America, like any other nation, is a country of contradictions and questionable values. We hold The Jonas Brothers in the highest esteem for their purity rings, when in reality, there are millions of dollars of Disney money behind the brothers' decision to make a "stand" for abstinence. For their part, the Jonas brothers are thrusting their pelvises, shooting white foam on their audiences, and making sexy poses for little girls' posters.
Zappa wouldn't have liked the Jonas Brothers. He would have considered them just one of the many moral failures of our culture. What is the psychological impact of a group like the Jonas Brothers dipping their big toes in the pools of sexual suggestion while at the same time encouraging abstinence with their million dollar rings versus a hairy, big nosed (actual) song writer who says "look this is what sex (or drugs or rock n roll) is - take it or leave it."
I grew up in a generally liberal household: my parents didn't try to hide anything from me or scare me into abstaining from sex or drinking or drugs. The result was that I now have a responsible and realistic attitude towards all those things. Frank Zappa was a cynic. He had a way of making the listener look at any hot button issue and just chill out or have a bit of a chuckle about it. That's the power and integrity of comedy: when you're able to have a laugh about something, it's much easier to approach the situation with an open mind and a spirit of cooperation and reason. From that point of view, any problem can be easily solved.
What I've Been Getting into Lately
We're Only in it for the Money - The Mothers of InventionEvery genre needs an album for phony hippies to listen to. Zappa and his mothers have the perfect thing. A combination of psychedelic pop, prog, new age synth, R&B, and classical with a ton of hilarious and innovative soundbites in between, this 1968 classic lampoons everything from cops, to the government, to dirty hippies and their indulgent drug abuse. Coasting the edge of social suicide, The Mothers isolate themselves from every trend and establishment in 1960s culture and counterculture to provide biting social commentary and cynical observation. The message? Just chill out, be who you are no matter how weird or crazy, and do the right thing whether in a suit and tie or with long hair and a beard. Beyond the album's social concepts and ideas, it contains a great deal of musical innovation as well. Even the Beatles were influenced heavily by The Mothers to produce the album "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" often mistakenly billed as the world's first concept album (Zappa produced one a few years before and there were many even before that). Strange, exciting, lyrical, melodic, annoying, like nothing you've ever heard, it's no wonder "We're Only in it for the Money" was recently included in the Library of Congress' "National Recording Registry."
Noteworthy tunes: Who Needs the Peace Corps?, Mom and Dad, Flower Punk, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, Lonely Little Girl, What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?
2 comments:
and though the beatles were on cutting edge of recording techniques/equipment, zappa was pioneering them. i really dont think we would do it the same way if it werent for some of these albums that showcase the possiblities of sound design/engineering.
obviously it would be wrong to say Frank Zappa was responsible for every innovation in rock history, but he was way more important than people realize. It's sort of like how all those great songs Elvis sung were actually written and recorded first by other artists. It took Elvis to bring them to the general public. In this way, the Beatles are often the vessel through which people experience various forms of musical innovation, which can actually be attributed to other artists. The Beatles' role as the "go between" here is part of why they are always considered the most important band of all time.
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