Well… Frank Zappa… what can I say? If you’ve heard any of his tracks, you’ll know what I’m talking about… that strange dry wit… that degree of weirdness… an entertainer extraordinaire…
Listen to songs like ‘Bobby Brown’, ‘Valley Girl’, ‘Titties and Beer’… and talk to Steve Vai… you’ll know the man up, close and personal.
Edgar Varese seemed to be his initial influence… with his collaboration of non-musical sounds to make, [sigh], music…
Frank Zappa played with a lot of bands… the mothers of invention… went solo… but every band he played in, people learnt something from him…
Personally, I liked him for one reason… he stood up for what he thought was wrong… especially when it came to the ‘depopularization of rock’ in the 80s by some very powerful wives of Senators in Washington also known to bring Warning: Parental Advisory labels on music tapes.
He was an intelligent man and just plain different…
Clever lyrics, weird tunes, but 110% original and funny, only if you an acquired taste for that kind of stuff… with a major fan-following in Europe…
He offended every major group during his time… in his lyrics and during concerts… and he made sure that they knew about it…
Not only that, his live shows were plain brilliant… a.k.a Steve Vai, Terry Bozio… with a scary ensemble of instruments that would impress the cold-hearted cynic and pessimist there was… and constantly drive home the point that he was a musical genius…
I really like his work during the late-seventies… where he transitioned into a jazz-rock format, if I can call it that…
But my all time favourite album would be ‘Zappa: Live in New York’… with a little something in it for everyone…
Too bad they inducted him into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame after he passed away… but all in all, he was an American icon… controversial, rude and outspoken all the same…
Well, what else could you expect from a musician who plays Rock?
hey
Couldn’t agree more , very well summed up ! Very interesting Blog !! nice work 🙂