The Music of Frank Zappa (MUGC 4890-027/5890-028) 01/17/15 Dr. Joseph Klein — Spring 2015 CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITIES: TROPES, THEMES, AND OBSESSIONS Vegetables (& fruit) • String Beans to Utah: “Truck Driver Divorce” (Them or Us); “No Not Now” (Thing Fish) • “Mr. Green Genes” (Uncle Meat) • “Call Any Vegetable” (Absolutely Free) • Pumpkins: Barking Pumpkin records; “Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin” (Absolutely Free) • Potatoes: Bobby (“head like a potato”); Thing Fish • “The Duke of Prunes” (Absolutely Free) • “Peaches en Regalia” (Hot Rats, etc.) Other types of food • Lumpy Gravy • “Cruisin’ For Burgers” (Uncle Meat) • “This Town is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich” (200 Motels) • Cheese: “The Voice of Cheese” (Uncle Meat); liner notes to You Are What You Is • Burnt Weeny Sandwich • Cigarettes & coffee • “Latex Solar Beef” (Fillmore East June 1971) Animals • Poodles: “Cheepnis” (Roxy and Elsewhere); “Dirty Love” (Apostrophe’); “The Poodle Lecture” (Baby Snakes) • Patricia, the dog in the high chair (Them Or Us, The Perfect Stranger, Francesco Zappa) • “Evelyn, A Modified Dog” (One Size Fits All) • “Toads of the Short Forest” (Weasels Ripped My Flesh; “Camarillo Brillo”) • “Mud Shark” (Fillmore East June 1971) • Pigs and Ponies (Lumpy Gravy) • “The Pleated Gazelle” (200 Motels) • “Penguin in Bondage” (Roxy and Elsewhere) • Greggery Peccary (Studio Tan) • Weasels Ripped My Flesh • Hot Rats • “Echidna’s Arf (Of You)” (One Size Fits All) Oral fixation • Food (see above) • Uncle Meat cover • Dental Floss: “Montana” (Overnite Sensation) • The Blow Job • “Charlie’s Enormous Mouth” (You Are What You Is) • “Your Mouth” (Waka Jawaka) Freaks & Aberrant Behavior • Kenny and Ronnie Williams: “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black” (We’re Only in it for the Money) • Wild Bill the Mannequin-Fucker • Cynthia Plaster-Caster • “Illinois Enema Bandit” (Zappa in New York) • “Jazz Discharge Party Hats” (Man From Utopia) • Laurel Fishman: “Stevie’s Spanking” (Them or Us) • “Father O’Blivion” (Apostrophe’) • “Conehead” (You Are What You Is) • Michael Jackson: “Why Don’t You Like Me?” (Broadway the Hard Way) • “Mr. Green Genes” (Uncle Meat) Archetypal characters • Suzy Creamcheese • Hippies • Plastic People (Absolutely Free) • Pachucos • Lonesome Cowboy Burt • Bobby Brown • Jewish American Princess • Catholic Girls • Valley Girl • Debbie • Charlie (“kinda young, kinda wow…”) • “Po-Jama People” (One Size Fits All) • Thing-Fish (composite archetypes) Everysay objects/mechanical devices • Gas masks: childhood references; “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask” (Weasels Ripped My Flesh); Joe’s Garage liner notes; “You Are What You Is” video • Zircon-encrusted tweezers: “Montana” (Overnite Sensation) • Chrome: “Who Are the Brain Police” (Freak Out!); “Chrome-Plated Megaphone of Destiny” (We’re Only in it for the Money); “Sofa No. 2” (One Size Fits All); “Muffin Man” (Bongo Fury) • Vacuum cleaners: 200 Motels, Chunga’s Revenge, The Perfect Stranger; L. Ron Hoover/Church of Appliantology (Joe’s Garage) • Rancid Poncho: “Camarillo Brillo” (Overnite Sensation); “Cosmik Debris” (Apostrophe’) Drugs/Alcohol • “America Drinks and Goes Home” (Absolutely Free) • “Cocaine Decisions” (Man From Utopia) • “Charlie’s Enormous Mouth” (You Are What You Is) • “Dummy Up” (Roxy and Elsewhere) - 2 - Politics • “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” (Absolutely Free) • Unions: “Stick Together”, “Luigi and the Wise Guys” (Man From Utopia); “Doing Work for Yuda” (Joe’s Garage); “Flakes” (Sheik Yerbouti); “Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink” (Chunga’s Revenge) • Censorship: “Porn Wars” (Meets the Mothers of Prevention) • Richard Nixon: “Dickie’s Such an Asshole” (Broadway the Hard Way) • Jesse Jackson: “Rhymin’ Man” (Broadway the Hard Way) • Surgeon General C. Everett Koop: “Promiscuous” (Broadway the Hard Way) • “Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel” (Broadway the Hard Way) • Immigration: “Welcome to the United States” (The Yellow Shark) • Abortion, poverty: “Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America” (The Yellow Shark) Religion • “Father O’Blivion” (Apostrophe’) • “Cosmik Debris” (Apostrophe’) • “Jewish Princess” (Sheik Yerbouti) • “Catholic Girls” (Joe’s Garage) • “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” (You Are What You Is) • “Heavenly Bank Account” (You Are What You Is) • “Dumb All Over” (You Are What You Is) • “Jonestown” (The Perfect Stranger) • “Jesus Thinks You’re a Jerk” (Broadway the Hard Way) • “When the Lie’s So Big” (Broadway the Hard Way) Sex • “SEX” (Man from Utopia) • “G-Spot Tornado” (Jazz from Hell) • “I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth” (Zappa in New York) • “I Have Been in You” (Sheik Yerbouti) • “Dinah-Moe-Hum” (Overnite Sensation) • “Keep it Greasy” (Joe’s Garage) • “Ms. Pinky” (Zoot Alures) • The Blow Job Geographical Locations: • Mojave Desert (California): “San Ber’dino (One Size Fits All); “Cucamonga” (Bongo Fury) • “Orange County Lumber Truck” (Weasels Ripped My Flesh) • Mendocino (California): “Camarillo Brillo” (Apostrophe’) • “It’s from Kansas” (Lumpy Gravy) • “Montana” (Overnite Sensation) • “Poofter’s Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead” (Bongo Fury) - 3 - • Utah (string beans to): “Truck Driver Divorce” (Them or Us); “No Not Now” (Thing Fish) • “What’s New in Baltimore?” (Meets the Mothers of Prevention) • “In France” (Them or Us) Popular Culture/Social Commentary • 1950s B movies: “Return of the Son of Monster Magnet” (Freak Out!); “Cheepnis” (Roxy and Elsewhere); “Tink Walks Amok”, “The Radio is Broken” (Man from Utopia) • Beauty industry: “Beauty Knows No Pain”, “Charlie” (You Are What You Is) • Michael Jackson [pop music]: Why Don’t You Like Me? (Broadway the Hard Way) • Pachuco culture: Ruben & the Jets; “Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague” (Uncle Meat) • Disco culture: “Dancin’ Fool” (Sheik Yerbouti); “Disco Boy” (Zoot Allures) • Media culture: “Trouble Every Day” (Freak Out); “I’m the Slime” (Overnite Sensation) • Racial issues: “Trouble Every Day” (Freak Out!); “You Are What You Is” (You Are What You Is) • “Truck Driver Divorce” (Them or Us) • French people: “In France” (Them or Us) • Homosexuality: “He’s So Gay” (Thing Fish) • Hippie culture: “Flower Punk,” “Concentration Moon” (We’re Only in it for the Money); “We’re Turning Again” (Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention) • Corporate irresponsibility: “Outrage at Valdez” (The Yellow Shark) Musical icons and references • Rhythm & Blues • Doo-Wop • Edgard Varèse • Igor Stravinsky • Anton Webern • Béla Bartók • John Cage • “Louie Louie” (Richard Berry) • “My Sharona” (The Knack) • Devo • “Twilight Zone” Theme • “Mr. Rogers” Theme • “Jaws” Theme - 4 - .