Chad Wackerman
Chad Wackerman was born 23 May 1960 in Long Beach, CA of drummer parents (his father was a music educator and mother has played the rudiments in drum & bugle corps). Chad auditioned for Frank Zappa in 1981. Wackerman: "I heard about [it] through a bass player friend who had auditioned. He didn't work out, but Zappa was looking for a bass player and a drummer. Throughout junior high school, I was studying drums with teachers who were very good, and very hard on me. I learned to read quite well from doing that, although nothing prepares you for Frank's music."
Chad Wackerman was one of FZ's longest standing drummers. He provided drums for:
- Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch
- The Man From Utopia
- London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I
- Them Or Us
- Thing-Fish
- We're Only In It For The Money (1985 remix)
- Cruising With Ruben & The Jets (1985 remix)
- Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention
- Does Humor Belong In Music?
- Uncle Meat (CD version, 1987)
- Jazz From Hell
- London Symphony Orchestra Vol. II
- Frank Zappa: Guitar
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1
- Broadway The Hard Way
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3
- The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life
- Make A Jazz Noise Here
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4
- Sleep Dirt (CD version, 1991)
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6
- Läther (1996) drum overdubs
- The Dub Room Special
- Beat The Boots series disks As An Am (BTB) & Trance-Fusion
- Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show
Chad can be seen in the following Zappa movies, as well:
- Dub Room Special
- Does Humor Belong In Music? (The Film)
- Uncle Meat (The Film)
- The Amazing Mr. Bickford
- Video From Hell
- The True Story Of 200 Motels
Chad Wackerman is a band member of The Band From Utopia. He was interviewed in the documentary The Drummers Of Frank Zappa (2010).
