I have a hobby. It's somewhat of an obsession. My hobby is a person. My hobby is Frank Zappa, the most intelligent, the most interesting, the most entertaining, and the funniest and strangest person I ever met. He was my personal hero.
Most WireClub members have never heard of this guy. He's dead now. Died back fifteen years ago this month. He was a musician. (You'll find a live performance, with added claymation animation, on the “About” page of my profile. YouTube also contains many other excellent examples of what Frank did.) He started producing music on records around 1961 or 62. His first album, "Freak Out!", was made in 1966. He continued working right up to when he died of cancer in 1993. What he did is not for everyone. His music is very complex. It required unbelievable proficiency by the musicians who played it, and is quite challenging to the listener. In fact, his music would probably quickly clear most rooms. But for those that liked him, there is nothing to compare to it. Those that like Frank really like him a lot.
For over 30 years, I've been not just listening to this man's music, but studying it, minutely, studying the music and his life, his influences, his philosophies, his way of thinking, the whole ball of wax. Mainly his music.
Here's the thing about Frank's music: there's a lot of it. He was really prolific. He was a workhorse. And over his long career, he produced a huge catalog of music. He also heavily utilized the concept of improvisation in his music. When you combine all of these elements, the result is that of the thousands of concerts he played, no two are the same. In fact, he actually utilized that fact, the way his shows would evolve as a tour was undertaken, as a sort of compositional element. It was as if each song could be considered as a small part of a larger form: the concert ... and the concert could be considered as a small part of a larger form: the tour ... and the tour could be considered as a small part of a larger form: the career.
Therefore, my hobby. Part of it is the acquisition of recordings, mostly concert recordings made by surreptitious guerrilla recordists in the audience at his rock concerts. Along with that, there were recordings of the orchestral music, made with such prestigious orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. There are also many, many hours of recorded radio and television appearances, various interviews, and the like. There are recordings of rehearsals and concert soundchecks. There are studio outtakes, demos, test pressings and such. There are all sorts of miscellaneous things, recordings of other artists that he produced, "covered" recordings of his works by other artists, and many other items.
I collect these things. This is my hobby. I also, of course, collect his regularly released albums, videos, and all of that. There are also many, many newspaper and magazine articles, and a host of biographies that have been written. The all form my Frank Zappa archive. It's one of the largest in the world. There are probably about fifty or sixty other people out there in the world with comparable archives.
I am now in the process of converting my 1700 hours of sound recordings, and perhaps a couple hundred hours of video, into digital formats. Take a look at the photos below. There's a photo of a box of between 120-125 audio cassettes. That is just one of fourteen boxes. Also a close-up of several shows from Europe in 1977. There's also three photos of the audio program, Samplitude, that I use, in action. (The song that is playing during the shots of "Recording Mode" is entitled "Willie The Pimp." ; ) (laughs)
That's my hobby. My hobby is a man.
Original Blog Comments:
Karma: Frank Zappa? Which Disney show did he used to be on?
The girls is all salty The boys is all sweet The food ain't too shabby, An' they piss in the street 2 years ago
Note:
Here’s the song that Karma quoted (with very poor audio … sorry):
Note:
Original blog comments may appear disjointed. This is because over time, some users that posted comments later deleted their Wireclub accounts. When users delete their accounts, their comments are (usually) deleted as well. Also, during the conversion to New Wireclub, many of the emoticons used have unfortunately disappeared.
Original Blog Title:
“My Hobby Is A Man”
Original Blog Posting Date:
December 19, 2008
Original Blog Text:
I have a hobby. It's somewhat of an obsession. My hobby is a person. My hobby is Frank Zappa, the most intelligent, the most interesting, the most entertaining, and the funniest and strangest person I ever met. He was my personal hero.
Most WireClub members have never heard of this guy. He's dead now. Died back fifteen years ago this month. He was a musician. (You'll find a live performance, with added claymation animation, on the “About” page of my profile. YouTube also contains many other excellent examples of what Frank did.) He started producing music on records around 1961 or 62. His first album, "Freak Out!", was made in 1966. He continued working right up to when he died of cancer in 1993. What he did is not for everyone. His music is very complex. It required unbelievable proficiency by the musicians who played it, and is quite challenging to the listener. In fact, his music would probably quickly clear most rooms. But for those that liked him, there is nothing to compare to it. Those that like Frank really like him a lot.
For over 30 years, I've been not just listening to this man's music, but studying it, minutely, studying the music and his life, his influences, his philosophies, his way of thinking, the whole ball of wax. Mainly his music.
Here's the thing about Frank's music: there's a lot of it. He was really prolific. He was a workhorse. And over his long career, he produced a huge catalog of music. He also heavily utilized the concept of improvisation in his music. When you combine all of these elements, the result is that of the thousands of concerts he played, no two are the same. In fact, he actually utilized that fact, the way his shows would evolve as a tour was undertaken, as a sort of compositional element. It was as if each song could be considered as a small part of a larger form: the concert ... and the concert could be considered as a small part of a larger form: the tour ... and the tour could be considered as a small part of a larger form: the career.
Therefore, my hobby. Part of it is the acquisition of recordings, mostly concert recordings made by surreptitious guerrilla recordists in the audience at his rock concerts. Along with that, there were recordings of the orchestral music, made with such prestigious orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. There are also many, many hours of recorded radio and television appearances, various interviews, and the like. There are recordings of rehearsals and concert soundchecks. There are studio outtakes, demos, test pressings and such. There are all sorts of miscellaneous things, recordings of other artists that he produced, "covered" recordings of his works by other artists, and many other items.
I collect these things. This is my hobby. I also, of course, collect his regularly released albums, videos, and all of that. There are also many, many newspaper and magazine articles, and a host of biographies that have been written. The all form my Frank Zappa archive. It's one of the largest in the world. There are probably about fifty or sixty other people out there in the world with comparable archives.
I am now in the process of converting my 1700 hours of sound recordings, and perhaps a couple hundred hours of video, into digital formats. Take a look at the photos below. There's a photo of a box of between 120-125 audio cassettes. That is just one of fourteen boxes. Also a close-up of several shows from Europe in 1977. There's also three photos of the audio program, Samplitude, that I use, in action. (The song that is playing during the shots of "Recording Mode" is entitled "Willie The Pimp." ; ) (laughs)
That's my hobby. My hobby is a man.
Original Blog Comments:
Karma:
Frank Zappa? Which Disney show did he used to be on?
The girls is all salty
The boys is all sweet
The food ain't too shabby,
An' they piss in the street
2 years ago
Note:
Here’s the song that Karma quoted (with very poor audio … sorry):
Note:
Original blog comments may appear disjointed. This is because over time, some users that posted comments later deleted their Wireclub accounts. When users delete their accounts, their comments are (usually) deleted as well. Also, during the conversion to New Wireclub, many of the emoticons used have unfortunately disappeared.
This is Album #001.
This album was created on October 15, 2011