Cuba: Jeux Sans Frontieres

First of all, it just looks good. Congress just concluded its 113th session yesterday (with a slew of nominations approved), then today President Obama gets to announce that we’re welcoming an American home from captivity and that he intends to normalize relations with Cuba, a historic policy shift. At the very least, the president won the press cycle.

This president seems to have a chronic talent for properly leveraging good policy with good politics, and this may be the finest example of it. Policy-wise, warming things up with Cuba is a win win win win win. And the only people who will hate it are Cubans in Miami, dead-set Obama-obstructers, and/or Marco “Polo” Rubio and Jebidiah Bush. Who else thinks that reforming this vestigial policy is a bad thing?


In other news, Pat Robertson has expressed belief in one of the most ignoramus things that can be said regarding my LGBTQCZSPUXT brothers and sisters and other-genders.

“Those who are homosexual will die out because they don’t reproduce.”

Um, Pat? I know many gay people who HAVE PROCREATED.

And the ghey? It ain’t hereditary.

And also, Pat? YOU JUST ADMITTED IT ISN’T A CHOICE.

And a church that won’t let its parishioners co-mingle? Who are these people?


The Spotnicks

In 1963, a Swedish instrumental band called The Spotnicks, named of course for the Russian satellite Sputnik, charted in the United Kingdom with a song called “Hava Nagila.”

I’m serious.

It was the Spotnicks’ original drummer Jimmie Nicol who famously rescued the Beatles’ first world in 1964, playing 8 out of 13 shows for an ailing Ringo Starr, and then later filled in for Dave Clark of the DC5 and who, indeed, inspired the Beatles’ song “Getting Better.”

The Spotnicks wore spacesuit outfits on stage. They released 42 albums.

And, on the b-side of a record called “Diamonds,” they covered “Lumpy Gravy.”

Well, actually, they covered “Duodenum” and called it “Lumpy Gravy.” Whatever.

The American Band

If you get a minute, you should go to Amazon and search for an album called Good Singin’, Good Playin’ and see the gushing reviews.

Five stars. Five starts. A great Grand Funk album. Best sounding rock album ever. Good Singing Good Playin’…Absolutely!

The accolades for this 1976 release are endless. And, they’re right! I mean, I wouldn’t choose to put this album on over, say, Presence. But it does what it says on the tin. Even the oddly relevant “Don’t Let ’em Take Your Gun” is listenable, and I’m beyond amazed it wasn’t snapped up as an anthem by our friends in the Tea Party.

Thing is, Good Singin’, Good Playin’ is a Frank Zappa project.

Credits:

Produced by: Frank Zappa
Basic Tracks and Re-Mix Engineered by: Frank Zappa
Vocals Engineered by: Michael Braunstein & Davey Moire
Assistant Engineer on Basic Tracks: Mark Stebbeds
Basic Tracks Recorded at: The Swamp
Vocals & Re-Mix Recorded at: The Record Plant, L.A.
Photography: Gary Heery / Norman Seeff · Design: Norman Seeff

Drummer and co-lead Don Brewer had this to say about Zappa’s involvement (full interview here)

The reason we did the Frank Zappa thing was, we saw 2000 Motels and he mentioned Grand Funk Railroad in that film. And we went, ‘Let’s call Frank and see if he wants to produce a record,’ and we did, and he did! Are you kidding?! Frank Zappa wants to produce a Grand Funk record?! I thought he brought a lot of good stuff to the table there. We were going through a lot of problems in the band, and we had kinda gotten off track with what we were trying to do. That whole disco thing was really screwing everything up, and we didn’t know what way to go. When Frank came in he just said, ‘Why don’t you guys just do what you do.” And he came up with the title, Good Singin’ Good Playin’. It was a kick working with him, I loved it. Went over to his house and met his family – Dweezil, and the crazy kids, Moon and all that stuff. It was just a really fun experience.

Hotcha.

Ruth

ruth_525

Ruth Underwood, nee Komanoff, born 23 May 1946, a student of Ithaca College under Warren Benson and at Juilliard under Saul Goodman, no, not THAT Saul Goodman, was one of the most formidable musicians in the Zappa universe.

Now, listen to Ruth explain Zappa’s take on music theory. It’s darned interesting.

But, look, let’s be honest. I’m actually writing this post because I came across a photograph of Ruth Underwood looking damned hot, and I wanted to use it.

ruth_525

Yep. She was something.

Related: Why did Ruth Underwood leave The Mothers, in early 1975? (Steve Hoffman Music Forums)

Lennon

I was 12 or 13 in 1980. Mom and I had just moved to Kent. I listened to Morning Edition on WKSU every morning.

And, today, 34 years ago, they told me John Lennon had been assassinated.

Considering the weird way that Zappa’s work and that of the Beatles intertwined, I thought it might be worth mentioning. Not to mention that it’s an excuse to link to Zappa’s Beatles medley.

How did you all get together? Julliard?

January 15, 1987. The Beastie Boys are guests on Late Night with Joan Rivers. The boys perform “Fight for your Right to Party,” then they drive Joan a little crazy.

Then at about 9 minutes, Adam Horowitz claims to be a Zappa.

Quite a namedrop.

Now, here is the late great Joan Rivers interviewing the man himself. Notice that he asks her out-of-the-gate not to disparage his childrens’ names, and she promises not to and then proceeds to do so anyway.

This world is certainly going to miss Joan Rivers.


A few notes, incidentally, regarding the Zappa family nomenclature:

Moon Unit: “Luna” is a popular name worldwide; it is often an Italian name, derived from the Latin, and it means “Moon.” Not sure why this popular name gets “weird” when it is translated to English.

“Unit” was meant to signify that Moon’s birth cultivated the Zappas as a family unit. Seen in that light, it seems endearing.

Dweezil: Initially, “Dweezil” was an affectionate name for Gail Zappa’s “funny looking little toe.” Again, knowing this might change a critic’s perspective.

Ahmet Emuukha Rodan: Named for Ahmet Ertegün, founder and president of Atlantic Records. “Emuukha” is from the group of musicians who recorded Zappa’s first solo record, Lumpy Gravy (he was not contractually allowed to appear on the album, being still signed with the Mothers, so he collected a group of musicians to play on the record and called them the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra).

Rodan is this guy:

…and what kid in his right mind would hate being named for the creature that gives Godzilla a difficult time?

Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen: Frank said Diva was named as such “because of the loud quality of her voice. She’s audible at 300 yards.” I can’t really explicate the rest except for Zappa’s chronic use of the “muffin” in his music. I speculate that by this time Zappa had really embraced the concept of AAAFNRAA and just went with it.

Regardless, it’s a shame. The uninitiated know Frank Zappa for a few surface things. His kids have weird names. He had long hair and that Zappastache. He did that yellow snow song and “Valley Girl.” They also might know the myths. No, he did not take a dump on stage. No, he did not do drugs. Ever. No, he is not the son of Mr. Greenjeans or Captain Kangaroo.

There’s so much in the Zappa universe. It is vast. And it is eminently valuable. It’s a shame if people allow something as trivial as weird kid names to block them out.