h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is SO much better than the Edited entry.

The Frank Zappa Home Page is at http://www.zappa.com/ which is very well worth a visit.

Zappa's main work, according to that site, was the project on the three albums
Only In It For The Money - Lumpy Gravy - Civilisation Phase 3, although this is not among his more accessible work.


Hullabaloo

Very good. An ideal intro for would be Zappa fans.

I have only been collecting for a couple of years. People would play me various tracks and my responce would be " crap, infantile + pointless". And then (cue church type music) I heard Hot Rats. At last.... the music I had been searching for!!

I jumped into the strange world of Frank. So little time... so many albums (and so much money). As I brought album after album I soon discovered that I found a lot of his stuff crap, infantile + pointless!!!

This is why I love his music so much. Don't like a certain album? Hey, try the next one, it's gonna be different. I found myself worshipping at the 1970-1976 era. This seems only a short time but as you Zappa fans know, thats about 13 albums!!

Can anyone tell me if "Shut up and play yer guitar" is as good as "Guitar"?

The "Shut up and play your Guitar" trilogy is a very different experience from the "Guitar" compilation.
While "Guitar" features different versions of some solos from some of the same songs found on "SUAPYG 1,2,3", the production values are different and the tracks very often feature none of the backing track.

The two, um, projects are years apart and the SUAPYG trilogy is way exhaustive. When I owned it, I had to pick and chose and compile my own tape. With "Guitar", no need. Frank had done some editing and thinking. If I remember correctly, SUAPYG was part of a project where Steve Vai was learning the various solos and transcribing them for a book, which see.

As for Frank's infantile crap, at his worst, he was just like all adults in the music business, getting his jollies where he could.
At his best, he turned over rocks most people in the entertainment business didn't even want to look at, let alone think about.

Thanks for the advice. Triple albums are not cheap and as all my friends hate Zappa, advice is rarely given. (Well it is but if I followed it, I would not sit down for some time!!)

I know what you mean about editing. Clever use of my CD burner has resulted in some fantastic Zappa albums from material I would not normally play.

Next month sees the release of the Zappa double album - live from Australia 1976. Anyone got any info on this??

Put Barfko-Swill into the search engine.

Nice site, cheers. Still no track listing or band details though. From the dates etc, I wonder if it will be similar to the Helsinki Gig?

I'll look around. There are a couple of obsessive FZ sites I used to have links to.

I only saw him once, in Austin. The last time he was there.
I was in the nosebleed section and couldn't see anything.
The sound stank.

One of my biggest regrets was that in 1978 I was at the Knebworth festival to see the Tubes, Peter Gabriel, Boomtown Rats etc. Zappa played a 2hour set to which my response was to wander off and get pissed!! What a spanner man....... I was young and wanted Punk Rock.

He might have been a little out of place there.

Boomtown Rats! I love 'em!

Gee, that would have been just after the release of Peter's first
"magazine" type album. Wonder who was playing guitar for him at the festival?

This is going back a long time but I seem to recall that Tony Levin? played guitar for Gabriel.

Halfway through the set, he started playing this stick thing with about 8 strings on it, stomped on a fuzzbox and the whole band launched into a "Whiter shade of pale", Peter G. SCREAMING that he loved the Rats and this was his tribute to them.

It was the only time I have heard an ex-member of Genesis sounding like the Stooges!!

Yep, Tony Levin, Chapman stick!

Peter has no shame. And he knows Iggy Pop.

Would'nt mind knowing Iggy myself. He's probably got an interesting tale or two!!!!!!!!

He actually wrote an Autobiography back in the early eighties, called "I need more".

Unfortunately, I took some of what he said to heart and have never been the same since.

Yep, an excellent book. At the end he promised that Vol 2 would be coming out but 15 years later I,m still waiting. I am a big Iggy fan (seen him about 7 times) and rate the Stooges albums in my top twenty of all time.

Never been much for live shows.
I had to leave an Aerosmith concert in the middle of the first song because it was too loud for me. Even with earplugs.

I went to see a funny little band of three brothers called...what was it..."Momma's Boys"? They had a minor hit with a cover of Slade's "Crazy Daisy's House of Dreams" or something like that. They were at the Backroom in Austin. It was so loud, even with cigarette filters in my ears, that I was almost deaf for three days.

Yeah, I am a bit deaf in one ear(10% loss) due to constant exposure to stupidly loud music. I've just realised that I have no idea of your fave Zappa albums. Top 5 list please!!

1. Freak Out!
2. Overnite Sensation
3. We're Only In It For The Money
4. Live at the Roxy and Elsewhere
5. You are What you is
6. Just Another Band From L.A.
7. Sleep Dirt
8. Apostrophe
9. Weasels Ripped My Flesh
10. Shut Up and Play Your Guitar

In no particular order:
1. Apos (!)
2. Over-nite sensation
3. One size fits all
4. Hot Rats
5. Roxy and Elsewhere
6. Weasels
7. Burnt Weeny
8. Waka/Jawaka
9. Chungas Revenge
10. You Can't Do That etc Vol 2

My nickname is inspired by the cover of "Chunga's Revenge".

My favorite songs are:

1. Muffin Man
2. Torture Never Stops
3. Billy the Mountain
4. Sofa
5. Florentine Pogen
6. More Trouble Comin' Every Day
7. My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama
8. Mudshark
9. Peaches en Regalia
10.You Are What You Is

And I forgot, a stronge honorable mention to ThingFish !

Aaaaaaaaaah, very tough. Best songs?? Give me a couple of days.