Category:One Size Fits All (The List)

"...the universe works whether or not we understand it ..."

SECONDS (magazine): How much was Frank involved in the concepts for the covers?

SCHENKEL: It varied a great deal from the process of actually just illustrating his concept... For instance, "One Size Fits All" was basically an illustration based on a story, with some input from Frank as to what he wanted to see in it. Then there's interplay, too, where I would have ideas beyond that preliminary state. On "One Size Fits All", the back is pretty much my concept.

SECONDS (magazine): Was he much of an art fan?

SCHENKEL: Yes and no. I don't think he was really studied in art or followed art trends, but he was certainly was aware of basic art movements. Back to how we worked "One Size Fits All" and "The Grand Wazoo" were obviously based on existing stories, but then a piece like "Uncle Meat" was entirely my design and I showed him what I did and he liked it. It ran the gamut from a great deal of control with a pre-existing concept to no idea to start with and me coming up with something and showing it to him.

Back cover art:

Star Map

On the back of the "One Size Fits All" (1975) album is a "star map" which renames stars and constellations according to low humor and in-jokes.

Around the star map is a circle that contains the words JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, JULY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, IRWINDALE, 2:30 IN AFTERNOON, SUNDAY, WALNUT, LA PUENTE, FUNNY CARS, CITY OF INDUSTRY, FRIDAY, and ROUND THINGS ARE BORING.

The lyrics to Billy The Mountain on Just Another Band From L.A. include...
"January, February, March, July . . . Wednesday . . . August . . . Irwindale . . . . . . 2:30 in the afternoon, Sunday, Monday . . . Funny Cars! Walnut! Friday City of Industry . . . "

"Round things are boring" are the last words on the "Lumpy Gravy" (1968) album.

Around the pole, there's another circle, containing the words/letters: VIRGIL, LBRA, SFSH, AGIT, CAPN, AQUA, PXES, LEOL, JM&I, TRAX, ARES, and CNCR.

The great circle of the celestial sphere, called Ecliptic - spelled YCLEPTIC - is also pictured, depicting the sun's apparent annual path.

Underneath the star map, thus on earth, are the words: PLASTICINE, CRETACEOUS PENNSYLVANIUM (perhaps a reference to "Billy The Mountain": "underneath Pensylvania"), ROCKS, and Cal Schenkel. Hidden in a hole beneath the earth is something that looks a lot like Greggery Peccary. Ants are crawling through something that looks like veins, disrupting everything that's above the surface; one of those veins is held by tweezers.

In real life, there are 88 constellations (containing some 5.000 stars); the "One Size Fits All" universe has 24 of them. Constellations are names for groups of stars that appear to form shapes in the sky. Constellations are totally imaginary things that poets, farmers and astronomers have made up over the past 6.000 years (and probably even more!). The real purpose for the constellations is to help us tell which stars are which, nothing more. On a really dark night, you can see about 1.000 to 1.500 stars. Trying to tell which is which is hard. The constellations help by breaking up the sky into more managable bits. They are used as mnemonics, or memory aids.

Related pages: "Freak Out! (The List)", "We're Only In It For the Money (The List)", "The Real Frank Zappa Book (The List)", "Them Or Us (The List)", "Tinsel Town Rebellion (The List)", PMRC (The List).