Frank Zappa (1971 Documentary)

Scene from the documentary showing Zappa talking to three year old Moon Zappa.

Frank Zappa is a Dutch documentary for VPRO Television, directed by Roelof Kiers, originally broadcast on February 11, 1971.

The documentary features interviews with Zappa, Gail Zappa, Lucy Offerall and Pamela Miller. Moon Zappa and Dweezil Zappa can also been seen as very young children. The film shows a lot of footage recorded in Zappa's house and at stage with Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan during the Fillmore West concert on November 6, 1970.

Zappa is interviewed about his youth, love for music, personal life and politics. The documentary shows him composing music for the film 200 Motels and rehearsing songs like This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich (prologue). Unique footage of him and Wild Man Fischer playing guitar together is also shown.

Back in 1971 the documentary caused enormous controversy with Dutch TV audiences, even to the point that questions were asked in the Dutch House of Commons, "De Tweede Kamer", and 12 people cancelled their subscriptions to the VPRO. It was caused by the following scenes: Zappa's children walk around completely naked in his house and are babysitted by groupies Miss Lucy and Miss Pamela. Lucy & Pamela talk freely about their sex life on the road and even Zappa himself later admits that he commits adultery with groupies during tours, but that his wife is aware of this. Another scene features Zappa watching an amateur sex movie featuring Aynsley Dunbar with a groupie. Backstage footage of Zappa's band with groupies is also shown. The most notorious scene however showed Zappa using a vacuum cleaner on Miss Lucy's exposed breasts, while little Moon Zappa is present in the same room. Lucy even flatout says she's high at that moment.

Roelof Kiers also directed the documentary Frank Zappa Filmt 200 Motels, which was filmed around the same time. Parts of this documentary were featured in The True Story Of 200 Motels.

Frank Zappa about the VPRO documentary

Rob Scheers: Mr. Zappa, you remember that VPRO documentary?

Frank Zappa: "Yes, I have a copy in my archive, and I certainly wouldn't call it good journalism. I wonder why you are re-showing that film. Do you have a screenwriters' strike over there too, like here in Hollywood or what ? I got the impression that they messed up the whole thing quite a bit during the editing, because we gave them plenty of leeway during our tour back then, but almost none of that made it into the film. As far as I'm concerned, there should have been a lot more music in it."

Scheers: You have also gathered that the film caused quite a stir in '71. Parliamentary questions, public commotion, that sort of thing...

Zappa: "That was actually quite nice. In America, such a documentary would certainly never have been shown, although it surprises me that people apparently took such a big hit over that vacuum cleaner scene."

Scheers: But surely you invariably tried to shock, certainly in those days, or am I mistaken?

Zappa:"No, that is not right. I am currently nodding at a book, and a chapter deals with exactly this question. Whether someone is shocked by what I do or not probably has mainly to do with the person watching. For example: during a show in Greenwich Village in 1967, we brought a few Marines onto the stage who had walked in during rehearsals that afternoon. They were allowed to sing two songs, and afterwards I asked them if they would use a dummy to demonstrate what they had learned in Vietnam. That was no small feat; they mutilated the dummy with great fanaticism. Some people in the audience imagine themselves shocked. Others, say a small group of die-hard Republicans, would say: "Yeah , those are our guys in uniform, doing what they have to do, you understand?"

Scheers: Nevertheless...

Zappa: "Yes, we spoke clearly about sex, because just about everyone in the music industry was beating around the bush. People are quite romanticized about pretty common body functions . There are people who want sex described that way because they think it makes it less terrible, or something like that. We stick to the direct approach. When you talk about sex, you talk about sex. You don't say ' make love '! Love is not sex, and anyone who means sex and speaks of love corrupts the language."

Scheers: Hence the statements in the film?

Zappa: "In my opinion, that wasn't the filmmakers' angle. I mean, when you talk about the sexual revolution, it was already underway, but in '67 no one dared to depict it yet. Those two GTOs (Girls Together Outrageous) sitting in the kitchen in the film were by then hardly dressed as shockingly as they had been a few years earlier. So as far as I'm concerned, you are exaggerating if you consider it an important document of the sexual revolution. Moreover, I find it particularly unfortunate when people speak about the sexual revolution in the past tense. It is still highly necessary for people to adopt a more realistic attitude towards sex, because the serious fact is that everyone is now so panicked about scary diseases, say AIDS, that absolutely no one makes love anymore. You can do it, but wear your armor ."

(...)

Scheers: 'In the documentary, you casually share your view on a topic that was particularly popular at the time, namely The Revolution. It would certainly come, but in a modern, efficient way—or, to put it more clearly: through the advancement of young people into leadership positions. Do you remember anything about that?

Zappa: "I vaguely remember that question: the shot is filmed from a bird's-eye perspective, where I'm wearing a green shirt, I'm sitting in a chair, the hotel is in New York, huh, huh... (...) Actually, I find that part of the movie the most embarrassing, because it shows that I had more faith in people back then. I have to retract quite a few of my statements... I would never say those kinds of things about revolution again. Incidentally, that is a typically European question, because no one in the United States would put such a thing to me. The word revolution is immediately associated with communism, and that is something very far removed from me. When I used the word revolution, I meant changing things, without adopting any particular ideology."

Scheers: Well said, but what about that revolution?

Zappa: "I still believe that tasks within our system need to be changed. But well, I don't have the time, the money, or the energy to do that single-handedly, so I can only offer suggestions in my texts and interviews, after which I hope others agree with me. Hopefully, they will then be in positions to change things effectively. That is why I call upon my audience to register the record sleeves as eligible voters. You have to remain cautiously optimistic."

- Rob van Scheers, De Groucho Marx van rock 'n' roll, VPRO Gids, August 1988.

See Also:

• 70/06/18 Uddel Netherlands VPRO TV
• VPRO Intro
• Frank Zappa Filmt 200 Motels

External links

• Information about the documentary
• The entire documentary online