Christmas PSA
Reply
Monthly Archives: December 2014
And Now, Here’s Dweezil Interviewing Wendy Orlean Williams
During the PMRC hearings of 1985, Sen. Paula Hawkins of Florida displayed three record covers as examples of what was wrong in the music industry at the time: “Much has changed since Elvis’ seemingly innocent times,” she said. “Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult. The record album covers to me are self-explanatory.”
They were: Pyromania by Def Leppard, W.A.S.P. by W.A.S.P., and W.O.W. by Wendy O. Williams, her first solo, post-Plasmatics, record.
Fitting, I think, considering Frank Zappa’s involvement with those hearings that Williams would sit for a brief interview with Dweezil.
This is only tangentially Zappadan fodder, I know. But Wendy is quite a trip to me as she’s one of those local gals make good kind of stories. She was born in Webster, N.Y. and was an alum in some regard of the Eastman School of Music.
Zappa was flabbergasted at Sen. Hawkins’ cluelessness.
Oh, it was stupid. It was utterly stupid. When Paula Hawkins held up a cover of the Wendy O. Williams album, she knew so little about what was really going on there. If you look at the C-Span tapes of the hearings, you’ll see her hold up this album and she doesn’t know what to say about it. And this little voice in the background says “porn rock,” and she says “porn rock”. You know, how Ronald Reagan does? I was the same knee-jerk reaction. She was waiting for the cue: And then after she said “porn rock” she still didn’t know what to do, so she started to read the names of the songs on the album and here’s what comes out: “Porn rock, uh, it’s my life and I like sex.” I mean, that’s how corny all this stuff was and people are supposed to take this kind of thing seriously? I mean, do kids really rush into the stores to buy a Wendy O. Williams album?
A few things to consider, by the way, regarding Williams’ erstwhile outfit:
Literally created the Irving Plaza rock venue? The Plasmatics.
First rock act in history to headline the Palladium at full ticket prices without the support of a record label? The Plasmatics.
Introduced the Mohawk haircut to rock and roll? The Plasmatics.
Wendy O. Williams retired to Connecticut in 1991 and voluntarily discorporated in 1998 at the age of 48.
I think she was one fascinating broad.
Hi, Boys and Girls, I’m Shirley Temple Black…
I have researched extensively and discovered that Shirley Temple Black and Jimmy Carl Black were not related.
No, indeed. The former dimpled queen of cinema, who, sadly, discorporated permanently in February, took the name “Black” upon marrying husband #2, noted aquaculturalist and oceanographer Charles Alden Black. With him, she had two children, C.A. Jr., and Lori Alden Black.
Whom you might know as “Lorax.”
Erstwhile bassist for Melvins. Ah, there she is.
But that’s neither here nor there.
More to the point: Frank Zappa was big in Prague.
The Velvet Revolution happened in 1989. In June of 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946.
And before that, bands like the Mothers, Velvet Underground, and the Rolling Stones were not exactly on the approved listening list. Bootlegged or smuggled copies of these records could get a person disappeared.
So in Prague, Zappa wasn’t merely a fringe musician as he tended to be viewed in the United States. He was iconic to the ongoing political change. And, he was a personal favorite of Václav Havel, the new nation’s first president.
Zappa traveled to Czechoslovakia in 1990 at Havel’s invitation and was reportedly surprised at the reception he got. People there could sing along to his songs like pretty much anyone here could sing along to Wilson Phillips.
At the time, the ambassador to Czechoslovakia was Shirley Temple Black. And she happened to be at the airport at the same time of Zappa’s arrival. And a gaggle of reporters asked her what she thought of Frank Zappa.
She was notably at a loss.
The clip is in Czech, mostly. Her brief interview is at 1:45. She says she knows he has a son named Dweezil. Or Dweezy. Past that she did not seem aware of him.
Slate writer Joshua Keating came across this little story and refers to a Paul Berman work, A Tale of Two Utopias, here. According to Berman, this was a bit of a faux pas.
People had no way to account for the United States ambassador’s boorish airport behavior, except to mark her down as a cultural ignoramus who lacked the aplomb to boast to all of Central Europe about one of America’s finest sons, the brilliant Zappa, a world figure in the field of popular music.
Which is a shame, as the lady was actually rather storied when it came to that country. From the Wiki:
Temple was in Prague in August 1968, as a representative of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies and was actually going to meet up with Czechoslovakian party leader Alexander DubÄek on the very day that Soviet-backed forces invaded the country. DubÄek fell out of favor with the Soviets after a series of reforms known as the Prague Spring. Temple, who was stranded at a hotel as the tanks rolled in, sought refuge on the roof of the hotel. It was from here she saw an unarmed woman on the street gunned down by Soviet forces, a sight which stayed with her for the rest of her life.
She is also credited as being instrumental in fomenting the Velvet Revolution to begin with, and “…took the unusual step of personally accompanying Havel on his first official visit to Washington, riding along on the same plane.”
I wonder if they discussed music.
I guess not.
Sugarcane
“I’m Leaving It Up To You” as performed by Dale & Grace was the first duet ever to replace another duet at Billboard’s #1 position. It unseated Nino Tempo & April Stevens singing “Deep Purple.”
That ascendance made “I’m Leaving It Up To You” the number one song in the United States on November 22, 1963, the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
In fact: “Dale and Grace were in Dallas on the day of the assassination and scheduled to perform that night as part of Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars (with Bobby Rydell, Jimmy Clanton, and Brian Hyland), and moments before the assassination had waved to the president’s motorcade from a vantage point near their hotel.” (Wiki)
(And Lincoln’s secretary Kennedy warned him not to go to the theatre… ::rimshot::)
The song Dale and Grace took to #1 on that fateful week was also covered in 1970 on Linda Rondstadt’s Silk Purse and in 1974 gave Donny and Marie a #4 hit.
Now, I know that this, the second day of Zappadan, is when I usually gush about a certain superstar named Richard Wayne Penniman. It is, after all, the birthday of the man who penned “Directly From My Heart,” and, don’t get me wrong: Little Richard deserves praise on his birthday. (Happy birthday, maestro!)
But I don’t think I can outdo my effort from last year.
(You may want to take a moment to go read it. It is the best thing that I have ever written.)
So this year, I thought I’d talk a little bit about the man who performed “Directly From My Heart” on Weasels Ripped My Flesh, and one of the writers of the oddly important song “I’m Leaving It Up To You,” Don “Sugarcane” Harris.
Here is a picture of an excited young man holding what I’m sure was one of his very favorite record albums.
The record, They’re Rockin’ Til Midnight, Rollin’ Til Dawn, has the following track listing (thanks, AllMusic):
1. Koko Joe (as written by then-producer Sonny Bono!)
2. Leavin’ It All up to You
3. Big Boy Pete
4. Mammer-Jammer
5. When the Sun Has Begun to Shine
6. Justine
7. Pink Champagne
8. Little Sally Walker
9. Farmer John
10. Jungle Ho
11. Kill Me
12. The Letter
You see a couple of hits there, though none really so much for Don and Dewey. The duo themselves never really established much in the way of hits. The Righteous Brothers got quite a use out of “Koko Joe,” “Justine,” and “Big Boy Pete.” The Searchers and The Premiers took on “Farmer John.” But by 1964, Don and Dewey as an act themselves was pretty much finished. They played in Little Richard’s band for a time and then were out.
It was Johnny Otis who inspired the incomparible Zappa-stache, and it was he too who dubbed Don Harris as “Sugarcane.” And it was while playing with Otis that Harris figured out how to amplify a fiddle.
“Frustrated because amplified electric guitars generally drowned out the sounds Harris coaxed from his violin onstage, Sugarcane took a crystal from the cartridge on the arm of a record player, connected it to an amplifier with a wire, and taped it to the wood of the violin.” (Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story, p. 129)
It was Otis in fact who helped Frank Zappa track Harris down during the Hot Rats sessions—he was in jail. Zappa bailed him out and recorded him.
In the process, he revived Harris’ career. I mean, check it: Harris’ solo discography doesn’t even start until 1970, the year Weasels Ripped My Flesh and Burnt Weeny Sandwich were released. And you can land on any of those records and experience Harris’ performance on Weasels or Burnt, distilled.
Harris’ solo discography:
- Don “Sugarcane” Harris – 1970
- Keep On Driving – 1971
- Fiddler On The Rock – 1971
- Choice Cuts – 1972
- Sugar Cane’s Got The Blues – 1973
- Keyzop – 1973
- Cup Full Of Dreams – 1974
- I’m On Your Case – 1974
- Key Stop – 1975
- Flashin’ Time – 1976
(That is exactly as many albums as Van Halen and Van Hagar put out before the disastrous VHIII! Quite prolific!)
1973’s Keyzop is a great place to start. Here. Go get your headphones.
In total, Harris appeared on Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Chunga’s Revenge, Apostrophe (‘), and The Lost Episodes.
And, of course, on this.
Sigh.
- Blue Monday (Zappadan bonus) (stevenhartsite) (Terrific backgrounder on a little song called “WPLJ”)
- 50 Best Albums of 2014 (Rolling Stone)
- Rolling Stone’s 500 Worst Reviews of All Time (Rate Your Music)
- The Best Atheist Books of 2014 (The Friendly Atheist)
- Hey, there, Indefatigable Girl. 🙂 See? I remembered!
Good Grief.
Well. 21.
I Remember A Time When This Song Seemed Merely Historical
Ya know something, people?
Bummernacht 2014
My freshman year of college was spent at Ohio University. Go Bobcats.
At the time, Ohio University’s practice regarding housing was to shove three freshmen boys into a 250-square foot room with three bunk beds.
They shoved me in with a “Pete” and a “Kyle.”
Suffice it to say, I didn’t fit in well. Those fellas were pretty rough By the year’s end, I was kicking and screaming to get out of Athens, and I’d say living with those two was about half the reason why.
At least I had the Mothers.
I’d put on my headphones and blast Freak Out, Only In It For The Money, and Burnt Weeny Sandwich. I especially relished when the play order got around to “Hungry Freaks, Daddy.” These albums gave me somewhere to go. They let me point at these bullying shit-heads I lived with and laugh at their supermarket dream. It allowed me to feel fine with the freak that I was.
My freshman year of college, Mothers albums and Frank Zappa albums were my squeezebox.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich was especially pivotal because I fell in love with it on a bus.
It was a special charter deal that went from Athens to home in Northeast Ohio, I think. I’m sure I’d heard the album before, it’d been in my Dear Ol’ Dad’s collection for decades. Yep, I am a proud second-generation freak. I remember staring at those album covers for hours as a child, at all the weird pictures of the weird hairy dudes in dresses. I remember that “Who Are the Brain Police” kind of terrified me. So sure, I’d heard BWS before. I’d just never listened. But I listened, plugged in to my little Walkperson all the way up. I listened for 180 miles.
On that trip, that’s an album that became a part of me. It seared into my brain. It gave me new places to go. My idiot roommates couldn’t stop listening to the Up In Smoke soundtrack. Ha ha ha, get it? That god-damn Finklestein shit kid? HA HA HA.
Heck with them. I had Zappa.
The composer stopped refusing to die at age 52* in 1993, on this date on a Saturday. Since my days in that cramped dorm room with those shit-heads who are now probably CEOs, since my time on that bus, I’ve gotten to appreciate much more of the Zappa collection. I doubt severely that I will ever get to hear every single note he ever recorded. I doubt that anyone does.
But I’m gonna try.
Merry Zappadan, everybody. We’ve got 17 days. What’s the secret word for tonight?
*Which seems less old to me every year.
I personally count as the first Zappadan miracle that Dweezil Zappa is working on a new album.
I have long suspected that a post-Zappa Plays Zappa release from Dweezil would be exceptionally strong. The kid has spent years marinating in his old man’s music. I can’t wait to hear what he creates.