Zappa to the Rescue
It’s an ugly time, isn’t it? The Orlando shooting, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the Dallas officers. Is it just me, or does the earth seem like it is on fire?
The upcoming Republican convention fills me with trepidation. I don’t know what is going to happen in Cleveland, but I bet I don’t like much of it.
What do you do with mixed emotions, ennui, or generalized anxiety? You just distract yourself! Unfortunately, the normal bag of tricks isn’t working. I gorged on sports… Wimbledon, the European Championship, the Tour de France, and the Olympic Trials… but I still couldn’t shake the disquiet. Then something good happened.
I was riding around and I had Frank Zappa’s We’re Only In It for the Money in the CD slot. I’m not sure why. I think God put it there. I found myself listening to Who Needs the Peace Corps and thought, that’s it! The Rx for the summer is: Zappa.
Millennials, How Deep is Your Zappa Knowledge?
Remember when I asked if the Hipsters were hip to Tom Jones?
It turns out they were! Maybe the young ones are hip to Zappa too. Maybe not. Zappa is more remote. He gets very little airplay because his songs are often weird lengths and they don’t fit any format. The song I linked to above, Who Needs the Peace Corps, doesn’t really make sense unless YOU LISTEN TO THE REST OF THE ALBUM. Same goes for Flower Punk:
This is a song that MOCKS both Hey Joe and Wild Thing. I take Hendrix seriously, but maybe at times like these we all have to be willing to laugh at what we hold sacred.
BBC Said I Was Right
Last night I was listening to BBC overnight and they excerpted at WNYC interview with Moon Unit Zappa and Thorsten Schütte, who have just released a Documentary on Zappa called “Eat that Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words.” Why would the Universe, the BBC, and WNYC all point me to Zappa if Zappa wasn’t the answer?
There Are Many Reasons to Like Zappa, but I Like Him Because He is Obscenely Funny
He was onto dude bros before dude bros were called dude bros:
Maybe before we try to “Make America Great Again” we should re-listen to Zappa’s screed against unions in California and the shortcomings of American manufacturing.
Thanks to the Internet, we can watch Frank work:
Zappa could also play guitar:
He could even make Yoko Ono fun:
Zappa Will Cheer You Up
Listen to this cover of I am the Walrus.
Where are your troubles now, America?