Author Topic: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......  (Read 3200 times)

orangewhip

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I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« on: December 18, 2009, 08:53:57 PM »
"We're Only In It For The Money' is such a great album.  He started out pretty good, but go bad pretty quickly.  "Money"  is a great album.
"My week beats your year." -- Lou Reed. Liner notes to Metal Machine Music

Reeleyes

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2009, 09:02:14 PM »
I like music that is funny so I like a handful of Zappa tunes.
You look like a really healthy Arthy Lang.

ChrisRawk

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2009, 08:42:27 AM »
Zappa's a hard guy to get into.  Having a catalog consisting of, like, 700 albums doesn't make it easier.  I remember listening to 'Joe's Garage' in high school and a couple others that I don't remember but I really had to be in the mood for it.
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Christina

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2009, 01:17:09 PM »
Zappa's a hard guy to get into.  Having a catalog consisting of, like, 700 albums doesn't make it easier.  I remember listening to 'Joe's Garage' in high school and a couple others that I don't remember but I really had to be in the mood for it.

I"ve only heard a couple of songs but I hated them so much, instantly, immediately (Dynamo Hum makes me want to kill) that I think I can assume I'll hate anything else I hear.
Remember how he couldn't stop his leg?

Kim Kelly

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2009, 01:30:04 PM »
jazz fart, jazz fart, everyone's listenin' to the jazz fart
Too soon?

betheboy

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2009, 01:58:24 PM »
My mother is a fan so I grew up hearing Zappa occasionally but none of it really stuck with me. When I grew up I wondered if I missed something so I picked up a few of the early records and while they aren't isn't terrible I only listened to them a few times and then put them away for good.

I honestly do not understand the cult of Zappa at all. What do people like about him?

masterofsparks

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2009, 04:53:34 PM »
I honestly do not understand the cult of Zappa at all. What do people like about him?

It's the notes he's NOT playing, man. Oh wait, I forgot there is no such thing.
I'll probably go into the wee hours.

dave from knoxville

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2009, 06:13:09 PM »
My mother is a fan so I grew up hearing Zappa occasionally but none of it really stuck with me. When I grew up I wondered if I missed something so I picked up a few of the early records and while they aren't isn't terrible I only listened to them a few times and then put them away for good.

I honestly do not understand the cult of Zappa at all. What do people like about him?

I love about 2/3 of his stuff. Don't know if I can explain why. I have probably listened to Apostrophe and One Size Fits All hundreds of times.

betheboy

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2009, 06:22:59 PM »
My mother is a fan so I grew up hearing Zappa occasionally but none of it really stuck with me. When I grew up I wondered if I missed something so I picked up a few of the early records and while they aren't isn't terrible I only listened to them a few times and then put them away for good.

I honestly do not understand the cult of Zappa at all. What do people like about him?

I love about 2/3 of his stuff. Don't know if I can explain why. I have probably listened to Apostrophe and One Size Fits All hundreds of times.

I guess it's hard to quantify why you like something. It's much easier for me to pinpoint why I dislike something.

dave from knoxville

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2009, 06:34:33 PM »
My mother is a fan so I grew up hearing Zappa occasionally but none of it really stuck with me. When I grew up I wondered if I missed something so I picked up a few of the early records and while they aren't isn't terrible I only listened to them a few times and then put them away for good.

I honestly do not understand the cult of Zappa at all. What do people like about him?

I love about 2/3 of his stuff. Don't know if I can explain why. I have probably listened to Apostrophe and One Size Fits All hundreds of times.

I guess it's hard to quantify why you like something. It's much easier for me to pinpoint why I dislike something.

I think he came along for me as I was starting to stretch my musical wings a little bit. I was a timid kid, no way was I going to get hooked up with the kind of kids into punk and the like; music was more of an intellectual thing for me, I think, and I could listen to his polyrhythmic arrangements all day long. I think that as I was learning to play some of it, it was hard in a very particular way; that is, it was difficult but with clearly delineated notes. I had no way to wrap my head around the sort of growl coming out of Hendrix's guitar, but I could learn these strange time signatures and pick out the notes in the arrangements until I could basically play along. And it wasn't all just cold technical stuff; much of his work, like Watermelon in Easter Hay is very emotional for me.

I am a nerd.

dave from knoxville

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2009, 06:45:02 PM »
Because I am a good sport, and I want to reinforce my place in the FOT family despite my love for some uncool things, I offer this hilarious comment from Wikipedia on one of my favorite records, One SiZe Fits All:

"Many early copies contain a skip during "Inca Roads" at approximately 4:40 into the track. This error was a manufacturing defect not caught during the test pressing stage. The album was recalled after the mistake was caught, but a significant number had already been sold. The highly complex nature of the music made it difficult to recognize the error without comparing it to the correct version."

betheboy

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2009, 06:51:06 PM »
My mother is a fan so I grew up hearing Zappa occasionally but none of it really stuck with me. When I grew up I wondered if I missed something so I picked up a few of the early records and while they aren't isn't terrible I only listened to them a few times and then put them away for good.

I honestly do not understand the cult of Zappa at all. What do people like about him?

I love about 2/3 of his stuff. Don't know if I can explain why. I have probably listened to Apostrophe and One Size Fits All hundreds of times.

I guess it's hard to quantify why you like something. It's much easier for me to pinpoint why I dislike something.

I think he came along for me as I was starting to stretch my musical wings a little bit. I was a timid kid, no way was I going to get hooked up with the kind of kids into punk and the like; music was more of an intellectual thing for me, I think, and I could listen to his polyrhythmic arrangements all day long. I think that as I was learning to play some of it, it was hard in a very particular way; that is, it was difficult but with clearly delineated notes. I had no way to wrap my head around the sort of growl coming out of Hendrix's guitar, but I could learn these strange time signatures and pick out the notes in the arrangements until I could basically play along. And it wasn't all just cold technical stuff; much of his work, like Watermelon in Easter Hay is very emotional for me.

I am a nerd.

Your nerdiness is safe here and thank you for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Christina

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #12 on: December 19, 2009, 07:38:28 PM »
Because I am a good sport, and I want to reinforce my place in the FOT family despite my love for some uncool things, I offer this hilarious comment from Wikipedia on one of my favorite records, One SiZe Fits All:


Dave you can like whatever you want and it's okay by me, and from where I sit, there ain't nothin' what needs reinforcing.
Remember how he couldn't stop his leg?

gluvox

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dave from knoxville

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Re: I'm don't consider myself a fan of Frank Zappa, but.......
« Reply #14 on: December 21, 2009, 08:07:31 PM »
Happy Frank Zappa Day everybody!

The video attached to the end of that article is my very favorite kind of zappa, pitched somewhere in between early Soft Machine and Can