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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Tag: interviews
The Mothers of Invention – Conflicted Histories
As time has passed since the publication of The Real Frank Zappa Book, and more interviews of original band members have emerged whose individual recollections contradict was had been written (and often taken as factual history) — it further sheds light on the complexity of this band, and the need for an ongoing, objective, and scholarly view of the Mother’s history from those who were actually there (well beyond the usual pop culture biographies and rock critic hokum), the musicians themselves.
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Hawksley Workman — Live in France & Elsewhere
Hawksley Workman (born Ryan Corrigan on March 4, 1975) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his quirky yet accessible blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released ten full length albums throughout his career. A multi-instrumentalist, he plays guitar, drums, bass, keyboards and sings on his records and often switches between those instruments when playing live.
A prolific artist, usually writing, recording, mastering and releasing entire albums in the span of only a few weeks. He explains:
“A lot of artists I know they get a year and a half away from a record they’ve just made it’s like… ‘Oh… it’s terrible I hate that thing,’ ya know? When I record [a] record, I never take more than a day per song… so by the time the record is mixed, finished, complete, done… I’m still in a honeymoon with the record…”
In the first clip, Workman performs “Smoke Baby” live in Lille, France, 2003. It appears on the album Lover/Fighter (Universal Music Canada, 2003). Warning/Guarantee: some tasteful partial male nudity (something Dr. Sharl would appreciate, I’m sure).
The second clip is a video of “The City Is A Drag” shot in a Hamburg, Germany, parking lot on May 7, 2008, during the European Los Manlicious Tour. Directed by Sean Michael Turrell. It appears on the album Los Manlicious (Universal Music Canada, 2008.) There is something very appealing about this bare-bones approach to music video making: one need not be glamorous or flashy to be good.
The third clip has Hawksley Workman on the Canadian CBC program, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, discussing his album, Between The Beautifuls (Universal Music Canada, 2008).
Click on the following to listen to other Hawksley Workman audio interviews:
We’d Like You To Meet Hawksley
Hawksley Workman is:
•Ryan Corrigan (“Hawksley Workman”) – vocals, guitar
•Todd Lumley (“Mr. Lonely”) – piano, organ, keyboards
•Derrick Brady – bass guitar
•Jesse Zubot – guitar & violin
•Brad Kilpatrick – drums