Spider of Destiny: Created page with "Frank Zappa wearing the ''Pipco'' shirt on the cover of ''[[Lumpy Gravy''.]] File:Frank Zappa conducting in Pipco shirt.jpg|500px|..."

2026-07-05T23:37:46Z

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[[File:Lumpy gravy.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Frank Zappa wearing the ''Pipco'' shirt on the cover of ''[[Lumpy Gravy]]''.]]
[[File:Frank Zappa conducting in Pipco shirt.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Frank Zappa during the recordings for ''[[Lumpy Gravy]]''.]]
[[File:Frank Zappa in Pipco shirt with umbrella.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Frank Zappa with umbrella. Photo credit: David Gahr.]]

'''Pipco''' is the name printed on Zappa's green T-shirt on the cover of his album ''[[Lumpy Gravy]]'' (1967), which intrigued some Zappa fans for years. Interviewed by [[Den Simms]] and [[Rob Samler]] for [[Society Pages (The Magazine)]], issue #7, September 1991, Simms asked Zappa what Pipco was. Zappa replied: ''"It baffled me for a long time. Turns out to be a little league shirt from Santa Barbara, a Santa Barbara pipe company, I believe."'' Simms suggested: ''"So maybe, it was "Pipe-co."''<ref>https://www.afka.net/Articles/1991-09_Society_Pages.htm</ref> <ref>https://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/Lumpy_Gravy.html</ref>

In full, Pipco stood for ''Plastic Irrigation Products Company'', who sponsored a softball league team in Santa Barbara, California.<ref>''[[Charles Ulrich]] - [[The Big Note. A Guide To The Recordings of Frank Zappa]]'', page 308.</ref>

==Pipco (merchandising)==

In 1995, to promote [[Rykodisc]]'s re-release of ''Lumpy Gravy'', recreations of the Pipco shirt were produced. <ref>https://inkkitchen.com/throwback-thursday-the-first-distressed-shirt/</ref>

==Pipco (the Italian band)==

Between 1996 and 2002, an Italian Zappa tribute band also named themselves Pipco. They consisted of Joele Asioli (vocals, tenor sax, harmonica), Giuliano Gavagna (vocals, tenor sax), Gianluca Zangheri (vocals), Paio Guiducci (guitar), Roberto Dust (guitar), Luca Silvestri (bass), Marco Zoffoli (drums, vocals). They performed at the Zappa Day festival in Sarteano, Italy (1996-1997) and released their covers of Zappa's songs also on various albums. <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/p/pipco.htm/</ref>

==Other occurrences of Pipco in popular culture==
To promote [[Alex Winter]]'s documentary ''[[Zappa (movie)]]'' (2020), [[Matt Groening]] made a portrait of Zappa in his Pipco shirt, as part of the kickstarter. <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/g/matt_groening.htm/</ref>

==Sources==
<references/>

[[Category:Conceptual Continuity]]
[[Category:Advertisements]]
[[Category:Italian Tributes & Cover Bands]]

Pipco - Revision history

Spider of Destiny: Created page with "Frank Zappa wearing the ''Pipco'' shirt on the cover of ''[[Lumpy Gravy''.]] File:Frank Zappa conducting in Pipco shirt.jpg|500px|..."