Frank Zappa — Cynic, Satirist, Social Anthropologist

Frank Zappa had been referred to as a lot of things throughout his thirty year career – some complimentary (genius, iconoclast, family man) and some not so complimentary (misogynist, anti-semite, misanthropist) – yet all one need do is listen to some of the myriad of interviews Zappa gave during his life (beginning with an excerpt from the Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 1 Interview, above) and evidence becomes overwhelmingly clear: besides being a musician and composer, Zappa was a life-long cynic, satirist, and a social anthropologist:
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A Skin Too Few – The Days Of Nick Drake

I just stumbled upon this wonderful documentary on Nick Drake, early 70s singer-songwriter of near mythical fame. We’re big fans here at Barry Towers. Be sure to check out the man’s small but fabulous body of work (if you hadn’t already, of course).

Part two is here; from there use the right sidebar to get to the other parts.

Porno Soundtracks

What happens if you put three professional musicians in a recording studio and … have them watch porn movies?

While you probably begin imagining strange situations, these guys made it a creative venture. They created a new soundtrack to the 70ties adult movies they were watching – turning off the sound and just letting their instincts come up with vivid musical imaginations. And it worked.

Have a listen.

Je Suis Dans Ta Vie! (Todeloo Doot)

We interrupt this program for a bit of nostalgia for the old European folk (preferably of the French persuasion).

Over the weekend Sharl and I watched Podium — wait, let me rephrase that. Over the weekend I gently persuaded Sharl to join me in watching Podium. Now before you get any weird ideas, Podium is a comedy about a Claude François imitator whose main character is played by Benoît Poelvoorde of Man Bites Dog fame.

Now who is this Claude François character, I hear you ask. Well, behold:

That’s CloClo performing the classic Alexandrie/Alexandra for you, somewhere back in the late 70s. Pretty shocking for those Young Sophisticates among you, I imagine. Yet I need only hear the beginning notes of that tune and BOOM — there I am: barely 10 years old, fresh out of the bath, hair neatly combed, gushing over those background dansers also known as Les Claudettes. Everything, needless to say, was much better in the seventies. Yes? (No? Discuss.)

Anyway, back on topic: imagine our surprise when during the end credits of Podium, this pops up:

To be fair, it was Sharl who spotted this. It was I who freeze-framed the screen and took the picture. But hey, see that? In their “thank you” list, they actually include Frank Zappa! One can’t but wonder why…

Moving on, here’s another tune that you may actually be familiar with:

Pfeh, a My Way cover, you shrug? Quite the opposite.