Frank Zappa

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Birth Name: Francis Vincent Zappa

Born: 21 December 1940 Died: 4 December 1993

Country of origin: United States

Height: 6' 0"

Relationship Status: Married

Partner: Adelaide Gail Sloatman

Lists

288 votes

Famous people + cats (186 items)
list by Raquel

Published 14 years, 2 months ago

40 comments

128 votes

Listal's 100 best Music Artists(The Results) (100 items)
list by propelas

Published 12 years, 11 months ago

78 comments

95 votes

Poor Celebrity Kids... (39 items)
list by Ranzkind

Published 11 years, 12 months ago

26 comments

94 votes

Gone, but not forgotten (1852 items)
list by Agent Kermit D. Fonz

Published 3 months, 3 weeks ago

10 comments

63 votes

Arabic Descents (42 items)
list by Mejo ♥♫

Published 12 years, 10 months ago

11 comments

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Frank Zappa Videos

Frank Zappa e Terry Bozzio - Awesome Performance Live .

93 Views

Added 10 years ago

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Who Needs the Peace Corps ?

81 Views

Added 10 years ago

Frank Zappa on Fads | Blank on Blank | PBS Digital Studios

68 Views

Added 7 years ago

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Description: Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture. Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny. Of all the qualities that typified Frank Zappa, perhaps the most striking is that he was a paradox. A workaholic perfectionist rock star who eschewed the hippie culture of the 1960s, deploring its conformism, spurious ideals and drug use, Zappa was not only a brilliant rock guitarist but an orchestral compos Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture.

Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny. Of all the qualities that typified Frank Zappa, perhaps the most striking is that he was a paradox. A workaholic perfectionist rock star who eschewed the hippie culture of the 1960s, deploring its conformism, spurious ideals and drug use, Zappa was not only a brilliant rock guitarist but an orchestral composer, innovative filmmaker, music producer, businessman, iconoclast and perceptive political and social commentator. His oeuvre continually amazes: over 60 albums of music from rock to orchestral, in addition to innumerable films, concerts and other accomplishments.

Zappa began to play drums at the age of 12, and was playing in R&B groups by high school, switching to guitar at 18. After barely graduating from high school, and then dropping out of junior college (where he met his first wife, Kay Sherman), Zappa worked at such jobs as window dresser, copywriter and door-to-door sales,an. With the money he earned from scoring Run Home, Slow (1965) (written by his high school English teacher, Don Cerveris), Zappa purchased a recording studio and, after concocting an allegedly obscene recording for an undercover policeman, spent ten days in jail. Zappa's diverse range of albums (both with the seminal and protean groups The Mothers of Invention and Zappa; as well as solo releases) are renowned not only for their bravura musicianship and satire, but for offending various groups (usually conservatives, both religious and political). The 200 Motels (1971) soundtrack was deemed too offensive by the Royal Albert Hall, which canceled scheduled concerts in 1975; and the song "Jewish Princess" (1979) led to Jewish calls for Zappa to apologize. These, and such events as Zappa testifying before Congress in 1985 against rock music censorship, being appointed by Czech president Václav Havel as his Cultural Liaison Officer or considering running for US president, have unfortunately been Zappa's only real source of mainstream publicity.

Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991, Zappa nonetheless continued working at his Hollywood Hills home, until his death on 4 December 1993. His widow, Gail, and children Dweezil Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa, Ahmet Zappa and Diva Zappa, soon released a statement to the press that simply stated: "Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6pm Saturday."

Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. ... (more)

Tags: Fusion (4), Experimental (3), Eccentric (3), Born 1940 (3), Died 1993 (3), Died Aged 52 (3), Humor (2), 80s (2), 70s (2), Progressive Rock (2), Cancer (2), American (2), Deceased (2), Guitar God (2), Prostate Cancer (2), Sagittarius (2), Steve Vai (2), 60s (1), Dweezil Zappa (1), Sting (1)

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Music

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1. Hot Rats

Rating:

8.3

40 own

2. Freak Out!

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25 own

3. We're Only in It for the Money

Rating:

8.2

26 own

4. Apostrophe (') (1995)

Rating:

8.1

17 own

5. Over-Nite Sensation

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14 own

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TV

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1. Saturday Night Live (1975)

Rating:

7.6

1157 Watched

2. The Ren & Stimpy Show

Rating:

6.5

1172 Watched

3. Miami Vice

Rating:

6.7

350 Watched

4. Today (1952)

Rating:

6.6

94 Watched

5. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)

Rating:

8.3

89 Watched

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Movies

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1. Fuck (2007)

Rating:

6.8

66 Watched

2. Head (1968)

Rating:

6.9

64 Watched

3. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.3

32 Watched

4. Super Duper Alice Cooper

Rating:

6.6

18 Watched

5. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

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Movies directed by

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Most recent

1. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.3

32 Watched

2. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

3. Does Humor Belong in Music?

Rating:

6 Watched

4. The Amazing Mister Bickford

Rating:

7.3

4 Watched

5. Uncle Meat

Rating:

6.5

4 Watched

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Movies written by

Most popular

Most recent

1. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.3

32 Watched

2. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

3. Does Humor Belong in Music?

Rating:

6 Watched

4. The Amazing Mister Bickford

Rating:

7.3

4 Watched

5. Uncle Meat

Rating:

6.5

4 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (1 more)

Books

1. The Real Frank Zappa Book (1990)

Rating:

3 own

2. Them or Us

1 own

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marioehc added this to a list 2 months, 4 weeks ago

Favorite Bands (52 music items)

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Gone, but not forgotten (1852 person items)

Green.Tissue.Box added this to a list 1 year, 1 month ago

You named you baby what?!!! (82 person items)

"named his daughter, 'Moon Unit Zappa'. They also have three other children named Diva, Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa."

amongus added this to a list 1 year, 4 months ago

Bandas/Músicos Favoritos (137 person items)

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Music...American Rock Star (151 music items)

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (420 music items)

"CLASS OF 1995PERFORMERSFRANK ZAPPA● ROCK ● BLUES ● EXPERIMENTAL ● JAZZ ● CLASSICAL ●● POP ● AVANT-GARDE ● DOO-WOP ●FRANK VINCENT ZAPPA Born: 21 December 1940 Died 4 December 1993 RIAA CERTIFICATIONS- = STUDIO ALBUMS = - ► Gold: 2 ◄KEY SONGSBrown Shoes Don't Make It (1967) - with 'The Mothers of Invention'- selected for 'The 660 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll'Montana (1973) - with 'The Mothers'- selected for 'The 660 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll' "