Berlin
Berlin is the capital of Germany. Between 1945 and 1989, the city was divided in a Western part (capitalist) and an Eastern part (communist), further divided from 1961 on by The Berlin Wall. After the Wall was demolished in 1989, Berlin united.
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Frank Zappa
After the Berlin Wall fell, Eric Buxton and Rob Samler tried to get Zappa a piece of the Berlin Wall (quoted from They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 3). When it finally arrived at Zappa's address, he kept it. In 2016, when Zappa's former home in 7885 Woodrow Wilson Drive was sold, the presentation piece of the Berlin Wall was auctioned. [1]
Were you glued to your TV set when the Berlin Wall came down and the rest of the U.S.S.R. unraveled?
Frank Zappa: "Yeah, and I was thrilled, even though I'm pretty disappointed by what's happened since then. See, in that part of the world, the average guy in the street is like the average guy in the street anyplace else. He has the same desires. He wants something to eat, a roof over his head. He doesn't want to freeze, he wants to get laid, he wants to have a long and happy life reasonably free of pain. If he has a trade or a craft, he wants to be able to do his job. Unfortunately, these normal people are represented by bad people, just like here. But they want what we want. The average guy there is just like us, Joe Six-pack, except his beer tastes better."
- Frank Zappa. Interview in Playboy, 1992.
References to Berlin in Zappa's music
- Holiday In Berlin
- Holiday In Berlin, Full Blown
- Overture To A Holiday In Berlin
- Scene 17: "When Do We Get Paid?": "You are wise because you've traveled the world. You've been to Paris. To London. To Berlin."
- German Lunch: "How long have you been livin' in Berlin?" (...) You were here before in Berlin (...) What, what were you doing in Berlin? (...) You gave a concert in Berlin?
Zappa concerts held in Berlin
- 68/10/16 Berlin Germany SportPalast
- 71/11/24 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 72/09/15 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 74/09/14 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 76/03/04 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 77/02/07 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 78/09/07 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 78/09/07 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 80/05/26 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 82/05/12 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 84/09/11 Berlin Germany Eissporthalle
- 88/04/12 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
- 92/09/22-23 Berlin, Germany, Philharmonie
