Another off topic post… One of the things most people don’t know about me is that I am a dyed in the wool Frank Zappa fan and have been for 50 years, I mean I even had a Zappa quote in my high school yearbook (from “I’m The Slime“). Lisa says this is the only thing about me that she doesn’t like. Despite his being dead for almost 33 years, his legend lives on and I have come to appreciate his genius even more over the years as new recordings are found and released from The Vault.

There are many things I like(d) about Frank Zappa. Of course the music, but also the social commentary – he was an equal opportunity offender – always irreverent and he would go toe to toe with anyone. In addition, I liked his politics which I would put largely in the centrist/libertarian part of the spectrum, and over the years was a vociferous defender of speech all of which resonate with me. However, after reading many books about him and his bands, and watching hundreds of hours of You Tube videos over the years (interviews, concerts, documentaries, his video productions, the Alex Winter Movie et al) there are two aspects that really illustrate what he did: he was able to find the best musicians from all genres, create a band around them, and write music around the specific talents of those band members that brought the best out of them. So much that they rarely knew it was happening at the time. And, the music was diverse and unique, defying categorization or genre bending. These two video interviews capture these key aspects. I’m sure there are many others that capture these sentiments, but I like these two because the band members are from the period/band I am most fond of (1972-1976).

I have quite the collection of original vinyl records and CDs. While they are “original” they are not anything unique or collectables of any significant value. Ultimately, I would like to find someone who would love and respect this collection and actually listen to it. Once music (from all artists) started being released on streaming services I stopped buying physical copies and certainly at this point in my life I am in a shed stuff mode. Despite there being some really nice releases of Vault material, I just am not interested in more stuff.

Vinyl Records:
Official Releases 1-38, 41, 42, 44 (US and Euro), 47, 53

CDs (I had the 6 CD You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore with wooden box but sold it on eBay):
https://www.discogs.com/user/alexpline/collection?folder=9029874

Zappa Other Vinyl (mostly bootlegs):
https://www.discogs.com/user/alexpline/collection?folder=9029956

Fortunately I had the chance to see him 4 times (and have the set lists from all 4 concerts thanks to the internet!):

Saturday 03 May 1980
Music Hall, Boston, MA, US

Thursday 19 November 1981
Public Hall, Cleveland, OH

Wednesday 14 November 1984
Front Row Theatre, Cleveland (Highland Heights), OH
(Note: this was a 3000 person hall with a round stage and I had literally a front row seat)

Saturday 05 March 1988
Music Hall, Cleveland, OH

This last concert was the last tour in 1988 just before the band self destructed due to internal turmoil, but is of course on You Tube!

And for any Annapolitans in the crowd, a fun piece of trivia is Zappa was the LAST concert ever played at Carrs Beach on May 19, 1973 and amazingly there is a recording of “Fifty-Fifty” on You Tube:

And lastly, what’s with the title? It’s a quote from Edgard Varèse one of Zappa’s early influences. Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame has a great cartoon that I had in my office for 20 years: