Zappa in New York
Encyclopedia
Zappa in New York is a live double album
by Frank Zappa
. It was recorded at a series of concerts at New York City
's Palladium
in December 1976. It was released by Zappa's DiscReet Records
label in 1977, then quickly withdrawn. A second version was re-released in 1978 with changes ordered by DiscReet's distributor, Warner Bros. Records
. The 1978 edition reached #57 on the Billboard 200
albums chart. Much of the music on this album is also part of the Läther
album which was planned for release in 1977 but not issued until 1996.
ended in litigation. Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records
was distributed by Warner Brothers. When Zappa asked for a re-assignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of being able to do special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warners briefly agreed, which led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures
on Warner. At this point, Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner.
Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for four albums to Warner Bros. The exact contents of these tapes remain unclear. Some sources claim that it was a quadruple-LP set, entitled Läther
. Other sources insist that the albums were four individual titles. Zappa In New York
was delivered first, complete with Zappa-approved artwork. This was followed closely by Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt
, and Orchestral Favorites
. It is unlikely that a single 4LP set could have fulfilled the requirements of Zappa's Warner Bros. contract, which would have ordinarily called for 4 individual titles. In any case, Warner Bros. refused to release some or all of these recordings. Perhaps believing that the material was not up to par, Warner refused to pay Zappa for his production costs upon delivery of the four albums. This violated the terms of Zappa's contract.
During 1977 Zappa created the Läther compilation by re-editing recordings from same batch of tapes that made up the individual album configuration. He then attempted to get a distribution deal with Mercury
/Phonogram
to release Läther on the new Zappa Records label. This led Warner Bros. to threaten legal action, preventing the release of Läther.
When Zappa's distribution agreement with Warner ended in 1982, the release rights reverted to him. Zappa re-issued the album as a remixed double CD in 1991, restoring "Punky's Whips" and the full-length "Titties & Beer." The CD version of the song also included a good deal of overdubbed guitar, which had been recorded at the same time as the album's other overdubs but was not used on the LP version. The CD re-issue of Zappa in New York also added four new bonus tracks.
The album is notable for the presence of members of the Saturday Night Live
band, including Lou Marini
and Tom Malone
, and also featured the Brecker Brothers
. In addition, Don Pardo
was invited by Zappa to the Palladium concert, and he narrates introductory statements on "Punky's Whips" and "The Illinois Enema Bandit" and also "sings" a verse of "I'm the Slime" (he did the same for Zappa's 1976 Saturday Night Live
appearance).
Zappa in New York presented mostly new material. "Punky's Whips" combines an account of drummer Terry Bozzio
's purported infatuation with Punky Meadows
(a guitarist in the band Angel
) and some complex and varied instrumental passages. There is also the humorous "Titties and Beer", featuring Terry Bozzio
in the role of the Devil, with whom Zappa is trying to negotiate in order to reacquire the titular possessions. Typically for Zappa, alongside the "funny" songs, he also presented musically complex pieces like "The Black Page" and "Manx Needs Women", which stretched the band to its limits. "The Purple Lagoon", an extended track which took up an entire side of the original vinyl release, features a rhythmically challenging opening theme (which also includes an arrangement of Zappa's earlier composition "Approximate") and jazzy solos from the Brecker Brothers, bassist Patrick O'Hearn and saxophonist Ronnie Cuber.
Along with the new songs, Zappa also included fresh arrangements of the waltz "Sofa" (which originally appeared on One Size Fits All
) and an old R&B-styled Mothers of Invention tune, "Big Leg Emma".
(North America)
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
by Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. It was recorded at a series of concerts at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Palladium
Palladium (music venue)
The Palladium was a concert hall and later a nightclub in New York City. It was located on the south side of East 14th Street, between Irving Place and 3rd Avenue....
in December 1976. It was released by Zappa's DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records was a company founded by Frank Zappa and his then business partner/manager Herb Cohen. It was created in 1973 when their previous companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records were discontinued...
label in 1977, then quickly withdrawn. A second version was re-released in 1978 with changes ordered by DiscReet's distributor, Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. The 1978 edition reached #57 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart. Much of the music on this album is also part of the Läther
Läther
Läther is an album by Frank Zappa which was released on CD posthumously in 1996. Produced by Zappa in 1977, the recordings contained in Läther were made between 1972 and 1977 . A collection of these tapes was delivered to Warner Bros...
album which was planned for release in 1977 but not issued until 1996.
Background
In early 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb CohenHerb Cohen
Herbert "Herb" Cohen was an American personal manager, record company executive, and music publisher, best known as the manager of Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, and many other Los Angeles-based musicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Life and career:Cohen was born in New York...
ended in litigation. Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records was a company founded by Frank Zappa and his then business partner/manager Herb Cohen. It was created in 1973 when their previous companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records were discontinued...
was distributed by Warner Brothers. When Zappa asked for a re-assignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of being able to do special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warners briefly agreed, which led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures
Zoot Allures
Zoot Allures is a 1976 rock album by Frank Zappa. This was Zappa's only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager Herb Cohen Frank Zappa's recording contract was temporarily re-assigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.The title is a pun on the French...
on Warner. At this point, Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner.
Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for four albums to Warner Bros. The exact contents of these tapes remain unclear. Some sources claim that it was a quadruple-LP set, entitled Läther
Läther
Läther is an album by Frank Zappa which was released on CD posthumously in 1996. Produced by Zappa in 1977, the recordings contained in Läther were made between 1972 and 1977 . A collection of these tapes was delivered to Warner Bros...
. Other sources insist that the albums were four individual titles. Zappa In New York
Zappa in New York
Zappa in New York is a live double album by Frank Zappa. It was recorded at a series of concerts at New York City's Palladium in December 1976. It was released by Zappa's DiscReet Records label in 1977, then quickly withdrawn. A second version was re-released in 1978 with changes ordered by...
was delivered first, complete with Zappa-approved artwork. This was followed closely by Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt
Sleep Dirt
Sleep Dirt is an album by Frank Zappa released in January, 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached 175 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart...
, and Orchestral Favorites
Orchestral Favorites
Orchestral Favorites is an album by Frank Zappa first released in May, 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label. The album is instrumental and features music performed by the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra...
. It is unlikely that a single 4LP set could have fulfilled the requirements of Zappa's Warner Bros. contract, which would have ordinarily called for 4 individual titles. In any case, Warner Bros. refused to release some or all of these recordings. Perhaps believing that the material was not up to par, Warner refused to pay Zappa for his production costs upon delivery of the four albums. This violated the terms of Zappa's contract.
During 1977 Zappa created the Läther compilation by re-editing recordings from same batch of tapes that made up the individual album configuration. He then attempted to get a distribution deal with Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
/Phonogram
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....
to release Läther on the new Zappa Records label. This led Warner Bros. to threaten legal action, preventing the release of Läther.
Content
Zappa in New York was first released in 1977 with Zappa's originally intended track listing. A small number of LP (in England) and cassette copies (in the United States) were distributed, then quickly withdrawn. But Warner rescheduled the album's release date and removed the song "Punky's Whips." Warner also re-sequenced some of the remaining tracks and edited "Titties & Beer." These changes were in violation of Zappa's contract which gave him complete artistic control over album content. Warner released the second version of the LP in March 1978.When Zappa's distribution agreement with Warner ended in 1982, the release rights reverted to him. Zappa re-issued the album as a remixed double CD in 1991, restoring "Punky's Whips" and the full-length "Titties & Beer." The CD version of the song also included a good deal of overdubbed guitar, which had been recorded at the same time as the album's other overdubs but was not used on the LP version. The CD re-issue of Zappa in New York also added four new bonus tracks.
The album is notable for the presence of members of the Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
band, including Lou Marini
Lou Marini
Lou Marini, Jr. is an American saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is noted for his work in the jazz, rock, blues and soul music traditions.-Early life and range of musical experience:...
and Tom Malone
Tom Malone (musician)
Tom "Bones" Malone is an American jazz musician. As his nickname implies, he specializes on the trombone, but also plays trumpet, tuba, tenor sax, baritone sax, flutes, piccolo, and other instruments....
, and also featured the Brecker Brothers
Brecker Brothers
The Brecker Brothers was the musical duo of Michael and Randy Brecker , who recorded commercially successful jazz fusion albums together in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. They had a notable hit single with "East River" in 1979...
. In addition, Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....
was invited by Zappa to the Palladium concert, and he narrates introductory statements on "Punky's Whips" and "The Illinois Enema Bandit" and also "sings" a verse of "I'm the Slime" (he did the same for Zappa's 1976 Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
appearance).
Zappa in New York presented mostly new material. "Punky's Whips" combines an account of drummer Terry Bozzio
Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
's purported infatuation with Punky Meadows
Punky Meadows
Punky Meadows is an American guitarist known for his glam image as a member of the band Angel.-Background and Early Career:...
(a guitarist in the band Angel
Angel (band)
Angel is a glam rock and heavy metal band from Washington, D.C., formed in the mid-70s by Punky Meadows and Mickie Jones. They were signed to Casablanca Records, and had the image of dressing in white.-History:...
) and some complex and varied instrumental passages. There is also the humorous "Titties and Beer", featuring Terry Bozzio
Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
in the role of the Devil, with whom Zappa is trying to negotiate in order to reacquire the titular possessions. Typically for Zappa, alongside the "funny" songs, he also presented musically complex pieces like "The Black Page" and "Manx Needs Women", which stretched the band to its limits. "The Purple Lagoon", an extended track which took up an entire side of the original vinyl release, features a rhythmically challenging opening theme (which also includes an arrangement of Zappa's earlier composition "Approximate") and jazzy solos from the Brecker Brothers, bassist Patrick O'Hearn and saxophonist Ronnie Cuber.
Along with the new songs, Zappa also included fresh arrangements of the waltz "Sofa" (which originally appeared on One Size Fits All
One Size Fits All
One Size Fits All is a 1975 rock album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. It is the last Zappa album to be released with the subheading of "Mothers of Invention". A special four-channel Quadraphonic version of the album was prepared and advertised, but not released...
) and an old R&B-styled Mothers of Invention tune, "Big Leg Emma".
Side one
- "Titties & Beer" – 5:39
- "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth" – 2:50
- "Big Leg Emma" – 2:17
Side two
- "Sofa" – 3:15
- "Manx Needs Women" – 1:40
- "The Black Page Drum Solo/Black Page #1The Black Page"The Black Page" is a piece by American composer Frank Zappa known for being extraordinarily difficult to play. Originally written for the drum kit and melodic percussion, the piece was later rearranged in several versions, including a disco and a so-called New Age version.Drummer Terry Bozzio said...
" – 4:06 - "Black Page #2The Black Page"The Black Page" is a piece by American composer Frank Zappa known for being extraordinarily difficult to play. Originally written for the drum kit and melodic percussion, the piece was later rearranged in several versions, including a disco and a so-called New Age version.Drummer Terry Bozzio said...
" – 10:31
Side three
- "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" – 4:15
- "The Illinois Enema Bandit" – 12:31
Disc one
- "Titties & Beer" – 7:36
- "Cruising For Burgers" – 9:12
- "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth" – 3:32
- "Punky's Whips" – 10:51
- "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" – 4:12
- "The Illinois Enema Bandit" – 12:41
Disc two
- "I'm the Slime" – 4:24
- "Pound for a Brown" – 3:41
- "Manx Needs Women" – 1:51
- "The Black Page Drum Solo/Black Page #1The Black Page"The Black Page" is a piece by American composer Frank Zappa known for being extraordinarily difficult to play. Originally written for the drum kit and melodic percussion, the piece was later rearranged in several versions, including a disco and a so-called New Age version.Drummer Terry Bozzio said...
" – 3:50 - "Big Leg Emma" – 2:17
- "Sofa" – 2:56
- "Black Page #2The Black Page"The Black Page" is a piece by American composer Frank Zappa known for being extraordinarily difficult to play. Originally written for the drum kit and melodic percussion, the piece was later rearranged in several versions, including a disco and a so-called New Age version.Drummer Terry Bozzio said...
" – 5:36 - "The Torture Never Stops" – 12:35
- "The Purple Lagoon/Approximate" – 16:40
Musicians
- Frank Zappa – conductor, keyboards, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, producer - Ray WhiteRay WhiteRay White is a soul vocalist and rock and blues guitarist, best known as a member of Frank Zappa's touring ensembles. He was drafted into Zappa's band in the fall of 1976, being featured on rhythm guitar and vocals, forming a memorable vocal harmony partnership with Ike Willis on later tours in...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, vocals - Eddie JobsonEddie JobsonEdwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, vocals - Patrick O'HearnPatrick O'HearnPatrick O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and recording artist. While his musical repertoire spans a diverse range of music, he is an acclaimed New Age artist in his solo career...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Terry BozzioTerry BozzioTerry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocals - Ruth UnderwoodRuth UnderwoodRuth Underwood is a retired professional musician, best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention from 1967 to 1977....
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, overdubs - Don PardoDon PardoDominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....
– narration - Dave SamuelsDave SamuelsDave Samuels is an American vibraphone player who has worked with various jazz and fusion artists, such as Spyro Gyra. Currently, he plays in an ensemble called The Caribbean Jazz Project, a Grammy-winning jazz-Latin music group...
– timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, vibes - Randy BreckerRandy BreckerRandal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Mike BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
– tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Lou MariniLou MariniLou Marini, Jr. is an American saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is noted for his work in the jazz, rock, blues and soul music traditions.-Early life and range of musical experience:...
– alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, flute - Ronnie CuberRonnie CuberRonnie Cuber is a jazz saxophonist. He has also played in Latin, pop, rock and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he has also played tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri. As a leader, Cuber is known for hard bop and Latin jazz...
– baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed... - Tom MaloneTom Malone (musician)Tom "Bones" Malone is an American jazz musician. As his nickname implies, he specializes on the trombone, but also plays trumpet, tuba, tenor sax, baritone sax, flutes, piccolo, and other instruments....
– tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
- John Bergamo – percussion overdubs
- Ed MannEd MannEd Mann has been "a drummer and piano dabbler since childhood", best known for his mallet percusion recorded and live work with Frank Zappa from 1977 to the end of Zappa's career.- Career :...
– percussion overdubs - Lou Anne Neill – osmotic harp overdub
Production staff
- Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
– Production - Bob Liftin – NYC live remote engineer
- Davey Moire – NYC live concert mix, studio engineer (overdubs)
- Rick Smith – Studio engineer (overdubs)
- John Williams – Package design
- Dweezil ZappaDweezil ZappaDweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor.-Early life:Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of musician Frank Zappa and Adelaide Gail Sloatman, who worked in business. He is the second of four siblings: his older sister, Moon, younger sister Diva and younger...
– Cover photo - Gail ZappaGail ZappaGail Zappa was the second wife of the late musician and composer Frank Zappa and is the executrix of the Zappa Family Trust. They met in 1966 when she was working at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, and they were married on September 21, 1967, while she was pregnant with her first child, Moon...
– Other photos
Cultural references
- "Titties & Beer" references "Milhous NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
" and "AgnewSpiro AgnewSpiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
" whose souls are taken by the Devil. This itself is a clear reinterpretation of Igor Stravinsky's "L'Historie Du Soldat".
- "Punky's Whips" was written as an inside joke about drummer Terry BozzioTerry BozzioTerry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
's fascination with a photograph of Punky MeadowsPunky MeadowsPunky Meadows is an American guitarist known for his glam image as a member of the band Angel.-Background and Early Career:...
, the lead guitar player of the group AngelAngel (band)Angel is a glam rock and heavy metal band from Washington, D.C., formed in the mid-70s by Punky Meadows and Mickie Jones. They were signed to Casablanca Records, and had the image of dressing in white.-History:...
.
- The "favorite group" of the girl portrayed in "Honey Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" is Helen ReddyHelen ReddyHelen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
. In later concert performances, Zappa would change the name to Twisted SisterTwisted SisterTwisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
or Echo & the BunnymenEcho & the BunnymenEcho & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
.
- The Illinois Enema Bandit is based on real facts about criminal Michael H. KenyonMichael H. KenyonMichael Hubert Kenyon is an American criminal nicknamed the Enema Bandit. He pleaded guilty to a decade-long series of armed robberies of female victims, some of which involved sexual assaults where he would give them enemas...
.
- The track "Manx Needs Women" references the 1967 science fiction B-movie Mars Needs WomenMars Needs WomenMars Needs Women is an American International Pictures made for TV science fiction film filmed in 1966 and released in 1967 which features Tommy Kirk, Yvonne Craig, and Byron Lord. it was shot during a two week period in Houston and Dallas, Texas...
Charts
Album – BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
(North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pop Albums | 57 |