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Frank Zappa: Chunga's Revenge

Review by Mark Leviton, Creem, March 1971

THIS ALBUM IS a preview of what is the ultimate rock opera-symphony, 200 Motels, which is constantly growing and taking on amazing proportions. ...

Frank Zappa: The Lost Episodes

Review by Dave Rimmer, MOJO, March 1996

DESCRIBED BY UTILITY Muffin Kitchen engineer Spencer Chrislu as a "sort of stealth project", this excellent little album of studio leftovers was put together by ...

Audio interviews

Frank Zappa (1988)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 1988

The head Mother is brutally frank about the record-buying public and the bankruptcy of pop songwriting; on being exposed to Varese; learning to "draw" music as a kid; the difference between songwriting and composition, and deconstructs the modern pop song (and a whole lot more).

File format: mp3; file size: 81.9mb, interview length: 1h 29' 29" sound quality: ***

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The Mothers of Invention: If You Get A Headache…

Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 15 July 1966

MOTHERS AND fathers, you thought the Beatles were bad. You got up in arms about the Rolling Stones. Sonny and Cher made you cringe. Well, ...

Burdon's America

Interview by Kevin Swift, Beat Instrumental, November 1966

IF YOU want to know why so many British artists return from the States and get disgruntled with their home scene, ask Eric Burdon. I ...

Frank Zappa: "Son of Suzy Creamcheese"

Profile and Interview by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 25 December 1966

  THE MOST original new group to simmer out of the steaming rock 'n' roll underground in the last hour and one-half is an audacious crew ...

Mothers Of Invention: 
Freak Out!
 (Verve)

Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 March 1967

Freak Out with the Mothers ...

My Favorite Records: Frank Zappa, Boss Mother

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, August 1967

IF YOU WANT to learn how to play guitar, listen to Wes Montgomery. You also should go out and see if you can get a ...

Frank Zappa: Meet the Boss Mother, Sussing Out Britain...

Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 26 August 1967

IF AFFLUENCE and power is the Great American Dream, Frank Zappa is the Great American Nightmare. ...

Frank Zappa's Comments on The Mothers of Invention's album  Absolutely Free

Interview by Miles, International Times, 31 August 1967

When Zappa arrived in London in the summer of 1967, he naturally looked to the underground press for support, just as he did in Los ...

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 30 September 1967

MOTHERS — ALMOST A FREAK OUT, NOT A LOVE IN, DEFINITELY A SEND-UP! ...

Frank Zappa: Head Mother Speaks

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Fifth Estate, 1 December 1967

HIS NAME has a certain zing to it. Zappa – a name you don't easily forget. Like the man, Frank Zappa, leader and creator of ...

Francis Vincent Zappa & The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra And Chorus: Lumpy Gravy (Verve)

Review by Miles, International Times, 12 July 1968

WITH THE guile and cunning of a Zaptieh, Zappa presents his first 'solo' record: a ballet, an opera, a collage of all the elements then ...

Frank Zappa: Reviled, Revered Mother Superior

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968

FEAR OF THE abnormal isn't a trait confined to Americans, but they do seem to express their fears more vociferously than most. ...

Zappa, Vegetables And Uncle Meat...

Report and Interview by Hugh Nolan, Disc and Music Echo, 5 October 1968

THE FOLLOWING scene is not recommended for the squeamish, children below the age of three months, soldiers, policemen, politicians or vegetable-lovers (but may be seen ...

The Mothers of Invention: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 November 1968

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE MOTHERS COULD BE BORING? ...

1968: The Shaken City Walls

Overview by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 24 December 1968

"AN ELECTRIC caterwauling of power... burning it, flashing it, whirling it down some arc of consciousness, the sound screaming up to a climax of vibrations ...

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention: The Truth Is, They're Not As Ugly As Their Pictures

Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969

Watching With Mothers: Chris Welch survives a week with Frank Zappa ...

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 12 June 1969

Update, 2019. FRANK ZAPPA was always friendly when he and I met, between 1968 and 1970. This may have been because I took him seriously, ...

The Mothers of Invention: Uncle Meat (Transatlantic)

Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 14 June 1969

A DOUBLE volume set of madness, absurdity, serious music, rock and roll, electronics and sprecht stimme by Frank Zappa. Suzie Creamcheese and the Mothers presents ...

Frank Zappa Interview

Interview by Miles, International Times, 29 August 1969

FRANK: There are some things I'd like to clarify about my editing technique. The editing technique is an extension of the composition because, as I ...

The Mothers Are Dead, But Zappa's Still Very Much Alive

Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 October 1969

THE MOTHERS are dead. Killed by a public apathy towards a style of music which the rest of the world will catch up with maybe ...

The Beefheart-Zappa Talk-in

Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969

Frank Zappa breezed into London last week in an orange tee-shirt. His aim was to launch the British end of his record label, Straight, who ...

Frank Zappa: It's All In Self-Defence

Interview by Jonathon Green, Friends/Frendz, 22 November 1969

SURROUNDED BY The Business, eating through all the courses of a 'luncheon', gradually accumulating more and more different varieties of food and drink inside — ...

Frank Zappa: Chunga’s Revenge

Review by Felix Dennis, Oz, 1970

A review by A.J. Weberman Jnr. ‘The world’s only living Zappaologist’. MY OLD man’s become something of a celebrity these days. Seems like every time ...

Frank Zappa: Hot Rats

Review by Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone, 7 March 1970

THIS RECORDING brings together a set of mostly little-known talents that whale the tar out of every other informal "jam" album released in rock and ...

Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (Reprise stereo RSLP 6356; 40s 8d)

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 7 March 1970

WIDE RANGE FROM ZAPPA ...

Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (Reprise)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970

Hot Rats is hot stuff! ...

Zappa Press release, on disbanding Mothers, 1970

Report by Miles, International Times, 9 April 1970

"The Mothers of Invention, infamous & repulsive rocking teen combo, is not doing concerts any more." ...

You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here: Frank Zappa

Profile and Interview by David G. Walley, Rock, 8 June 1970

"Always wondered whether I could make it in society because it's a drag when you're rejected..." ( Frank Zappa c. 1965) ...

Frank Zappa: Listen With Mothers

Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970

FRANK ZAPPA has emerged as one of the most interesting, lucid, energetic, entertaining and creative figures in contemporary music. He has frequently complained of being ...

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 August 1970

WITH HIS latest assortment of the Mothers of Invention, which was on display Friday evening at the Santa Monica Civic, Frank Zappa, America's most beloved ...

Frank Zappa: A Frank Talk With Zappa On Being A "Rebel Chief"!

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 29 August 1970

AFTER A recent concert in Texas, Frank Zappa was accosted by a very smart elderly man, and three society women. "We want you to know ...

The Mothers Of Invention: Weasels Ripped My Flesh (Reprise MS 2028)

Review by Miles, Strange Days, 23 October 1970

"IT'S WEIRD, I like it" said Denise after hearing Weasels Ripped My Flesh. It is very important that you too should know about this latest ...

An Interview with Frank Zappa

Interview by Miles, unpublished, November 1970

This interview recorded at Rattner's on 2nd Ave, New York City, on the 14th November 1970. After we'd eaten we escaped the rude noisy waiters ...

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: The Coliseum, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 December 1970

PROBABLY only Frank Zappa and his musicians could properly review their concerts at London's Coliseum on Sunday. So much happened in each two-hour segment, one ...

Frank Zappa: Was this the real Ruben Sano standing up at last?

Report and Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 23 January 1971

FRANK ZAPPA sauntered in, poured himself into the chair at the front of the room, folded his arms, crossed his legs and assumed the appearance ...

Film: Zappa On 200 Motels

Interview by Miles, International Times, 28 February 1971

Interview with Frank Zappa – recorded at Rattner's on 2nd Ave. New York City November 14th 1970. Interview continued in an empty dressing room, backstage ...

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 7 June 1971

Zappa's Musicians Rock Through Epic Of Stylized Traveler ...

Howard Kaylan: Mother Was A Turtle

Interview by Harold Bronson, Rolling Stone, 16 September 1971

LOS ANGELES – Working in the Turtles, working in the Mothers, it's all the same, Harold Kaylan says. But he has undergone a transition nevertheless. ...

Aesthetics of Outrage

Overview by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 26 November 1971

Update, 2020. "Perverted, outrageous, violent, repulsive, ugly, tasteless. A travesty. That's what's good about them". This was a quote about the Rolling Stones, recorded around ...

The Foulk Brothers: Pop Promoting Blues

Report by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times, 1972

"RONNIE..." RONALD Foulk's secretary broke into the conference. "Will you accept a transfer call from America?" ...

Frank Zappa

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Beat Instrumental, January 1972

Frank Zappa was staying at the London hotel which possesses the actual loo shown on his internationally famous poster. When I arrived at the reception ...

Frank Zappa: Portrait Of The Artist As A Businessman

Interview by Paul Phillips, Rob Partridge, Cream, January 1972

"IF you’re making £10 a night, you’ll be screwed. When you’re making £1,000 a night, you’ll still get screwed... only you’re being screwed for more." ...

Frank Zappa: Rude, Pompous…And Frank

Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 1 January 1972

EVERY ONE has a right to an opinion but there are some who believe he has no right to express it in public. There are ...

Frank Zappa: Zappa On Rock, Porn And Blues

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 5 February 1972

HE LOOKS a bit like an identi-kit picture of our own most infamous anarchist Guy Fawkes, this much-vaunted, often-maligned rock guitarist who more than anyone ...

Frank Zappa on Death, Rock Writers, Money

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 12 February 1972

ZAPPA IS NOT renowned for his appreciation of rock writers and their work, and he makes his point quite forcibly on the subject. ...

Captain Beefheart: Zappa stole my ideas, says the Captain

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 1 April 1972

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART is talking about his home, Eureka, where the snails are THIS big — he indicates about nine inches with his hands — and ...

Frank Zappa: Fearless Frank Tells What He'll Lay On You At The Oval Concert

Interview by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 2 September 1972

IT'S THE Frank Zappa show ... starring Larry The Dwarf with his guests Suzy Creamcheese, Ruben Sano, and Willie The Pimp. ...

Frank Zappa: The Wazoo Keeper

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972

FRANK ZAPPA is back in Britain for the first time since the attack which nearly ended his career. On the eve of last Saturday's Oval ...

Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley: Felt Forum, New York NY

Live Review by Dan Nooger, The Village Voice, 28 September 1972

JOY JUICED ...

Frank Talk...

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 10 March 1973

… from Zappa, whom Caroline Boucher visited at his Hollywood home ...

Frank Zappa: The Great Southern and Western Expedition Is On!

Report and Interview by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, 23 April 1973

"THE FIRST TIME I ever took the Mothers out on the road I approached it from a sociological point of view. ...

Frank Zappa: God Mother

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 25 August 1973

"ZAPPA'S IN TOWN," they said. "Wanna go along and talk to him?" Oh sure, sez I, always glad to have a chat with Frank. So ...

Frank Zappa: Past Flops And Future Shocks

Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 August 1973

HIS ARMS AROUND a red-haired girl whose ample chest was covered with a Mighty Thor t-shirt, debonair Frank Zappa (32) sank deeper into the couch, ...

Frank Zappa: Penguins in Bondage and Other Perversions

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 1 September 1973

WHERE WERE WE? Oh yeah, Frank Zappa. Anyway, ol' Frank is sitting in his hotel room above Kensington, discoursing on this and that and demonstrating ...

Ugly, vulgar, insulting — Zappa scores!

Review by Simon Frith, Let It Rock, November 1973

The Mothers: Overnite Sensation (Discreet)Faust: Faust IV (Virgin) ...

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: Over-Nite Sensation (Discreet)

Review by Noe Gold, Crawdaddy!, December 1973

THERE HE sits, perched atop his Olympian toadstool, dropping farts and thunderbolts into a tape recorder. Few have escaped his world unscathed by his grungy ...

Frank Zappa: Ultra-modern String Bean

Profile and Interview by Jon Tiven, Sounds, 22 December 1973

ALTHOUGH depicted as vicarious forms of slimy nightmare, Frank Zappa is NOT creepy. When asked about days of old (when everyone was groping around, trying ...

Frank Zappa: Apostrophe(') (Discreet)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974

Zappa's touch of genius ...

Frank Zappa: Outrage And Invention

Profile by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, 6 July 1974

FRANK ZAPPA is the only West Coast musician who emerged in the 1960s without giving free promotion to the California Tourist Board. ...

Frank Zappa: Roxy And Elsewhere

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 5 October 1974

CAPSULE REVIEW for the Busy Reader: if you like Apostrophe and Over-Nite Sensation better than any of Uncle Frank's other efforts, then ooze into your ...

Frank Zappa: Relax, Frank. We Ain't No Liggers. A Few Of Us Just Came To Join In…

Report by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 5 October 1974

WHY IS Stephen Stills not smiling? To be more precise, why are those noble, rugged features sporting an expression roughly equivalent to that of a ...

How To Write, Sub, And Lay Out A Frank Zappa 'Lookin' Back', part 1

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 16 November 1974

"LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHING. You've got our recordings, you've seen us work a few times, you interviewed me three or four times, you've read a ...

How To Sub And Lay Out A Frank Zappa Lookin' Back Part 2

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 23 November 1974

"PERHAPS THE most unique aspect of the Mother's work is the conceptual continuity of the group's output macrostructure. ...

How To Complete The Subbing And Layout Of A Very Long Frank Zappa Lookin' Back, Part 3

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 30 November 1974

THE ALBUM and movie of 200 Motels erupted late in 1971. Both received near-unanimous critical meat-axe jobs and both were ignominious commercial failures. United Artists, ...

Frank Zappa

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words', 1975

ALTHOUGH PRIMARILY considered a composer, Frank Zappa's lyrics reflect his unique approach to rock 'n' roll almost as well as his music does. Combining a ...

Frank Zappa:

Report and Interview by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 26 April 1975

Mothers albums nestle amongst the legal papers. A stereo system has been set up in front of The judge. The scene is Law Court Seven. ...

Frank Zappa: What Did You Do In The Revolution, Dada?

Essay by Karl Dallas, Let It Rock, June 1975

Karl Dallas asks the pertinent questions... ...

Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 19 July 1975

THE FIRST WORD of this review is "deteriorate." It means to Lose Your Magic. ...

Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart: Bongo Fury

Review by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 8 November 1975

THE STORY SO far. ...

Zappa and Beefheart: Penguins In Bondage

Interview by Robot A. Hull, Creem, January 1976

Master MasterThis is recorded thru uh flies ear 'n you have t' have uh flies eye t' see it it's the thing that's gonna make ...

Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart: BLLLAAAaaaaahhhhh

Memoir by Miles, New Musical Express, 3 January 1976

Actually, it didn't work. However, something that did work was the re-uniting of THE CAPTAIN and FRANK ZAPPA a few months ago for a tour ...

Tom Wilson: The Man Who Put Electricity Into Dylan

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976

TOM WILSON is an elegant, very tall (6ft 4in) black American, a former Harvard man who talks a little like Bill Cosby but whose pencil-thin ...

Frank Zappa: Any Resemblance is Purely Conceptual

Report and Interview by Miles, New Musical Express, 4 December 1976

MILES SCOOPS THE POOP ON UNCLE FRANK ...

Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 11 December 1976

THIS ALBUM is neither Bizarre nor DiscReet, but that's neither here nor there. ...

Could a man who stamps on poodles and sings about lonely person devices become president of the US? asks Susie (spare the creamcheese) Shapiro

Interview by Susin Shapiro, Sounds, 18 December 1976

'Sure, but I'm not ready yet. I'd be a perfect President. I'd not only win, but I'd be good at the job.' Sez Frank Zappa ...

Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures (Warner Bros. BS 2970)

Review by Robert Duncan, Rolling Stone, 30 December 1976

WITH REGARD to poo-poo, snot, vomit, depersonalized sex, booze, zoot suits and the banality of mainstream rock, Frank Zappa, one of rock's original angry young ...

Frank Zappa

Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, January 1977

FRANK ZAPPA – guitarist, composer, producer, avid roller derby fan, and leader of the Mothers Of Invention – is, at 36, probably the elder statesman ...

Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures

Review and Interview by Susin Shapiro, Gig, February 1977

A WRITER FRIEND of mine is fond of saying: "If you fear something enough don't run scared, confront it directly." The idea being that no ...

Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures (Warner Bros. BS 2970); Funkadelic: Hardcore Jollies (Warner Bros. BS 2973)

Review by Bruce Malamut, Crawdaddy!, February 1977

FRANK ZAPPA GREETS THE MOTHERSHIP ...

Frank Zappa: Hot Rats

Overview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 12 February 1977

A long look back at F. Vincent Zappa and his very special bands from LA (and other places) ...

Frank Zappa: Father Of Invention

Profile by Ed Jones, The Spectator, 19 February 1977

TWO YOUNG SCOTSMEN were beside me in the front stalls of the Hammersmith Odeon last week, both extremely genial and very evidently the worse (or ...

Frank Zappa: Frank Panned (Almost)

Live Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 19 February 1977

Frank Zappa: The Rainbow Theatre, London ...

Torture Mama & Open Brain

Live Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 19 February 1977

Frank Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, London MILES gets his time organised ...

Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures (Warner Bros.)

Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, March 1977

Zappa and crew, contemplating a tap dance, a pose debonair. ‘Just smile, sugar.’ ...

Frank Zappa: O.K. Frank, Let It Roll…

Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 5 March 1977

IS THE CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITY of your output macrostructure still operative? "Yes," nods Frank Zappa solemnly. ...

Frank Zappa: Carry On Composing

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978

No Edgar Varèse trip for Frank Zappa, who's just sold out four shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (not bad for a hippie in '78, eh?). ...

Frank Zappa: Stern Words in Knightsbridge

Interview by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 28 January 1978

…when cynical ol’ Uncle Frank knocks punk, record companies and U.S. presidents, and reveals the CIA plot to spike San Francisco… ...

Frank Zappa: Zappa Digs Sabs Shock!

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 January 1978

Sandy: Can I ask you firstly about one of my own obsessions, Kim Fowley, (Oh No! – Ed) Who was on the Freak Out album, ...

Frank Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Edwin Pouncey, Sounds, 4 February 1978

GOOD EVENING ladies and gentlemen. The lights have gone down, the Zappa band are all ready, so let's get on with the show, 'cos that's ...

Frank Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 4 February 1978

"FRANK ZAPPA is the leader and musical director of the Mothers Of Invention. His performances in person with the group are rare. His personality means ...

Frank Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978

Cynical Zappa ...

Frank Zappa: Live In New York

Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 8 April 1978

Not Funny But Frankly ...

Frank Zappa: Studio Tan

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 30 September 1978

STUDIO TAN drops into the industry's autumn orgy unheralded. ...

Frank Zappa: Joe's Garage ; Richard and Linda Thompson: Sunnyvista

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 1979

ROCK AND ROLL survives on an illusion of dynamism built upon critical inertia, upon endlessly repeated truths such as the oft-heard oppositions of 'old/new wave' ...

Frank Zappa: Sheik Yerbouti (CBS)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 3 March 1979

THE MODERN-day composer refuses to die and, sadly, so too does Frank Zappa. ...

Frank Zappa: The Myth Of Joe's Garage

Interview by John Swenson, Rolling Stone, 13 December 1979

I'M STANDING ON the loading platform at L.A. International Airport at 2:30 in the morning, listening to a prerecorded voice that keeps repeating "...the white ...

The Concise NME Guide To Electronic Music & Synthesised Sound PART TWO — Synthesisers

Overview by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 12 January 1980

POMP THE trouble with synthesisers is actually playing them, accepting their status as sound-generators and starting from scratch. Mechanical keyboards were included in early synth ...

Frank Zappa: America's Weirdest Rock Star Comes Clean

Interview by John Swenson, High Times, March 1980

FRANK ZAPPA is probably the most misunderstood man in the history of popular music. ...

Zappa Zeros In On L.A.

Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 6 April 1980

FRANK ZAPPA'S CONCERT at the Sports Arena tonight will be his first local appearance in 2 years, but rock's iconoclastic satirist certainly isn't viewing it ...

The Frank Zappa Interview

Interview by John Swenson, Guitar World, March 1982

FRANK ZAPPA was at the Palladium in New York for his perennial Pumpkin Day concert celebration with his most loyal fans. ...

Frank Zappa: Only In It For The Money

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, November 1982

FRANK & MOON ZAPPA GO AM ...

Frank Zappa: Surreal Anarchy From The Mother Superior

Retrospective by Miles, The History of Rock, 1983

Frank Zappa was born a composer. Had he been born in a different time or place, he would probably have become a 'serious' composer. But ...

Frank Zappa Goes Straight

Report by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 15 January 1983

"OH GAWD! Can anyone tell me the way to London Wail?"The fat flustered city gent looks like he's been stuck in the middle of the ...

Zap It To ‘Em, Frank!

Live Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 22 January 1983

Frank Zappa/London Symphony Orchestra: Barbican Centre, London ...

Frank Zappa: The '60s Mother Still Breaks Social, Musical Convention

Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, San Francisco Chronicle, 1984

STOP THE presses! Frank Zappa, that mother of a curmudgeon, has been spotted actually smiling! Get out the red ink – he even chuckled once ...

Billy James on Columbia, Elektra and the L.A. music industry

Interview by Richie Unterberger, unpublished, 1986

Author’s note: This was based around one of the first significant historical interviews I did. The essay wasn't published anywhere, just typed out for a ...

Adrian Belew: Twang Bar King

Interview by Gene Santoro, Downbeat, December 1986

IN THE decade since he first burst into the big-time music world, guitarist Adrian Belew has persistently challenged and reshaped the boundaries of his instrument. ...

Zappa's Inferno

Interview by Noe Gold, Guitar World, April 1987

FRANK ZAPPA'S fully-equipped home recording studio is where he'd most rather be. "I never go out," he says, though his Laurel Canyon home commands a ...

The Rock & Roll Disc Interview: Frank Zappa

Interview by Tom Graves, Rock & Roll Disc, December 1987

FRANK ZAPPA is nothing if not an American original. As American youth swarmed to record stores in search of Monkees and Archies records (it ...

Frank Zappa: Frank Generation

Profile by Richard Gehr, The Village Voice, 17 February 1988

If I may be so crass as to adjudge a rock icon by his fans, I'd say Frank Zappa might have a demographics problem. Admittedly, ...

Frank Zappa: Frank's Wild Years

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, December 1989

AT DEAD OF night, behind barred gates and video security cameras up in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles, a tall, angular man with neatly ...

Frank Zappa: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, August 1990

UNCLE FRANK'S EXTENSIVE reissues programme continues apace with eight more blasts from various bits of his past. ...

Frank Zappa: The Mother of Inversion

Profile and Interview by Richard Gehr, Fanfare, 30 June 1991

FRANK ZAPPA is a long-standing foe of warning about violent or sexually explicit lyrics – advocated by the Parents’ Music Resource Center and adopted by ...

Frank Zappa: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, November 1991

JUST WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS, to quote Uncle Frank: yet another record label, and eight more Zappa albums hot on the heels of his two ...

Frank Zappa: Frank's Wild Years

Retrospective and Interview by Neil Slaven, Record Hunter, July 1992

AFTER 25 YEARS of unique musical anarchy and as many confrontational albums, Frank Zappa is facing his greatest adversary – prostate cancer. Undulled, he relates ...

The Double Life Of Frank Zappa,

Profile and Interview by Michael Gray, Daily Telegraph, 18 September 1992

SINCE CONTRACTING prostate cancer in 1989 Frank Zappa, now 51, has cancelled many public appearances and new projects. Tonight he re-emerges at the Frankfurt Music ...

Mothers of Invention Don Preston and Bunk Gardner

Interview by Phil McMullen, Ptolemaic Terrascope, Winter 1992

DON PRESTON: a man whose career with Frank Zappa spanned the period 1966 to 1974 all told, with time off for good behaviour in between, ...

Captain Beefheart: Dropout Boogie

Retrospective by Miles, MOJO, December 1993

IT WAS 2am, September 1969, and I was having a cup of styrofoam coffee with Don Van Vliet in the 24-hour automated snack-bar of TT&G ...

Frank Zappa 1940-1993

Obituary by Charles Shaar Murray, Daily Telegraph, December 1993

A FEW YEARS AGO, Gail Zappa, wife and business partner of the late Frank Zappa, was shopping for groceries in Los Angeles when the cashier ...

Frank Zappa 1940-1993

Obituary by Michael Gray, Daily Mail, 7 December 1993

FRANK ZAPPA, who has died of cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 52, might well be seen as the last wild man of ...

Frank Zappa RIP

Obituary by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 18 December 1993

FRANK ZAPPA, who died last week at the age of 52, has long been regarded as one of the most important figures in rock, a ...

Frank Zappa: A Real Mother

Obituary by Andy Gill, Q, February 1994

Francis Vincent Zappa II, 1940-1993 ...

Frank Zappa: Dr Zircon's Secret Lab

Memoir by Miles, MOJO, March 1994

I FIRST MET FRANK Zappa in July 1967, outside the Garrick Theater at 152 Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. He was standing on the sidewalk, ...

R.I.P. Frank

Obituary by Dave Rimmer, MOJO, March 1994

[NOTE: This was part of Mojo’s obituary for Frank Zappa, and was published in March 1994. The brief was simply to look at his career ...

Viva Zappa! 1940-1993

Obituary by Richard Gehr, Spin, March 1994

THE SUMMER between eighth and ninth grades — the same mystical season I smoked pot, read V, and almost had sex with someone else for ...

Zappa Honors The Hall Of Fame

Report and Interview by Bill Holdship, BAM, 10 February 1995

IF ANYONE OUT there is wondering why Lou Reed (who never had a good word to say about Frank Zappa during Zappa's lifetime) was chosen ...

From Z to A and Back Again, or: QUANTITIES AND LEER

Comment by Ian Penman, The Wire, July 1995

I CANNOT FOR the pop life of me see why anyone over the age of 17 would ever want to listen to Frank Zappa again, ...

Contract Breakers

Essay by Mark Sinker, The Wire, June 1996

2005 note: Savage Pencil did a nice illustration for this: John and Yoko hilariously naked, among other excellent things. It also elicited an angry postcard ...

Pamela Des Barres: Supergroupie

Interview by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 4 January 1997

Legendary supergroupie PAMELA DES BARRES has toured the dark side of rock'n'roll and lived to tell the tale. But what does she make of young ...

Frank Zappa: I was a Teenage Moose Freak!

Report by Rob Chapman, MOJO, December 1998

FREE-FORM RADIO was one of the great innovations of the American Underground. From 1966, when the Federal Communications Commission freed up the FM band, to ...

Rock 100: Frank Zappa

Book Excerpt by Lenny Kaye, David Dalton, Cooper Square Books (reissue), 1999

"There is no undertaking more challenging, no responsibility more awesome than being a Mother."– RICHARD M. NIXON ...

Frank Zappa: Too Much or Not Enough?

Retrospective by Richard Gehr, unpublished, 11 April 1999

By the time of his death from prostate cancer on December 4, 1993, Frank Zappa's taste for life on the road had all but vanished. ...

Undercurrents #7: Fables of the Deconstruction

Retrospective by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, July 1999

In the latest in our series uncovering the hidden wiring of 20th century music, Edwin Pouncey shows how rock 'n' roll's face was changed forever ...

Flo and Eddie and Marc, Frank and More

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 2002

THEY WERE THE VOICE of the American 1960s, sainted providers of the angelic harmonies and grooved-out choruses that served up the most innocent psychedelia your ...

Zappa And The Mothers – The Flo And Eddie Years

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 2002

BETWEEN MID-1970 and the end of 1971, Frank Zappa was at his peak as rock’s premier satirist and spokesman, an 18-month period during which he ...

Kevin Courrier: Dangerous Kitchen – The Subversive World of Frank Zappa

Book Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, April 2003

SINCE HIS death from prostate cancer in 1993, Frank Zappa's history and collective improvisations have been celebrated and picked over by a horde of musicologists ...

Frank Zappa: The Mother Of All Reinventions

Comment by Charles Shaar Murray, The Independent, 21 November 2003

IF CIGARETTES AND COFFEE are available in the afterlife, the shade of Frank Zappa is probably allowing himself a wry smile from beneath his formidable ...

Frank Zappa: Shhhh… Genius At Work

Retrospective and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, January 2004

Zappa spent much of his final 10 years slaving over a hot mixing desk. Sylvie Simmons met him in the studio as he tried to ...

We Need a Frank Zappa for the 21st Century

Comment by Larry Jaffee, Medialine, January 2004

A TRIBUTE TO Frank Zappa was one of the highlights of Surround 2003 at the conference's awards show Dec. 11 at the Beverly Hills Hilton, ...

Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Spring 2004

FRANK ZAPPA was an irrelevant, redundant figure by the late ‘70s. The object of dorkish devotion, Ol’ Silly Beard had meandered off into cul de ...

Michael Walker: Laurel Canyon

Book Review by Mark Rozzo, Los Angeles Review of Books, 7 May 2006

UP LAUREL CANYON Boulevard at the corner of Lookout Mountain there sits a walled-in postage stamp of lawn and trees. It's a prime slice of ...

ROCK CLIMBING: Jon Stewart Asks, 'Does Humour Belong In Music?'

Column by Jon Stewart, Guitarist, July 2009

HIGH SUMMER, the silly season, is the time to examine humour in music. ...

Post-Modern Rock 'N' Roll Musings: Step One

Retrospective by Robot A. Hull, Rock's Backpages, 4 September 2009

IT BEGAN AS a dream in the minds of two teenage companions, Don Van Vliet and Frank Zappa, isolated in the barren town of Lancaster. ...

Frank Zappa: The Freak-Out List (Chrome Dreams)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Gene Sculatti, Ugly Things, 2010

YOU GOTTA HAND it to the folks at Chrome Dreams. Recognizing a good thing, they've come up with yet another "unauthorized" Zappa title (their fifth, ...

Frank Zappa's Manager: A Smile On His Lips, And A Pistol Under The Bar

Obituary by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 19 March 2010

Mick Brown pays tribute to Herb Cohen, who managed Frank Zappa while maintaining an enthusiasm for music, cheese, confectionery and armaments. ...

Herb Cohen: Combative label boss and manager of Frank Zappa and Tom Waits

Obituary by Rob Hughes, The Guardian, 1 April 2010

HERB COHEN, who has died aged 77 of complications from cancer, did not elicit much affection from the artists he managed, but he played a ...

Cucumber sandwiches with Frank Zappa

Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 17 October 2010

Caroline Boucher recalls afternoon tea with California's king of outrage. ...

Gail Zappa: Mother of Re-Invention

Comment by Mark Leviton, Rock's Backpages, 8 February 2013

I'M A HUGE admirer of Frank Zappa, and have been since the mid-'60s. As a music critic I've written about him extensively, and during my ...

Frank Zappa: The Hot Rats Sessions

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 16 January 2020

FIFTY YEARS AGO, Frank Zappa declared (after Edgar Varese) that "the present-day composer refuses to die". How true, and half a century on from the ...

Hot Rats at 50

Retrospective by Richard Gehr, Los Angeles Times, 5 March 2020

How Frank Zappa busted up his band, moved to L.A. and helped invent jazz-rock. ...

Miss Mercy, colourful L.A. rock fixture and cofounder of Frank Zappa's GTOs, dies at 71

Obituary by Chris Campion, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2020

MISS MERCY, the effervescent rock 'n' roll superfan who found fame as a member of Frank Zappa's "groupie" girl-group the GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously), died ...

Don Van Vliet and Frank Zappa: Two Peas In A Misshapen Pod

Retrospective by Gary Lucas, Please Kill Me!, 14 January 2021

Guitarist Gary Lucas found himself smack dab in the middle of two of America's musical geniuses, Don 'n' Frank. Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa were ...

Cancel Culture: Starring Iggy, Janis, Zappa & Others

Memoir by Gary Lucas, Please Kill Me!, 25 October 2021

Long before it became a conversation-stopping mantra of the extremist right wing, "cancel culture" visited rock 'n' roll on numerous occasions. Guitarist, deejay, scenemaker and ...

Neil Slaven, 1944-2023

Obituary by Tony Burke, Rock's Backpages, January 2024

RECORD PRODUCER, researcher, author and discographer Neil Slaven, who died on December 23rd aged 79, was one of the leading lights of the 1960s British ...

see also George Duke

see also Wild Man Fischer

see also Flo & Eddie

see also GTOs, The

see also Mothers Of Invention, The

see also Ruben and the Jets

see also Grandmothers, The

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