Forty years ago members of czech rock band plastic people of the universe were put. Zappa interviews and articles index zb zappa books. Top 15 gloriously weird facts about frank zappa music. Sep 05, 2018 in the real frank zapp a book, zappa described trying to make fireworks using powdered pingpong balls and other things kids shouldnt play with. Much like in understanding david lynchs twin peaks.
Frank zappa quotes author of the real frank zappa book. Listen free to frank zappa absolutely free plastic people, the duke of prunes and more. Very few direct political references occur during this. Fz guitar, vocals ray collins vocals, tambourine, prune jim fielder guitar, piano don preston keyboards bunk gardner woodwinds roy estrada bass, vocals jimmy carl black drums, vocals billy mundi drums, percussion recorded sunsethighland studios of ttg, november 15. The project discussion page is the place to talk about technical and editorial issues and exchange ideas. The mothers of invention were an american rock band from california.
Inspired by frank zappa and the velvet underground, and friends with vaclav. The song is a manifesto against conformity and materialistic culture, with frank zappa finally asking, go homeand check yourselfyou think were singing bout someone else. While fz was politically engaged throughout his entire adult life, the nature and. Check out our frank zappa the selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Frank zappa, ruth underwood, george duke, ralph humphrey, bruce fowler, tom fowler and jeanluc ponty, and also ian underwood, even though certain people have disputed his participation. Frank zappa, plastic people did you know that jim morrison, frank zappa, papa john phillips, and david crosby had parents that were highranking members of the u. To the right art tripp indicating 58 as zappa would do it, taken from the frank zappa and the mothers of invention in the 1960s dvd sexy intellectual productions, 2008. Inspired by a heady mixture of frank zappa, the velvet underground and. Supposing you had to listen to america drinks and goes home for a million times it would drive you crazy, for one thing. Frank actually took the time to pen his own work mainly because he was so annoyed with all the other efforts. Inspire a love of reading with amazon book box for kids discover delightful childrens books with amazon book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new amazon book box prime customers receive 15% off your first box. His work is characterized by nonconformity, freeform improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of american culture. Frank vincent zappa december 21, 1940 december 4, 1993 was an american singersongwriter, multiinstrumentalist, composer, filmmaker, and bandleader. The album opener is plastic people, a song that exists in two versions.
Nazev skladby inspiroval ceskou undergroundovou skupinu the plastic people of the universe. Leaping from style to style without warning, the album has a freewheeling, almost schizophrenic quality, encompassing everything from complex mutations of louie, louie to jazz. The song is a manifesto against conformity and materialistic culture, with frank zappa. Plastic people the mothers of invention, frank zappa song. The official website of frank zappa and the zappa family trust. German publisher zweitausendeins once sold a book with zappa song texts from freak out to apostrophe called plastic people. Jun 18, 2020 and so, mainly due to the plastic people of the universe, frank zappa came to be remembered as the symbol of free speech in the country later countries.
Zappa s tunes thus came to represent freedom and independent thought to dissidents in czechoslovakia. It had the english text on the right pages and the german translation on the left ones. Oct 26, 2020 zappa s music had been smuggled behind the iron curtain since the sixties, and he had become a hero to the czech people. In a career spanning more than 30 years, zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral. Banned and jailed under czech communism, the plastic people of the. The 10 best frank zappa albums to own on vinyl vinyl me, please. A collection of frank zappas lyrics spanning 19661977, in englis. German publisher zweitausendeins once sold a book with zappa song texts from freak out to apostrophe called plastic. Jim fielder guitar, piano don preston keyboards bunk gardner woodwinds roy estrada bass, vocals jimmy carl black drums, vocals billy mundi drums, percussion recorded sunsethighland studios of ttg. Plastic people songbuch corrected copy frank zappa carl weissner translation. Frank zappa s most popular book is the real frank zappa book.
Book this book does not require a rating on the projects quality scale. We would book a village hall or pub for a private party and use the party as. The real frank zappa book is an autobiographymemoir by frank zappa, cowritten by peter occhiogrosso, and published by poseidon press. Plastic people songbuch corrected copy frank zappa carl weissner translation zweitausendeins, frankfurt 1977 december 2nd edition isbn 496 pp, hardcover, 17 x 12 cm 496 pp, paperback, 16,5 x 11,5 cm englishgerman. This is more than the usual complaint of lack of humanism. When he visited prague, students told him that he had been considered one of the worst enemies of the communist state. Zweitausendeins, frankfurt 1977 december 2nd edition. Since 1999, the book has been published in paperback by touchstone books. The cover showed a man with frizzy gray hair and a furrowed brow, and zappa recalled thinking he was glad a mad scientist had made a record. Frank zappa has 27 books on goodreads with 688 ratings.
Sep 21, 2010 frank zappa, from the real frank zappa book, by zappa and peter occhiogrosso. Absolutely free is the second studio album by american rock band the mothers of invention, released on may 26, 1967 by verve records. Frank zappa, plastic people were you aware that jim morrison, frank zappa, papa john phillips, and david crosby were all children of highranking members of the american military. The frank zappa hour hosted by jeff demand features the music and celebrates the life of the late and great frank zappa. Plastic people of the universe, when music led you to jail.
Havel had written admiringly of the plastic people of the universe and. The plastic people of the universe also known as plastici or ppu. Fire walk with me, where you have to know the whole twin peaks tv series to understand the brilliance of the film, one must be very familiar with zappa s pre1984 canon of works to even read this book with any comprehensive understanding. In the real frank zappa book he calls this progression a hateful rule from harmony. The one thing that i think is really good about our music is that the settings for the lyrics are so carefully designed. While fz was politically engaged throughout his entire adult life, the nature and degree of his political activism transformed over the years. Top 15 gloriously weird facts about frank zappa music news. The title was the inspiration for the name of the czech band plastic people of the universe. But plastic people mostly addresses the conformity that zappa saw creeping into the very counterculture that he celebrated in hungry freaks, daddy. Books by frank zappa author of the real frank zappa book. Frank zappas most popular book is the real frank zappa book. The world had nearly forgotten about frank zappa, the freaky 60s musician whose suzy creemcheeze and cruising for burgers made life bearable for a loyal band of the perpetually alienated. For the polyrhythms zappa would for instance hold five fingers up pushing it forward two times to indicate to someone to play in 58 in this tempo as onetwo, onetwothree.
The tune is loosely based on richard berry s 1957 classic louie louie. They have no respect for the finer things in life, no concern for mankind. Sep 06, 2009 banned and jailed under czech communism, the plastic people of the universe helped to bring the regime down in 1989. This facsimile edition brings this seminal work on conceptual continuity to a new generation of fans who have outgrown the ordinary. Plastic people songbuch frank zappa, carl weissner deutsch on amazon. Frank zappa was asked to take over as the guitarist. Real frank zappa book by frank zappa, paperback barnes.
Frank zappa lyrics 562 song lyrics sorted by album, including muffin man, i have been in you, dont eat the yellow snow. Plastic people je prvni skladba z alba absolutely free z roku 1967 od skupiny mothers of invention vedenou frankem zappou. But afterwards they gave a copy to frank and he made some corrections to it. In 1984 frank zappa selfpublished them or us, created with a dot matrix printer. Inspired by frank zappa and the velvet underground, and friends with. The real frank zappa book faithfully captures this side of its author, composed of essays on everything from his background and upbringing, to politics, capitalism, and raising children. For example, frank zappa s second album, absolutely free was smuggled into czechoslovakia within a year of its 1967 release, and critics claim that the music influenced the famous czech underground rock band, the plastic people of the universe. Skladba od frank zappa and the mothers of invention.
Frank zappa is within the scope of the composers wikiproject, a group of editors writing and developing biographical articles about composers of all eras and styles. This concert was televised as part of a swedish series of concert broadcasts embarassingly titled oppapoppa get up and pop. To answer imaginary question number one, let me begin by explaining who i am not. Influenced by the likes of the fugs, frank zappa and the velvet underground, the fiercely independent plastic people of the universe were a thorn in the side. The tune is loosely based on richard berrys 1957 classic louie louie. Plastic people songbuch frank zappa, carl weissner deutsch on. Frank zappa 10 hrs on march 18, 1986, the maryland state senate judiciary committee held a hearing on a bill proposed by delegate judith toth to modify the existing state pornography statute so as to include records, tapes and cds.
Jan 25, 2008 frank zappa plastic people progressive rock. The real frank zappa book frank zappa with peter occhiogrosso 1989. Frank zappa baltimore sun, october 12, 1986 this book exists on the premise that somebody, somewhere, is interested in who i am, how i got that way, and what the fuck im talking about. Author of the real frank zappa book, plastic people, burnt weeny sandwich, sleep dirt, frank zappa apostrophe, the frank zappa reader, frank zappa overnite sensation, joes garage 1,11,111. This cheesy little homemade book was prepared for the amusement of people who already enjoy zappa music. Song information for plastic people the mothers of invention, frank zappa on allmusic. My favourite protest songs frank zappa plastic people. I would definitely recommend the real frank zappa book.
The czechoslovakian band, plastic people of the universe, named themselves after a zappa tune. Howard hampton on the plastic people of the universe artforum. Plastic people oh baby, now youre such a drag and theres this guy from the cia and hes creeping around. Fire walk with me, where you have to know the whole twin peaks tv series to understand the brilliance of the film, one must be very familiar with zappa s pre1984 canon of works to even read this book. Were we all brainwashed by the cia with sex, drugs, and rock. Absolutely free the mothers of invention, frank zappa. Plastic people songbuch by zappa frank and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. He also sees conformity infecting love affairs where truly romantic encounters start to fall victim to trendsetting. Frank zappa has 27 books on goodreads with 720 ratings. Dec 07, 2017 my favourite protest songs frank zappa plastic people posted on december 7, 2017 by opher within the satire and craziness is a real commentary aimed at the sterility of the plastic, conforming universe created by mankind.
Skladba vysla i na albu you cant do that on stage anymore, vol. Banned and jailed under czech communism, the plastic people of the universe helped to bring the regime down in 1989. Green genes on the hot rats album in 1969, people have believed for years that the character with that name on the captain kangaroo tv show played by lumpy brannum was my real dad. Frank zappa take a day and walk around watch the nazis run. Technically, the experiment didnt blow up in his face, but only because the firework exploded next to his groin. Book recommendations, author interviews, editors picks, and more. Frank persisted in discussing all those subjects that made people squirm politics, sex, religion, whatever, remarked jill christiansen, who was the catalogue development for rykodisc where zappa s huge collection was made available on cd in the eighties and nineties. A collection of frank zappa s lyrics spanning 19661977, in englis.
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