The Fugs
... we need a few Frank Zappas each generation to stand up for freedom against the torches.
I think the kids are ready for everything on our albums and much more. The kids are ready for anything. I don't think our stuff is offensive in any way.
You mentioned the Fugs in comparison to us. The Fugs are not in good taste. They have a few bugs in their plan. One of them appeared on the David Susskind Show. I suppose their basic premise is "You talk dirty on a rock and roll record and this will lead the way to freedom of speech." This guy is sitting there in his chair and he couldn't care less about freedom of speech. He wants to be as cool as possible saying things like, "Yeah man, sure. Yeah, we live in the Village." They don't care about the musical end of what they're doing. They're overcome with the sociopolitical aspects.
Gail and I moved to New York in 1967 to play in the Garrick Theater on Bleecker Street. The first
place we stayed, before we could find an apartment, was the Hotel Van Rensselaer on Eleventh Street. We were living in a small room on one of the upper floors. I was working on the album cover illustration for Absolutely Free at a desk by the window. I remember the place being so dirty I couldn't
keep the soot off the artwork.
We lived on sandwiches and coffee from the Smiler's Deli around the corner. It was cold enough that a container of milk left on the outside windowsill wouldn't go bad for days (but when you brought it back in it was covered with soot). The Fugs, who were also working in the Village then, tried to launch a protest against Con Ed (the suspected source of this evil) by urging concerned citizens to mail their snot to the head office.
