Emily Alana James
Emily Alana James is an American artist from Colorado, who also lives in County Cork, Ireland.[1] In 1982, Zappa commissioned her to make a quilt out of all the bras and undergarments frequently thrown on stage: The Frank Zappa Panty Quilt. This project was referred to during the track Panty Rap and the instrumental The Madison Panty-Sniffing Festival. She completed the quilt and has frequently exhibited it since. It can nowadays be seen at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi in Mississippi. [2]
In Ode To Gravity - Frank Zappa: World Affairs Commentator, a caller asked Zappa about Mrs. James and her quilt and Zappa said he didn't have contact with her since. James also said she never was a fan of Zappa's music. [3]
Frank Zappa about Emily Alana James
Let's clear one thing up: There have been reports that you have a panty fetish and have encouraged women in your audiences to take theirs off and throw them up to you onstage. Well?
Frank Zappa: "A few years ago, in Philadelphia, a girl approached the stage and pitched up this little pair of blue panties. I knew that the drummer and one of the other guys in the band liked to sniff girls' underpants, so as soon as she pitched them up, I made the drummer get off the stand and come down and sniff them. He did and immediately pretended to gag and faint and rolled all over the stage. The audience loved it. The girl, however, was somewhat chagrined, but I have it on good authority that the panties 'were' semi-lethal. Anyway, I decided that since the people seemed to enjoy that so much, every night, we would invite girls to take their panties off and throw them up to us. But when I looked out at the audience, I realized how many of the girls were wearing pants. To assist them, I came up with helpful ways for them to take their panties off without taking down their Levis. I suggested, it they were wearing bikini panties, that they rip them on the sides and pull them off that way. If they were wearing those big, ugly cotton jobs, I told them to go back to the toilet. We did collect a large quantity of panties – hundreds of them. We gave them to an artist in Colorado named Emily James, and she's making a wall hanging out of them. She'll eventually exhibit it."
- Quoted from 20 Questions: Frank And Moon Unit Zappa, Interview by David and Victoria Sheff, Playboy, November 1982.
See also
- The Frank Zappa Panty Quilt
- Undergarments
- Frank Zappa, 82/06
- Ode To Gravity - Frank Zappa: World Affairs Commentator
