Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words Page #5

I've not had any cosmic revelations.

I don't feel any closer or farther away

from the center of cosmic consciousness

because of the use of drugs.

Anything else that I put in my body,

aside from peanut butter and coffee,

is by prescription.

The closest I get to heavy drug use

is when I'm on the road

and I take penicillin because I get the clap.

That's it.

"To many people,

Zappa has often seemed to be

"a force of cultural darkness,

bearded and gross and filthy,

"entirely obscene, a Mephistophelian figure

"serving as a lone brutal

reminder of music's potential

"for invoking chaos and destruction."

That's from Time in October 1969.

"By any standard,

he was quite outstandingly ugly."

And finally, "I was never a hippie.

"Always a freak, but never a hippie."

Frank Zappa on Frank Zappa.

Well, Frank, during the past few days,

I've been reading some of the things

that you've said about groupies.

And you've said quite a lot.

Well, I think that it was about time

that somebody did

start discussing groupies,

because prior to that time,

it was a sociological phenomenon

that it existed in the pop world,

it's been existing for years and years,

and nobody even said anything about it.

And I was the first one to put it in print.

Well, can I just quote what you did say?

You said, "They make the

ultimate gesture of worship,

"human sacrifice." That's...

We've been a program of ill repute,

but in this regard, like, Monday Conference,

it wouldn't be as male sexist as that.

- I'm not...

- "Gesture of worship"? "Human sacrifice"?

But that is exactly what happens.

- And it's all right?

- So all you have to do

is describe what's happening.

I'm describing a phenomenon.

Why should you call it sexist?

You said it's also...

It's one of the most amazingly

beautiful products of the sexual revolution.

Why "beautiful"?

Well, you'd have to go on the road

and check it out a few times.

Welcome everyone

to this year's final edition of Opopoppa

here at Skansen Solliden.

Taking the lead of this gang,

we have a gentleman

who variously has been called

a musician, a critic,

he has also been called

a spokesman of a lost generation.

He is called seducer, he is called freak,

perverted genius and businessman.

I am talking about Frank Zappa

and The Mothers of Invention.

The mystery man came over

And he said I'm outta sight

He said for a nominal service charge

I could reach nirvana tonight

If I was ready, willing and able

To pay him his regular fee

He would drop all the rest

of his pressing affairs

And devote his attention to me

But I said

Look here, brother

Who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?

Who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?

Look here, brother

Don't you waste your time on me

Is commercial success

important to you, rather than

making enough money to do

what you want to do?

Well, commercial success

represents two things.

One, it represents dollars and cents,

and two, it represents

reaching a large audience.

The dollars and cents

I'm comfortable with right now,

because I manage to make enough

from the concert tours

and so forth, publishing,

to pay for the equipment that I use,

and to pay the people

who are making the music.

But the problem about reaching

a larger audience is...

It's important to me because

more people know my face from a poster

or from doing an interview

on television or radio or magazine,

than have ever heard the albums,

or have ever seen the group live, you know?

So, it makes you wonder.

I... I'm famous, but most people

don't even know what I do.

One, two, one, two, three, four.

All right, now that's the melody.

Now, we're gonna play...

The melody will now be sung.

Everybody is going to sing their part.

One, two, one, two, three, four.

Chester, you're not singing your drum fills.

It's so incredibly ironic

that there's so many people

that listen to your stuff

and say, "Hey, he must've been really stoned

- "to have thought that up."

- That's because

people are just not

accustomed to excellence.

They're not trained to it, you know?

Because when you go to school,

you're not given the criteria

by which to judge

between quality this or quality that.

All they do is teach you just enough

to be some kind of a slug

in a factory, to do your job,

so you can take home a paycheck

and consume some other stuff

that somebody else makes.

And there's no emphasis

in schools in the United States

put on people...

Preparing people to live a life

that has beautiful things in it.

You know, things that might

bring them aesthetic enrichment.

This is not a major consideration

in the United States.

How did you manage to escape

all that negative brainwashing?

I got out of school as fast as I could.

Don't you feel miffed

that you have this stigma attached to you,

from the younger crowd

that comes out to your concerts,

that you are into drugs,

and obviously you're not,

or don't you feel that you have that?

Well, yeah, it's kind of an affliction,

but that's not from the kids,

that's from the media, you know.

It's another way that the media

keeps me from getting

my point of view across.

The more abstract and weird

they make me look,

the less access that I have

to a normal channel of communication

with the people who might benefit

from what I have to say.

Which is one of the reasons

why I'm doing this.

I feel very strongly about my point of view.

I think there are other people

that might agree with it, if they heard it,

and I'll do whatever I can

to say my point of view

wherever it can be said.

But you don't see me on

normal television very often.

You don't hear the records

on the radio very often.

If you read about me in the papers,

they write about me like I'm a maniac.

I'm not. I'm 40 years old and I'm normal.

I got four kids, a house and

a mortgage and all that crap.

You know?

I'm a... And I'm an American citizen.

I'm happy to be that way.

I pay taxes and everything.

Has it been hard to juggle

the career with the family life?

I know you've got... You've got kids...

Yeah, I have a wife, four kids,

mortgage, the works.

- And? How is it?

- Yeah, it's hard to juggle.

Well, I've been married to

the same wife for 14 years.

What's she like?

She's a mean little sucker.

I bet she'd have to be to put up with you.

She's a... She's an excellent boss's wife.

Everybody knows that Gail is the boss's wife.

And what are the kids like?

How do they feel about you as their dad?

They like me.

Do you end up spending a lot

of time with them, then?

When I'm home.

All right.

I'm gonna tell you one more time.

I want to thank you

because I really appreciate this.

The name of this song is Dinah-Moe Humm.

One, two, three, four.

I couldn't say where she's comin' from

But I just met a lady named Dinah-Moe Humm

Strolled on over, said, "Look here, bum

"I got a $40 bill says you can't make me come

"No way! You just can't do it"

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