Thursday, March 4, 2010

Thursday Two-Fer

Today in rock history, in 1967, the Turtles reach #1 with "Happy Together. In 1968,'We’re Only in It for the Money,' by the Mothers of Invention, is released. Composed by bandleader Frank Zappa, it satirizes of hippie culture and the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper. You may remember that the Turtles’ frontmen Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman were reincarnated in the late ‘60’s as “Flo and Eddie,” and fronted Zappa’s band for awhile, until Zappa injured himself in 1971 and the band was out of commission. They were also, for a time, one of the most obscene acts touring in the early ‘70’s. One of my favorite LP’s is “The Mothers Live at the Fillmore East 1971,” featuring such immortal (or should I say immoral) songs as “"The Mud Shark,” "What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?", "Bwana Dik,” and “Do You Like My New Car.” “The Mud Shark” is supposedly a recounting of a true story about when the Mothers stayed at the famous Edgewater Inn in Seattle, where, as Frank Zappa famously intoned in the song, “You can stick your little pole out the window and actually catch a fish of some sort.” This album is so “R-rated” that I’ve only recently been able to play it in front of my kids. So enjoy this vid as Flo and Eddie and Frank rip through "What Kind of a Girl..." circa 1974. Thanks to http://www.rockhall.com/notes/today-in-rock/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flo_%26_Eddie for the info, and keep on rockin’!

2 comments:

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

I for one am proud to have a good friend who knows more Zappa than I do. Ten years ago I wouldn't have thought that possible. Thanks good buddy.

And hey isn't it amazing to realize how this "Aw i don't know what the fuck we're doing up here" schtick is all B.S.? As you would be the first to tell me, the dude was a perfectionist and rehearsed everything to freaking death.

Charlie_Mac said...

You got that right - I think the only things about his concerts that weren't fully orchestrated were the attacks by deranged fans,and the fall(s) off the stage (and even then...could have been...)