Most people don’t know he was completely straight: no drugs, no alcohol. I had the privilege of seeing The Mothers of Invention in concert performing Billy the Mountain at a small theater in Boston.
His solo album, Hot Rats, is a tour-de-force.
So he was clean and sober when he wrote and played his music, and when he and his wife named their son Dweezle and their daughter Moon Unit.
Who the hell wants a boring musician?
Frank was a rare breed of someone who was always improving his knowledge and never settling with being comfortable in his thoughts. He always challenged the human condition on all fronts from philosophy and arts to economics and politics.
shareMy 1st exposure to him was Titties and Beer via the Doctor Demento show on Sunday nights which I listened to religiously. Investigating him led me to so much more. He really was brilliant.
Interesting how the sober musicians tend to be the craziest (other than religious ones, of course).
thought this was peter dinklage for a second
shareWhat is the vibe like on his audience? I assume it's the artistic type.
I have never met a fan of his music (I'm Gen x so probably a bit too young)
Very stream of consciousness type thing he has in his songs.
Yes, artistic and rebellious types. And bohemian, which I guess is covered by artistic but bohemian doesn't = artistic, at least I don't think. And people fond of absurdist humor, obviously.
He's kind of his own thing. Nothing else compares to Zappa, not in the popular vein. Trying to encapsulate him in some brief manner gives me a headache, so I won't try, at least for now.
I've always been intrigued with Zappa but have never really caught the vibe like his fans have.
I respect and love his absurd stance in regards to his music and social outlook, but it's too "arch" and he rarely tried to connect to a general audience, which makes me wonder if he was a marvelous charlatan, brilliant but unable to connect with the rest of us in a meaningful way. His most famous works are considered too commercial, and yet he courted "commercial-ness" with stuff like Valley Girl, which was a hit for him.