# Please recommend some Zappa! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521 "2005-03-08T12:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/21 "2005-03-13T01:21:38Z")
Wow, how can you not like _Hot Rats_? I probably lean more toward the instrumental/jazz fusion-y type stuff. If your friend does to, I second _Burnt Weeny Sandwich_. It’s a wonderful album. _Sleep Dirt_ is also very good. Also, you can’t go wrong with any of the _Shut Up and Play Your Guitar_’s. As for more comedy type albums, _Joe’s Garage_ is fantastic. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for _Just Another Band From LA_ because of Billy the Mountain. _Fillmore East '71_ is a lot of raunchy fun (Oh Howie, you’re so _professional_!). _Live in New York_ is pretty great as well. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/22 "2005-03-13T02:23:34Z")
> [@AugestWest](#): > > Wow, how can you not like _Hot Rats_? I was stunned by his reaction. Fast forward 6 years. I’m at a different job, and I very quickly noticed that my boss was a big Zappa fan. He’d use “great googly moogly” and “the crux of the biscuit” in the weekly staff meetings, so it wasn’t hard to figure out. Anyway, one day he was bored and looking through my (20 or so) audio CDs I kept on my desk. He pulled Hot Rats and asked “is this any good?” I lent it to him and commented that it had one of my alltime favorite songs on it. The next day he was gushing about how it was the greatest thing he ever heard. Ah, Hot Rats. So good. > [@](#): > > _Fillmore East '71_ is a lot of raunchy fun (Oh Howie, you’re so _professional_!). _Live in New York_ is pretty great as well. I’m missing one of the LINY discs. I have the one with Sofa on it, thankfully, but missing the other is annoying. But I’m reminded of a female friend who loved Fillmore East. Her favorite lines were from Bwana Dik. She’d occasionally burst into song with such gems as “My dick is a Harley, you kick it to start.” Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/23 "2005-03-13T02:37:55Z")
Well, since you’re talking about a gift, may I suggest some alternatives to actual albums? There are a couple of FZ items out on DVD. Namely _Baby Snakes_ and _Does Humor Belong In Music?_ Both of them are largely based on his concerts, which is to me a bit more interesting than just getting an album. Is that biography you have _The Real Frank Zappa Book_? If it isn’t, then skip it and get _The Real Frank Zappa Book_. In fact, any people who have posted in this thread, nay, have _read_ this thread who haven’t read _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ should get off their asses and get a copy. Finally, if you feel like paying a good chunk for a very old VHS (or, according to **Biffy The Elephant Shrew** , laserdisc), find a copy of _200 Motels_. It’s a great movie. Why the hell it’s not on DVD yet, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/24 "2005-03-13T02:50:26Z")
I’ve always been partial to \*Grand Wazoo \* and _Waka/Jawaka_. If you like jazz music then it doesn’t get any better. I really like _Hot Rats, Roxy and Elsewhere, Joe’s Garage_, and _One Size Fits All_ There’s also his electronic and classical stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/25 "2005-03-13T14:43:31Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > Is that biography you have _The Real Frank Zappa Book_? If it isn’t, then skip it and get _The Real Frank Zappa Book_. In fact, any people who have posted in this thread, nay, have _read_ this thread who haven’t read _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ should get off their asses and get a copy. I like _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ (FZ’s combination autobiography /political screed) a lot. But I also recommend _Electric Don Quixote_ by Neil Slaven. I have almost no use for _The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play_. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/26 "2005-03-13T16:26:38Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > Finally, if you feel like paying a good chunk for a very old VHS (or, according to **Biffy The Elephant Shrew** , laserdisc), find a copy of _200 Motels_. It’s a great movie. Why the hell it’s not on DVD yet, I don’t know. How can you not love a movie featuring Ringo Starr playing Frank, and Keith Moon playing an overly-emotional Groupie Nun? And it is available (as of 8:44 AM PDT) at Amazon, used, for $24.99 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/27 "2005-03-14T13:02:24Z")
He has actually mentioned how much he enjoyed 200 Motels, so that would be good. The book I have is Zappa, by Barry Miles. Still unread, so I can’t review it for you. ---
**Author:** ![modular](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@modular](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/modular)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/28 "2005-03-14T20:14:51Z")
Apostrophe and Hot Rats are two of my many favorites. If you don’t know where to start at all, Strictly Commercial has a ton of songs all from different albums…then you can reference the style you like to the album it came from. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/29 "2005-03-14T20:41:13Z")
Twenty-eight posts in and no one has recommended _Tinseltown Rebellion_. Maybe it’s just me who likes that album! It’s undescribably brilliant, funny and awe-inspiring in parts. Don’t pass it up or wait until you have the whole collection before you get it! ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/30 "2005-03-15T01:53:19Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Twenty-eight posts in and no one has recommended _Tinseltown Rebellion_. Maybe it’s just me who likes that album! It’s undescribably brilliant, funny and awe-inspiring in parts. Don’t pass it up or wait until you have the whole collection before you get it! My buddy is a huge fan of it. Me? Not so much. I much prefer the version of _For the Young Sophisticate_ on Läther, and I get frustrated with that version of Peaches, mainly because it has so much potential, but I feel it falls short in the execution. If you’re looking for old videos, **Does Humor Belong In Music?** is phenomenal live concert footage. Tough to find, but well worth it. Best _Whippin’ Post_ ever played. (Much better than the Tinseltown Rebellion version, though that one is pretty damn good as well.) Bobby Martin has quite a set of lungs on him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521/31 "2005-03-15T03:27:29Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Best _Whippin’ Post_ ever played. Maybe by FZ. 😉 Anyway, I’m listening to _The Grand Wazoo_ now and enjoying the hell out of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-zappa/293521.md?page=1)