Zappa's Death
Michael Gula
>
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
> If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
> this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
> dead before I knew I liked him.
I have sent you the lengthy post of July 14, 1998 from "Zomby
Woof" containing reactions from the newsgroup at the time of FZ's
passing.
If there is sufficient interest from others, I can repost it here
in its entirety.
--
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Justin Coffey
>
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
> If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
> this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
> dead before I knew I liked him.
I was sixteen at the time, a junior in high school. I guess it was the
Monday after he died when I found out, which would have been the sixth.
I was at home dozing off as I had taken the day off from school, and my
phone rang at about ten that morning. It was my girlfriend, who she
broke the news. Whether or not I had really been sick enough to miss
school that morning, I definitely felt like shit at that point.
I'd been into Zappa for about a year at that point, so I can't say that
I'd followed him for the decades that some of you have. But it was a
huge loss nonetheless. I got over the shock of his death rather
quickly, as I had known for months, as Michael Pierry said above, that
it was just a matter of time before he succumbed to his illness. Eight
months or so later, however, I actually cried over his death, (I think)
following an argument I had with someone about the deification of Kurt
Cobain following his suicide.
So there. And though I was here last summer, I'd still like to see the
repost that Michael Gula mentioned. Back to lurk mode.
Justin
Timothy Meyers
StucoHomes
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
He died before I started getting into his music, but I remember when I heard
about it. I was sitting on the toilet, reading Entertainment Weekly, doing my
own impression of Zappa Krappa, and all I remember is seeing the picture of him
holding the book, looking like a preacher, with his family all around him.
It's in TRFZB, i think its the picture that starts out the "Marriage as a Dada
Concept" chapter... y'know, dweezil's holding his guitar, ahmet's putting a
sticker on the side of a box or something...
-----
Jody - aka Jack Armstrong/Stucco Homes
"Write it down for me, I'll put it in mein column next week..." - faust
"Iao Zai Zao Mai Mao Tai Tao Now" - Daevid Allen
"..then I laid down on the couch and I got my snooze on..." - Arbuckle Jones
Collin Pruitt
<mike...@MORESPAMerols.com> wrote:
>Timothy Meyers wrote:
>>
>> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>>
>> If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
>> this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
>> dead before I knew I liked him.
>
>
>I have sent you the lengthy post of July 14, 1998 from "Zomby
>Woof" containing reactions from the newsgroup at the time of FZ's
>passing.
>
>If there is sufficient interest from others, I can repost it here
>in its entirety.
>
I'd like to see it again.
>
>--
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>
>To reply remove MORESPAM from the address.
------------------------
Montana Guy Zappa Page
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/5409/index.html
clock...@hotmail.com
AOL screen name: The Who555
Nik Lowenberg
> I'd like to see it again.
Me too.
-Nik
Michael Pierry
>
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
I was fourteen years old when Frank died. It must've been about a quarter to
seven in the morning on Monday the 6th of December. I was in the kitchen
pouring myself a cup of coffee. My dad came in the room and told me. I
really don't remember just what my reaction was at that moment. I didn't cry.
It just kind of blew my mind. It seemed totally fucking impossible.
I knew Frank had prostate cancer, I knew it was pretty much just a matter of
time... and when I bought Yellow Shark, my dad and I both noticed all the
"Zappa Family Trust" stuff. We took that as an ill omen. Anybody remember
what month that disc came out? I think it was October or November. Anyway,
that picture in there with Frank and Spence and Harry and Todd and Dave, it
just blew my fucking mind. There was my hero, smiling... but his face,
especially around the eyes... it looked bad.
Still, Frank Zappa couldn't die. Even though I never met him or anything,
just knowing that he was alive, that he was working on his music, it was part
of what made me get up in the morning. Who could accept a world without him?
That morning, I was about to find out.
So when I got to school, naturally I was a bit distracted. And I was in
junior high school. Nobody knew who the hell Frank Zappa was... fuck, I know,
I'm whining... the world's smallest violin is playing just for me right now,
but GOD DAMMIT! I never felt so alone.
Okay, enough of this drivel from me.
--
"Is that a wheel of cheese in your pocket or are you... um... some kind of
lumpy person?" - Matt Baume
Michael Pierry
>
> it was just a matter of time before he succumbed to his illness. Eight
> months or so later, however, I actually cried over his death, (I think)
> following an argument I had with someone about the deification of Kurt
> Cobain following his suicide.
I had virtually the same experience. No tears, just a lot of anger. Grrrrr.
I couldn't STAND the way people moaned on and on about what a fucking genius
Kurt Cobain was, and what a tragedy that he took his own life. Hell, I'm
still bitter. Can't help it.
Number 6
<tcme...@use.usit.net> wrote:
>Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
>If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
>this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
>dead before I knew I liked him.
>-tim-
I was just getting into Zappa at that time, a friend (and college
professor) loaned me his vinyl copies of "Just Another Band from LA",
"Uncle Meat" and "Ship Arriving Too Late".......Instant classical
listening for me..........I was attending said friend's class when he
came in, very somber, looked at me from the front of the room and said
"Hey Brandon, did you hear? Zappa died......"
Whoa..........thought process goes to nil.............
That sums it all up..............for me, anyway............wish very
much I cold have met him, said "Thanks for everything"..........
The last great original...........
Brandon Reed
Number 6
blr...@cyberhighway.net
Every Other Man Productions
Reed Racing & Enginering
http://www.cyberhighway.net/~blreed
"Be king in your dreams."
- Andrew Carnegie
drumz...@yahoo.com
Timothy Meyers <tcme...@use.usit.net> wrote:
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
> If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
> this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
> dead before I knew I liked him.
> -tim-
I was at work the following Monday. I was doing my morning computer stuff
when my boss came in and said "Bummer about Zappa," and I started to get
freaked out, because I knew HE already knew Zappa had prostate cancer. I
weakly replied "What?" and the look on my boss' face was like "oops..." and
he told me. I kind of flipped...needed to sit down and all that. I was
useless at work that day. I was in college at the time, so I cut class and
went home and went sorta catatonic (kinda like Cameron at the end of "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off").
*Sigh*
Thanks for your time,
.ben.
Soul Pagoda @ http://www.mp3.com/soulpagoda
Tape list @ http://www.napanet.net/~bguerard/tapes.html
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Dennis Versteeg
<tcme...@use.usit.net> wrote:
>Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
I hears it on the radio. I was only just getting into Zappa I was
shocked. I didn't know he had cancer and this news just dropped like a
bomb on me. It made me get more Zappa albums after this.
I truly became a fan the following year, buying all the albums.
Dennis
Jeff
individual,
someone who knew some absolute truths about life. And a major part of
the soundtrack of my life.
High school, driving around in someone's beat-up old car, "Live at the
Fillmore" blaring. The secret word for that year was "mudshark".
English
teacher getting upset when I quoted from the banter in my class
journal.
Going to see "200 Motels" with Paul, my first love.
College, taking the train up and down the east coast to follow Zappa
wherever I could during his concert tours. Clear memories of sitting
in
an audience at Princeton, being totally awed at the way he was able to
conduct the musicians to perfectly interpret into music the physical
movements he was making. Carrying "No Commerical Potential" into class
and seeing who took an interest.
On my own, playing "Burnt Weenie Sandwich" for prospective new
boyfriends
and watching their reaction. Those who didn't pass the Zappa test
didn't
get many second chances. Finding a husband whose Zappa collection was
at
least the match of my own.
Life goes on, musical phases come and go, resurgences of interest and
support. Baby Snakes. Zappa for President. Mothers of Prevention. New
directions and horizons. Meeting a dear friend in Sweden through a BBS
when he discovered I knew the names of all 4 of Zappa's kids: we've
visited 3 times so far and give each other FZ musical gifts regularly.
A 4YO son asking me in the living room this morning why I was playing
that music and crying and smiling -- after all these years, "Burnt
Weenie Sandwich" is still just as magical and takes my soul to places
I can't easily describe -- then dancing with me to "Cosmic Debris".
Watching as I put a "Zappa: Them or Us, Tour '84" t-shirt into my bag
for the day (even if I can't wear it, I can carry it with me).
I'll be 40 in the spring. Zappa and his music have been a part of my
life for more than two decades now, and will continue to be part of it
for as long as I enjoy music. He's one of my heroes; the world has
been
enriched by listening in on him doing what he wanted to do.
Diane Reese
re...@watson.ibm.com
Diane, is there any way I can get a copy of you?
jeff
to reply by email, kindly remove the burnt weenie pest strip..
JYOB
> I was in the kitchen
>pouring myself a cup of coffee.
What's a 14 year old doing drinking coffee? No wonder Amerika is going to hell
in a handbasket!
The old geezer
Uncle Remus
Obviously he was getting ready for school like Frank would have.
--Uncle Remus
d...@SPAMBLOCKERapk.net
Michael Pierry
>
> On 27 Jan 1999 12:26:18 GMT, jy...@aol.com (JYOB) wrote:
>
> >>I was fourteen years old
> >
> >> I was in the kitchen
> >>pouring myself a cup of coffee.
> >
> >What's a 14 year old doing drinking coffee? No wonder Amerika is going to hell
> >in a handbasket!
> >
>
> Obviously he was getting ready for school like Frank would have.
How could somebody get up at such an ungodly hour of the morning without
coffee? I'm pretty sure I was drinking coffee by then, but maybe not. It
would explain why I'm only 5'6". I have shirts from five years ago that I
still wear.
NI...@sword.edg
in italy most kids were i came from were drinking coffee
from the bottle
and you know what italian coffee is like
Th Alers
>
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
> this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
> dead before I knew I liked him.
> -tim-
twas i think a saturdayafternoon. I was workin in the studio on a
picture of rust wich was meant to be my Newyearsgreetings to customers
and friends when my wife came in with a sad face. I was kneelin behind
the camera and looked up to her but she said nothing. "What's wrong" i
asked, 'cause I definatly sensed something was very very wrong. "Have
you heard," she said "it has justed been announced on the radio,...Zappa
is dead" I bowed my head back to my camera and immediatly tears came to
my eyes,...I had lost one of my dearest friends, and the one person wich
gave me confidence in the future of the world. After my work was done i
took the tape and drove senslessly around for hours listening to black
napkins, with tears running down my face....
Even now, telling this story makes me sad. "Whenever there is still
somebody like Frank things cannot be all that bad" I used to think,
those days are forever gone now...
My newyearsgreetincard was released with the "music is the best" quote
to honour my lost hero and companion. I had seen 34 winters.
--
feel free to visit the monastery
http://web.inter.NL.net/users/alers.fx
Steve Roche
Tal
Michael Pierry wrote:
>>How could somebody get up at such an ungodly hour of the morning without
>>coffee? I'm pretty sure I was drinking coffee by then, but maybe not. It
>>would explain why I'm only 5'6". I have shirts from five years ago that I
>>still wear.
>
>
>from the bottle
>
>and you know what italian coffee is like
I love Italian coffee.
Anyway, that would explain why most Italians are pretty short.:-)
Yours,
Tal
-------------------------------
e-mail: an...@cidanka.nl
web: www.cidanka.nl
The Unofficial MK-BFD Website: www.cidanka.nl/keneally/
It Never Entered My Mind
<still...@home.com> wrote:
>explain why I'm only 5'6". I have shirts from five years ago that I
>still wear.
As Ken Starr would say, it's not the size that matters. It's what
you do with it. i.e. screw Clinton despite the fact that Clinton is
bigger and tougher than Starr, through legal gibberish.
NI...@sword.edg
>Michael Pierry wrote:
>>>How could somebody get up at such an ungodly hour of the morning without
>>>coffee? I'm pretty sure I was drinking coffee by then, but maybe not. It
>>>still wear.
>>
>>in italy most kids were i came from were drinking coffee
>>
>>from the bottle
>>
>>and you know what italian coffee is like
>
>I love Italian coffee.
>
>Anyway, that would explain why most Italians are pretty short.:-)
>
>Yours,
>Tal
>-------------------------------
>e-mail: an...@cidanka.nl
>web: www.cidanka.nl
>The Unofficial MK-BFD Website: www.cidanka.nl/keneally/
>
>
>
>
thats odd all the ones i know including myself are over 6 ft
guess it depends on what part of italy your from
Geir Corneliussen
>
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
Ok:
I had heard from several sources he was ill, so I was worried for
months.
A creeping feeling was always there, and the hope. A friend said it on
the phone, and something went silent.
I looked up the text-tv, and realized it had happened. I can't remember
everything. I just felt empty.
Many things happened that winter. I left my parents house , and got my
own place. I worked so hard to make it work in my new store, I found no
time to react emotional. But I found myself crying in my store a month
thereafter, out of tireness and overwork when listening to JG. The loss
didn't ran away until spring. I remember I couldn't play his music
thereafter, I played the Clash and such instead. It was just to much at
once.
Geir Corneliussen
The Friendly Little Finger Zappa Links
http://home.sol.no/~corn
Neal
JYOB wrote in message <19990127072618...@ng32.aol.com>...
Knut Skogstad
I was working in a recording studio in Emden, in the north of Germany,
when FZ died. I was listening to the norwegian news on the radio, ready
to get out of bed when I heard the news. I changed my mind and went back
to sleep...
Knut
--
To reply: Remove NOSPAM from the e-mail address.
"Stupidity has a certain charm, ignorance does not"
Frank Zappa
StucoHomes
>
>> I was in the kitchen
>>pouring myself a cup of coffee.
>
>What's a 14 year old doing drinking coffee? No wonder
Same thing everyone else does, I would think.
Why is it such a surprise for people when they find out someone under the age
of.. oh.. let's say 20... drinks coffee? Jesus, my uncle was a coffee drinker
as far back as when he was about 7 years old. I started when I was 15. Whats
the big deal?
StucoHomes
But unlike AMERICANS, the French don't drink TO GET DRUNK. That's where we
went wrong. We learned from our British Isles ancestors instead of the French.
Uncle Remus
wrote:
>>The French drink worse than that at 14... look at their handbasket
>
>But unlike AMERICANS, the French don't drink TO GET DRUNK.
Silly Americans, drinking so much coffee just to get drunk. Could
only learn that from the Irish, I suspect.
--Uncle Remus
d...@SPAMBLOCKERapk.net
Tal
>
>thats odd all the ones i know including myself are over 6 ft
>guess it depends on what part of italy your from
It was a joke. But compared to the Northern Europeans the Italians are
relatively small. I believe the Dutch and the Scandinavians are the tallest
people in the world. Not that it matters. Italian coffee rules. That's what
matters.:-)
Yours,
--Tal
_______________________
e-mail: an...@cidanka.nl
website: http://www.cidanka.nl
The Unofficial MK-BFD Website: http://www.cidanka.nl/keneally/
NI...@sword.edg
they drink cuse they aint got nuttin to do
NI...@sword.edg
especially espressa
you like like a guy that can down a few
then wash it down with a couple of grolsch's lagers
JYOB
>of.. oh.. let's say 20... drinks coffee? Jesus, my uncle was a coffee
>drinker
>as far back as when he was about 7 years old. I started when I was 15.
>Whats
>the big deal?
Oh, Sure! First it's a little cup of coffee. Then a cigarette. Next they are
bowing to posters of Joe Camel that are nailed to their bedroom walls!!!!!!!!!!
The old geezer
Sam and/or Karen Rouse
imminence of Frank's death one day while playing The Yellow Shark - for the
first time, the picture on the cover plus seeing all the ZFT info on the
back really got to me. I think it was less than a month later that he died
- I first saw the news on the front page of the paper while I was having my
coffee & getting ready to go to work on Monday morning. I spent a listless
day at work, feeling bummed out, and started the FZ CD marathon when I got
home.
-Sam
--
Sam and/or Karen Rouse ro...@teleport.com
FZ Concert Tales:
http://www.teleport.com/~rouse/fz/
Michael Gula
> I'd still like to see
> the
> repost that Michael Gula mentioned.
Didn't your news server carry
news:36AE89CC.214FE804%40erols.com ?
If not, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you.
--
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To reply remove MORESPAM from the address.
John Healy
Michael Gula wrote in message <36AE89CC...@erols.com>...
>
John Healy
concert appearance here in Philadelphia and was angry with myself for
missing my last opportunity to see him perform live. I knew he was sick but
had convinced myself that he would make it back one more time.
Timothy Meyers wrote in message ...
>Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
Tal
>
>especially espressa
>
>you like like a guy that can down a few
>
>then wash it down with a couple of grolsch's lagers
What? Are you looking over my shoulder?
Is that ninja power?
That's just what I've been doing!
2x Espresso first, 2x Grolsch afterwards.
Goodnight!
It Never Entered My Mind
Karen Rouse) wrote:
>. I spent a listless day at work, feeling bummed out,
>and started the FZ CD marathon when I got home.
Personally, the thoughts that went through my mind, were:
The very young age, at 52, that Zappa passed away;
And so much more in life that Zappa didn't get to experience, such
as enjoying the large stash of cash that Zappa painstakingly
accumulated with his hard work, talent and dedication, and luck -
his retirement and such;
Next, the loss to the USA, in terms of entertainment for its 270
million citizens.
A very unusual loss.
Collin Pruitt
>
>How could somebody get up at such an ungodly hour of the morning without
>coffee? I'm pretty sure I was drinking coffee by then, but maybe not. It
>would explain why I'm only 5'6". I have shirts from five years ago that I
>still wear.
>
can still wear shirts from when I was in 6th grade.
------------------------
Montana Guy Zappa Page
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/5409/index.html
clock...@hotmail.com
AOL screen name: The Who555
StucoHomes
>million citizens.
[Insert your own "250" joke here.]
Ogden Freen
> The last great original...........
Sorry to say this man, but that's complete bullshit.
While I'm disappointed that Zappa died before making any more music and I have
to feel sorry for anyone who goes through the agony of a cancerous death, to
think that this was the end of originality is getting a little self indulgent
with the self pity, isn't it?
I've asked the question on this newsgroup before....
WHAT'S NEXT?
I can pretty much guarantee that the next truly original talent(s) in music
probably wont sound anything like Zappa, or anything else you've heard
before....
Stran...@bigfoot.com
> On 27 Jan 1999 12:26:18 GMT, jy...@aol.com (JYOB) wrote:
>
> >>I was fourteen years old
> >
I was fourteen, too. I barely knew who he was then, but I remember feeling
very uneasy and sad...I heard it on the 6:00 news. Apparently I knew just
enough about him to know I would be affected by his life and his work
eventually. I remember feeling strange, crying for someone I didn't know
much about. To this day I regret not finding out more about him while he was
still alive, but I was just a little kid...I don't think I would have
appreciated it like I do now.
Strana
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NI...@sword.edg
you must be load o laughs
ill look you up if im in the neighborhood
someday
Tal
>
>you must be load o laughs
>ill look you up if im in the neighborhood
>someday
Okay. Let me know.
Oh, wait a minute, is that a threat?:-)
Big Note
Timothy Meyers <tcme...@use.usit.net> a écrit dans l'article
<YZtr2.519$FK.2...@news1.usit.net>...
> Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
> curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you
doing
> when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
> If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
> this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
> dead before I knew I liked him.
> -tim-
>
One of my co-worker at job told me that in the monday morning after Zappa's
dead.
I did't trust him because we allways make jokes seriously. But when i saw
it to the
news, i said to my girl friend that's probably a journalist who ear some
thing some where from some body who think he was verry good informed and
put it on the news
and the rumour start to grow like a cancer.
"Information is not knowledge"
maybe one year after that i saw Ozzy at "Musique Plus" (french MTV in
Québec) and he said that when people start to talk about him that he killed
frogs on stage and drink blood he don't know what to do about it. So he
called Frank Zappa to know what doing with that storie and Frank said "if
you sold more records lets the rumours growing". That's what he did.
It's like the shit on stage...remember...Frank never put it in is
mouth...but how much time he wait before he said that's not true ?
He just Smell Funny !
NI...@sword.edg
tal
come on dude
no really you look like youre the kind of guy that
i could sit down with and have a couple a beers and a few laughs
am i wrong
although i havnt had a beer in a few years
NI...@sword.edg
i wasnt really shocked or sad
i had so much advance notice
that he was gonna die
and he looked so jerry garcia like that it was a relief
that he died
the real sad part is that if diagnosed and treated in time he would still be alive
but i dont think he had much faith in the medical establishment
Kristian Kier
<tcme...@use.usit.net> wrote:
>Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
>If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
>this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
>dead before I knew I liked him.
>-tim-
I remember I heard the news on radio while driving to my workplace. It
didn´t suprised me lot, since I knew he was ill, but after hearing
about his "last tour", I felt very sad. What made me wonder in the
first place was, that the family announced his dead to the public two
days after he died.
When arriving at work, I got condolences from some of my colleague. I
never thought this would ever happen! 8-)
When returning home the first thing I did was turning on the tv, with
my vcr in wait for the news. CNN = 15 sec.; german news = 3mins. I
think that says it all...
The radio was playing the whole afternoon, evening and the night only
his music, so did dutch radio. Though the german played mostly the
listenable songs, whereas dutch radio wasn´t ashamed enough and
played, next to the normal stuff, even material from the Beat the
Boots series. They *are* more freakier.... 8-))
Dutch tv (third program?) changed their program and did a rerun of the
VPRO docu in the late evening. (I was only able to catch the last ten
minutes... Grrrr!)
The Beat Club series, which was running on german regional tv of the
northern part of Germany at that time, skipped their sending and
showed The Beat Club with the Mothers instead. Without his death we
probably wouldn´t be able to see this tape again...
-Kristian
Sam and/or Karen Rouse
> I was fourteen, too. I barely knew who he was then, but I remember feeling
> very uneasy and sad...I heard it on the 6:00 news. Apparently I knew just
> enough about him to know I would be affected by his life and his work
> eventually. I remember feeling strange, crying for someone I didn't know
> much about. To this day I regret not finding out more about him while he was
> still alive, but I was just a little kid...I don't think I would have
> appreciated it like I do now.
>
> Strana
Just curious - do you mind if we call you Strana In De Bushwop? :)
Tal
>>>you must be load o laughs
>>>ill look you up if im in the neighborhood
>>>someday
>>
>>Okay. Let me know.
>>
>>Oh, wait a minute, is that a threat?:-)
>
>
>come on dude
>no really you look like youre the kind of guy that
>i could sit down with and have a couple a beers and a few laughs
>am i wrong
I was just kidding. Whenever you end up finding yourself in the Netherlands,
let me know. Or if I'm in the neighbourhood, I'll pop by.
>although i havnt had a beer in a few years
Don't worry, I'll take care of that.:-)
Alastair Mabbott
<tcme...@use.usit.net> wrote:
>Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
I was sitting at my desk in the magazine where I worked, around
lunchtime, when a freelance guy phoned up -- I rarely commissioned
anything off him because his primary interest seemed to be heavy
metal, which wasn't our readership's thing at all -- and asked if I
wanted anything on Zappa, now that the guy had died, and all that.
That was how I found out.
Since you want to do something, even if it's just a token gesture,
when somebody that matters to you dies, I was determined that if the
daily paper I also wrote for was going to run an obituary, it wouldn't
be one that was pulled off the newswire, probably containing all the
usual eating-shit-on-stage myths written by some hack in a syndication
agency from a handful of erroneous press clippings -- that if they
were going to run an obit, which they inevitably would, it would be
written by somebody who actually did know and care.
So I took the rest of the afternoon off and went home and wrote it --
by my usual standards I got it done incredibly quickly, almost like it
was writing itself, which probably means I'd been psyching myself up
for Frank's death more than I realised.
The next day -- and this is really weird -- you know the strip across
a front page that some newspapers have telling you what's on the
feature pages? It actually had my name on it, "... on the Father of
Invention" and a little picture of an ill-looking Frank next to it.
It's the only time my name has ever been on that masthead thing in all
the years I've been writing for that paper, and the one occasion I
didn't want it to be! I was mortified. I'd written it to make sure
that Frank's passing wasn't commemorated with rumours, half-truths and
distortions, not to get my name plastered all over the front page.
Plus, stuff on the obituaries section (which shares a page with the
Royal Family's official engagements for that day, and the chess and
bridge columns) wouldn't normally get flagged on the front page
anyway. It's all very weird and I've never understood it.
I can't remember much else about that day, but I suspect One Size Fits
All and the YCDTOSA series got extensively played in the evening.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• a l a s t a i r m a b b o t t •
e-mail: a.ma...@edinburgh.almac.co.uk
world wide web: http://www.almac.co.uk/mabbott/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If replying over Usenet remove NOSPAM from address
"What's Townshend without Daltrey? Just another confused gay man on a
moped." - Greg Dulli, Afghan Whigs, 1998.
It Never Entered My Mind
a.mabbo...@edinburgh.almac.co.uk (Alastair Mabbott) wrote:
>The next day -- and this is really weird -- you know the strip across
>a front page that some newspapers have telling you what's on the
>feature pages? It actually had my name on it, "... on the Father of
>Invention" and a little picture of an ill-looking Frank next to it.
>It's the only time my name has ever been on that masthead thing in all
>the years I've been writing for that paper, and the one occasion I
>didn't want it to be! I was mortified. I'd written it to make sure
>that Frank's passing wasn't commemorated with rumours, half-truths and
>distortions, not to get my name plastered all over the front page.
What about a scanned JPG of that obituary?
Fil
<tcme...@use.usit.net> wrote:
>Okay, for those of you who have listened to Zappa for a long time, I'd be
>curious to hear the testimonies of: where were you and what were you doing
>when you heard about Frank's death? (and how did you react?)
>
>If this has been archived or anything, tell me. I know you've gone over
>this before, but I for one would be really interested. I knew Zappa was
>dead before I knew I liked him.
>-tim-
This story is totally different from the others. I advise you all to
read it.
I am Italian. When Zappa died I was living in Spain, studying there
during one year (in Europe we have a European Union sponsored exchange
university grant program).
Before, in 1991, I guess, I had read in a newspaper about Zappa's sons
announcing his cancer. Afterwards, nothing else. I just used to buy
his records when something appeared in the record stores.
I knew he had been in Germany for the Ensemble Modern concerts, but I
knew nothing about his health state.
On monday 6th of December I heard it on the evening news. My Spanish
girlfriend (the "love of my life", which I had met a couple of weeks
before) told me "lo siento para ti" (I am sorry for you), undirectly
confirming what I heard, but was unsure to have understood, since at
that time I was still learning the spanish language.
I remember the images that the public spanish tv channel showed: there
was a concert in Barcelona from the 1988 tour (which the Spanish TV
recorded and broadcasted) and an image of him (black and white; late
70's or early 80's) coming out from an airport in Spain, mute, with a
strange expression and getting in a luggage car with somebody closing
him inside. And at the end they put the first seconds of Village of
the Sun.
After the news, in another channel, Tele Madrid, there was a talk
show. It had a band that played something just before and after
advertisement break. The guy of the talk show said that on that night
the band would have played, for those brief intros, Zappa music.
The theme of that night talk show was: "mental diseases and how
relatives can cope with" (!). I didn't feel like torturing my
girlfriend with a talk show about mental diseases (and with FZ music
too...), so we changed channel.
The next day, El Pais (principal Spanish daily newspaper) devoted two
pages to his death. In an article FZ was defined the Picasso of rock
music.
Some weeks after, the national public radio started broadcasting the
entire music collection of FZ. Each night from two to three o'clock,
in the third channel, in a program called Tren Tres (Train Three) they
put the entire albums in chronological order. No advertisement in
public spanish radio... The D.J. said that Zappa was not the Picasso
of rock, but instead should be considered the Salvador Dali of rock.
Steve Roche
for an 1804 guitar "as used by Mark Twain."
Mark McKee
surprise). I'm still pissed at the boomer assholes from TV Guide. With all
his wildly memorable TV appearances, they never mentioned his passing.
After that, I understood what the deal was with their crossword puzzles...
Panky
Fil wrote in message <36b1f79...@news.dada.it>...
Kristian Kier
Karen Rouse) wrote:
>In article <78q4f7$fhn$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, Stran...@bigfoot.com wrote:
>
>> I was fourteen, too. I barely knew who he was then, but I remember feeling
>> very uneasy and sad...I heard it on the 6:00 news. Apparently I knew just
>> enough about him to know I would be affected by his life and his work
>> eventually. I remember feeling strange, crying for someone I didn't know
>> much about. To this day I regret not finding out more about him while he was
>> still alive, but I was just a little kid...I don't think I would have
>> appreciated it like I do now.
>>
>> Strana
>
>Just curious - do you mind if we call you Strana In De Bushwop? :)
Stranadonna = Strange woman? Sounds italian to me....
-Kristian
Big Note
had convinced myself that he would make it back one more time.
That's possible because : we're coming to the beginning of a new era,
wherein the developement of the inner self is the most important thing.
We have to train ourselves so that we can improvise on anything----a bird,a
sock,
a fuming beaker! This, too, can be music. Anything can be music."
Biff
Debris in Uncle Meat
From TRFZB page 160
I think the best place where Frank love to improvise on, is THE NEWS !
We can improvise on anything---a TV, a journalist stupidity,a biography
ect...
Anything can be music.
um smell
funny !