Old Zircon
Old Zircon is a character from a never-produced script Zappa had written, titled Billy The Mountain, of which parts did find their way on the track Billy The Mountain.
Interviewed by Steve Peacock (Zappa's Latest Box Of Tricks, Sounds, 27 November 1971), Zappa described a plot for an upcoming movie project, Billy The Mountain, where a character of a "phased-out Byzantine devil" is named Old Zircon, who induces Ethell the Tree to trick Billy The Mountain into taking her on a vacation.
In the book Them Or Us, Old Zircon is the Byzantine Devil. After Buddy Wilson releases him, Buddy goes to Jerusalem with Father Riley B. Jones to find Jesus.
In The Fabulous Furry Freak Brother! interview (December 2012), it is reported that the door leading to Zappa's basement in Laurel Canyon had a sign reading: Dr. Zircon's Secret Lab in Happy Valley.
