My Hero Frank Zappa

[90-percent]

Circa 1984. manufactured ethic specific diseases. military industrial Complex, corporations, and what makes the USA better than Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXIi7lw_lIY

Enjoy!

-90% Jimmy

[sellitman]

1. I equate his musical genius with Hendrix.

Thanks for sharing.

And don't you eat that yellow snow......

[Bennyboy]

8. No offense, but Jimi was guitar player....

And that was only a small part of Frank's thing. Frank was THE musical genius of the 20th century. His composing, arranging and and performance skill are unequaled. There is no style of music that he did not cover and conquer. Chamber music, Doo-Wop, Rock and Roll,Avant garde jazz, Classical..all of it.

He was also a multi-media personality,some of his videos from the sixties are still ahead of their time.
Not to mention that he was not afraid to say what was on his mind at all times. His testimony to the Senate during the PMRC hearings is just unbelievably to the point. He schools Congress.

He was on par with Jimi on guitar playing. But Jimi did not come close to FZ's genius, but then again nobody did.

[Fovea]

22. I think that Frank was a superior musician

but that Jimi was a formidable guitarist.

As far as compositions, Zappa was more diverse and certainly more prolific.

OTOH, I can't help but think that 'Little Wing' and 'Purple Haze' will
be parts of the culture for non-musicians and Zappa's chamber music will be loved
by the cognocienti well past the end of this century.

They both are larger than life.
And I would give a lot just to have been
allowed 60 seconds inside their musical brains.

[wintersoulja]

24. You hear Electric Ladyland and think

Jimi was a guitar player? As composers go, Hendrix has nothing to apologize for.
Neither one was a Don Vliet.

[90-percent]

31. Don Vliet

That would be Don Van Vliet, a high school R&B friend of Zappa's. Where Frank was a scientist, Vliet (Captain Beefheart) was a magician from another galaxy.

Frank actually became friends with the Gores, and Al stated, at the start of his questioning of Zappa at the PMRC hearings, that he was actually a fan of Zappa's music.

America could have had a Zappa fan in the White House.

we will never know, but I like to think that Frank's words alone would have been enough to topple the tragedy that is the Bush Presidency. Frank would have been able to pierce through the bullshit early on and warn the world about the psycho in chief.


-90% Jimmy

[RuleOfNah]

25. THE is a bit much.

A genius sure but THE isn't fair to a bunch of other 20th century figures. In some ways Mingus was Frank before Frank was Frank (and Duke was before either of them).

[Greyhound]

30. Frank was certainly great, but to proclaim him the ultimate of the century is

going too far. He might well be in the running, but there were several others just as good and arguably better.

[cosmik debris]

2. That certainly proves that great musicians

can have really kooky ideas.

He should have shut up and played his guitar.

[shadowknows69]

3. He did

He use to jam in Joe's garage.

[wintersoulja]

5. which he did as well as anyone

His composer shadow and freak rep really kept him from being compared to the so called great guitar playing rock stars. Somehow I think that bothered him a lot. He chased and delivered more toneful expression from 6 metal strings than just about anyone.

[Echo In Light]

4. I recall an interview w/him where he opined that the corporate elites who run the show...

Would only allow for the illusion of open society/democracy so long as its current structure remained profitable for them to do so. Looks like the writing on the wall could be an expiration date...

[wintersoulja]

6. He's been right about everything

He was priviledged to see behind curtains, and brave enough to shout "Sex!" in a crowded orgy.

[DiscussTed]

15. He was right

The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre. -Frank Zappa 1977

[LiberalUprising]

21. Quote

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre."

~ Frank Zappa, 1977 ~

[Echo In Light]

33. Thanks

[aikoaiko]

7. too much tinfoil hattery for me.

:tinfoilhat:

[Bennyboy]

9. FZ on Crossfire!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISil7IHzxc&feature=related

[HCE SuiGeneris]

14. Halfway through... absolutely hilarious! Brilliant.

Already labeling the U.S. as a fascist theocracy.

[Swamp Rat]

17. He was right.

I wish he was still with us.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

19. Can't have too many advocates of truth. He is sorely missed.

[johan helge]

10. I've got a very old cassette with Zappa songs

from my brother's albums. Listened to it recently - wonderful music and mentality!

[Bennyboy]

11. Interesting interview....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UAWqwLjN70

[graywarrior]

12. Read his book

It's fascinating.

[DiscussTed]

13. He was ahead of his time

"The biggest threat to America today is not communism. It's moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that's happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe ... When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view, and if that code happens to be very, very right wing, almost toward Attila the Hun..."

-Frank Zappa during1986 appearance on Crossfire debating censorship

[HCE SuiGeneris]

16. Welcome to DU,..

Frank was an extremely prescient individual.

[Edweird]

18. Not so much a fan of his music.. but he was dead on politcally

except "Thingfish" - I kinda like that one.

[orleans]

20. i never saw this. thanks for the link.

i love his outfit--

damn! i miss him.

i often wonder: "what would frank have to say about this?"


please xpost this in video forum.

[Greyhound]

23. Remember when Frank was Tipper Gore's enemy? Remember this gem

from the Raygun era?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISil7IHzxc&feature=related
:kick:

[johnaries]

28. To be fair, the RW took Tipper's crusade and warped it.

Tipper wanted the Recording Industry to adopt VOLUNTARY labeling (which they eventually did) and a very few reasonable measure (making lyrics available to parents, keeping explicit covers out of sight just like porno mags, etc.). The RW took it to all new levels,and some even wanted to ban "the music of the devil".

Like many Americans, Zappa mistakenly lumped Tipper in with these radicals (Tipper was actually a rock drummer in a cover band! She never wanted to ban rock or interfere with freedom of speech). He was right in opposing the radicals.

[Greyhound]

29. It was no mistake. Don't you remember the speeches and rhetoric?

She was the vanguard. It's funny how selective our memories get when it is one of ours that is on the wrong side. Same thing happened with Al...

[Initech]

26. If only Zappa were alive today...

I wonder what he would have thought about Bush weaseling his way into the presidency? Or how he started a war based on nothing?

[paritom]

27. Thanks

I met Zappa the year of the interview while I was performing a staging of his compositions: Bob in dacron and Mo n' Herb's vacation in "A Zappa Affair" in Berkeley.
One of my heroes, too. Sorry he went so young.
--
Tom

[ileus]

32. whatch out where the huskies go....