Why was Zappa so popular?

He was a unique one off, which made him stand out from the crowd. Very difficult to ignore someone like that.

Personally, i could only take small doses of Zappa.

 

I never was a big fan. The first I heard of him was on underground FM station in the late 60s, Dynamo Hum. For this kid raised in a straight laced Baptist home it was my first exposure to raunchy music.
Probably much of the allure was the shock value.

 

I dont even know where to start with this man

He is my favorite composer by far.

his mind.. his melodies, his everything. he just simply took stuff and made it happen.

I cant really think of anything that would help a person understand Zappa, I figure he is one of those people that you either get, or you dont. nothing wrong with that.

his music is incredible. so many moving parts. They could pull everything off live without a hitch.

he didnt take drugs. neither did his band. they were all stone sober.

he looked at music as a performance, and made it just that.

they guy was ahead of his time and really had a great idea on where things would end up.

hell. he predicted reality tv in the 70s..

he played a bike wheel on his first tv appearance.. and still made a name for himself. that should say a lot.

he was hilarious.

he knew composition so well.. he actually made a song with the goal to get people that didnt understand the lyrics to slow dance too it. and succeeded. that song was called "bobby brown" the lyrics... are FILTHY. but a lot of people from other areas in the world that didnt know english loved the way it moved, and the melody and would have full on slow dancing dances to this song. meanwhile... I cant talk about what the song was about on here... but if you have the time.. look it up. then picture a thousand people in suits slow dancing...

 

LOL,

R.1 I'm pretty sure the band had lots-of-things hidden away from Frank...But there's no doubt he was completely straight.

R.2 Bobby Brown LOL !!! " I can stand about an hour on the tower-of-power, as long as I get a little golden "...

Great stuff,

Rastus

 

when touring, if you were caught even DRUNK. he would send you home..and had done it many times with a few people. there is a lot of stuff out there on how frank managed his bands. love it or hate it. he ran the show.

it was known that when you were in Franks band, you played clean. his exact words "I dont like what drugs do to SOME people"

he also bank rolled pretty much everything, so if you wanted to earn a pay cheque. you showed up and did your job. if you wanted to party. that was cool too, but you just wouldnt be welcome back.

 

You and me both. It was hard, insistent, with sizzling lyrics and a throbbing, rock beat. It was way ahead of its time.

"I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group."

 

Have you ever heard "Over night sensation?"

 

Love Frank. Seen him in concert twice. He has a great deal of material to pick from also. If you are into commercial pop or some of the poor excuse for RNR around today, then I fully understand why you don't get FZ.

 

I was fortunate enough to see Zappa in concert five times. The first was in the late 1960s, playing in his home town at the Baltimore Civic Center. They shut the concert down at midnight, because it was a sound ordinance. Frank was so pissed he vowed on stage to not come back until they changed the law.

He played at the Circus Krone in Munich while I was attending college there. One of my college friends had the second Mothers album, Absolutely Free. One of the tracks on it was "Call Any Vegetable." A bunch of us got tickets to the concert, and my friend brought with him a bag of vegetables. He got to the backstage entrance and just asked one of the bouncers/stagehands if he'd give Zappa the bag. When Zappa strode onstage, he carried the bag of vegetables with him and placed it on the piano, in full view of everyone!

While traveling by train between Vienna and Budapest, I had one of the many German music magazines. In it was a long feature on Zappa, and there were several photographs of his compositions. He wrote every part for every instrument. Truly, a 20th century composer.

 

I got to see him once, at Notre Dame University (Indiana), a rather conservative Catholic university. Naturally, we were wondering ahead of time if he was going to play Catholic Girls... he didn't, but he slip a couple verses into another song (as he often did).

 

You can be a sophisticated musician and music lover and still not get Zappa. For example, if you prefer a different vocal style than he favored or don't enjoy his lyrical narratives. You kinda sound like an elitist with that comment.

 

HAHA thank you so much for sharing that

I was picturing the evening as I was reading.

love this man so much

 

You could not be more mistaken. It is fine not to like Zappa. I figure you must be a sophisticated musician, music lover and a Zappa hater. Frank basically covered all the bases. I have around 15 to 20 of his CDs and still have not heard all of his material. I've been listening to music since I was born and, I've lived through many a music genre. I feel Frank was the real thing. He was not the Beatles, Stones, etc. but, he was quite original and very good, at least to my humble self.

 

"The lyrics are just there for the people who need them." -- FZ

 

Is it terrible if I say Frank who??.......................? Of course I know who he is, but if his music is more of an acquired taste, I must admit I never really acquired that taste......................

 

I like peaches en regalia as well - he’s an acquired taste for sure, but every once in awhile it’s fun to listen to him to switch things up a bit

 

Where did you get that Zappa was “so” popular?
There was a phase, but......

 

Freakin' love a great deal of his work. Not all of it for sure, but the best is amazing, such as One Size Fits all. I think because a lot of it is challenging and different. That's why he'd put out accessible stuff like Valley Girl and Yellow Snow.

Some people just don't like Lima Beans.

 

Here's one of my all time favourite Zappa tracks:

The musicianship involved in writing and performing that leaves me in awe every single time i listen to it.

 

I forgot to mention, for anyone relatively new to Zappa and wants to see just a taste of what he is capable of, there’s a music documentary/concert out there called “roxy: the movie” which I think is steaming live on imdb to or Amazon maybe? Either way, you get to see how complicated his pieces were - his arrangements are great, “the mothers” were obviously incredibly talented musicians (they could play multiple instruments and somehow kept up with Frank). Above all else, you could see what an entertainer he was - engaging the audience, fun lyrics and everyone seems to be having a great time - his shows must’ve been great to go to - I’m sorry that we lost him before I had the chance to see him live.