![]() ![]() “Even if I wasn’t releasing records I would still do it.”įrank Vincent Zappa was born in Baltimore to Sicilian immigrants. If they’re not, then that’s also fine,” he declared in a 1983 interview. “I write because I am personally amused by what I do, and if other people are amused by it, then it’s fine. Zappa himself once said that whatever people thought of his work, he always enjoyed doing it. A recently completed classical work, “Civilization, Phase III and IV” is scheduled for release in the spring.īut he also had his share of detractors, who regarded him as a self-promoting crank, who rarely, if ever, wrote a memorable tune. Zappa joined in the European performances of the work until his illness forced him to leave the tour. He spent much of 1992 sequestered in his home studio, writing new works for the Ensemble, 25 classically trained international musicians specializing in modern music. He was viewed by influential critics as rock’s leading sociologist, and a nonpareil, if idiosyncratic, synthesizer of musical styles. Over the years, Zappa, whose albums were never huge sellers, sustained a cult following that ensured the marketability of a seemingly endless stream of eclectic recordings. He was also responsible for introducing mainstream America to one of the major cultural phenomena of the early 1980s-the vernacular and social habits of the “gag me with a spoon” crowd, in the hit song “Valley Girl,” recorded with his teen-age daughter, Moon. (He followed up with a caustic recording called “Porn Wars,” incorporating legislators’ comments with an electronic music pastiche). Zappa also appeared in a business suit at a 1985 Senate subcommittee hearing to rail against the censorship of rock lyrics. But by the mid-1980s, his long stringy hair and floppy mustache had been manicured, and he emerged as a leading voice for registering young people to vote. Zappa may have joked in his songs about raising dental floss in Montana and the dangers of eating yellow snow. Yet his anarchic demeanor, and occasionally juvenile antics, were counterbalanced by an increasingly strong sense of social commitment. Conductor Zubin Mehta once called Zappa “one of the few rock musicians who knows my language.” His orchestral work has been recorded and performed by the London Symphony. A year later, the group performed at UCLA with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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