be very exciting, you know. I just spent four days being a disc jockey on WPIX, and I had a wonderful time. They picked the hits, and I played everything else. I think that out of a two hour show we played maybe five songs from their playlist, and all the rest of the stuff I picked. I put some records on the air that you never would have heard: '[[Gidget Goes to Hell]]' by the [[Suburban Lawns]], [[Jerry and the Holograms]], 'Irene Does It Matter' by [[The Moth Men]], One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist by [[Hampton B. Coles]] under the news. I also played some things from my old albums that never got played, like '[[Debra Kadabra|Debra Cadabra]]'; when was the last time you heard that on radio? I got away with a total of eight glorious hours during Thanksgiving week, and I think that what I did was good. I'm getting tapes of all the shows so I can play them in Los Angeles when I get back. Radio's a business, like everything else. It does stupid things that it has to do in order to support itself."
 If you have to hang a tag on Zappa, call him an individualist. "I think that's the way you were born. If you want to dump it along the way, submerge yourself to become part of some larger stupidity, that's your business. But I think you'd probably have more fun if you stay true to yourself."
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 At heart, though, Zappa just grits his teeth and expects the worst. "When things are really stupid, when they're really stupid, I'm not surprised. What surprises me is if things turn out good – anything that rises above the general level of mediocrity. Wonderful is something else, you know. I just think the norm of the universe is stupidity. Stupidity is like hydrogen; it's everywhere, it's the basic building block of the universe."
-Jeepers, that's pessimistic. It's even depressing. By now I'm beginning to feel genuinely sorry for perhaps the most vitriolic artist of our generation. So, since it's now my turn to conduct the interview, I change the subject: Let's talk about composition.
+[[Jeepers]], that's pessimistic. It's even depressing. By now I'm beginning to feel genuinely sorry for perhaps the most vitriolic artist of our generation. So, since it's now my turn to conduct the interview, I change the subject: Let's talk about composition.
 "That's a novel question," he offers. But he's getting interested. The label he most readily applies to himself is composer. Whenever he's branded weird, Zappa admits that, yeah, a guy who likes to sit around at a piano all day scrawling little notes on paper is certainly out of step with the times. If you can get across to him that you find composing not weird, but admirable, he'll open right up. When and how did he decide to be a composer?
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 "This is a popular fantasy. Most of the people who listen to my music don't give a fuck about orchestral music, by me or anybody else. If it's to survive at all, there has to be a concerted effort to save it, the same way they spend bucks to save the snail dart or any of those other little woodside knickknacks. It always looks good in a news story that we're saving some poor fish, but the cause of contemporary music is a little different; there's such a stigma on it. Contemporary music is probably the most useless thing in America today. The frisbee is more vital and useful to America's lifestyle than contemporary music."
-Hmm, maybe we shouldn't pursue this line of discussion. What else does Zappa do? He makes movies – and recently an opportunity dropped into his lap. "A German television crew was here two days ago – they came to do an interview – and they asked me what I was doing on Thanksgiving. I told them I was going out to Canarsie to have dinner with the parents of my guitarist, [[Warren Cuccurullo]]. Since I was there once before and it turned into this neighborhood extravaganza you wouldn't believe, I said chances are it's going to be another one of those, and you should film it. They did, and boy, it was incredible. You've never seen a Thanksgiving like this; the behavior was so new wave."
+Hmm, maybe we shouldn't pursue this line of discussion. What else does Zappa do? He makes movies – and recently an opportunity dropped into his lap. "A German television crew was here two days ago – they came to do an interview – and they asked me what I was doing on Thanksgiving. I told them I was going out to [[Canarsie]] to have dinner with the parents of my guitarist, [[Warren Cuccurullo]]. Since I was there once before and it turned into this neighborhood extravaganza you wouldn't believe, I said chances are it's going to be another one of those, and you should film it. They did, and boy, it was incredible. You've never seen a Thanksgiving like this; the behavior was so new wave."
 Zappa then describes an all-American scene staged for the benefit of German TV: the single-earringed prodigal son – gagged with panties and beaten with a whisk broom wielded by his girlfriend – plunking two-string acoustic guitar on a bed in front of his family (father from the old country) ignoring the whole thing. Zappa's audiences may not realize how few of his lyric grotesqueries derive from imagination.
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 Ulp. Suddenly he's the mad scientist again. A vision that unites his whole body of work, and projects it into the future, is truly scary.
-Now that I'm considering it, Joe's Garage bothers me. I'm convinced anew that Frank Zappa is a genius, one of the most intelligent people in rock, but his records can be appallingly stupid – especially these last few. The theme of the Joe's Garage set (two albums, containing three one-act discs between them) fits in with his abhorrence of senseless conformity. However, the scenario, which he admits right off is dumb, is that the government uses music as a scapegoat for social ills. The plot is even drearier, a concatenation of progressively less savory sexual encounters that ultimately render Joe a mental vegetable, suited only for work as a muffin man. (Get the reference?)
+Now that I'm considering it, Joe's Garage bothers me. I'm convinced anew that Frank Zappa is a genius, one of the most intelligent people in rock, but his records can be appallingly stupid – especially these last few. The theme of the Joe's Garage set (two albums, containing three one-act discs between them) fits in with his abhorrence of senseless conformity. However, the scenario, which he admits right off is dumb, is that the government uses music as a scapegoat for social ills. The plot is even drearier, a concatenation of progressively less savory sexual encounters that ultimately render Joe a mental vegetable, suited only for work as a [[Muffin Man|muffin man]]. (Get the reference?)
-Zappa exercises his unique compositional chops, but you have to look pretty hard. Bizarre synthetic rumbles, tape effects, uneven rhythms, etc., tend to be buried deep in dense mixes: under a fog of disco, reggae, ersatz '50s, ersatz heavy metal and genuine skating rink music. There are half a dozen commendable guitar solos and one characteristically enjoyable blues jam, entitled "Crew Slut" (which is what happens to Joe's girlfriend to send him on the path to destruction). For any long-term fans still listening, there are liberal cross-references to earlier albums (is that how he defines the big structure?), as well as allusions to cultural phenomenon like the Who, Al DiMeola and the Seeds.
+Zappa exercises his unique compositional chops, but you have to look pretty hard. Bizarre synthetic rumbles, tape effects, uneven rhythms, etc., tend to be buried deep in dense mixes: under a fog of disco, reggae, ersatz '50s, ersatz heavy metal and genuine skating rink music. There are half a dozen commendable guitar solos and one characteristically enjoyable blues jam, entitled "[[Crew Slut]]" (which is what happens to Joe's girlfriend to send him on the path to destruction). For any long-term fans still listening, there are liberal cross-references to earlier albums (is that how he defines the big structure?), as well as allusions to cultural phenomenon like the Who, Al DiMeola and the Seeds.
 I get this picture of Zappa as an immense oyster. He has the capacity to take a social irritant and spew all over it until it becomes a pearl. But the gems are increasingly rare, and most of the time he simply huddles inside his shell. But then, he makes his home in LA – perhaps the trendiest locale in the country, and hence a horrible environment for him.