From: lcargill99@comcast.com   
      
   The old geezer wrote:   
   > ....later work???   
   >   
   > "The problem with Zappa was that he started to become a caricature of   
   > himself and actually began to look like much of what he "mocked".   
   >   
   > At the conclusion of the 1960s, we all got the message about the   
   > hypocrisy in society...well most of us did. Zappa was certainly in   
   > the forefront of the effort to bring it to our attention. Mission   
   > accomplished!   
   >   
   > But after that he essentially became a combination of a Don Quixote   
   > and a crass opportunist who made money by playing hackneyed rock   
   > guitar riffs and telling juvenile toilet jokes to drunken frat   
   > boy-cretins who couldn't get a date on a Saturday night.   
   >   
      
      
   Don Quixote? No. Don Goya.   
      
   (nearly) All rock guitar licks are hackneyed.   
      
   "Drunken frat-boy cretins" - well, that's what was left by, say   
   1980. Frank held up a mirror. There was sort of a nexus point   
   around the time Frank was on Saturday Night Live.   
      
   National Lampoon, Steve Martin, even to an extent   
      
   If you'll look also at Scorcese's movie history   
   movie, all those Saturday Night Live players' movies were   
   part of the rising crest after the trough before "Jaws".   
      
   Nat. Lamp was MAD magazine for frat boys who could read   
   somewhat.   
      
   The thing I remember best of all is the transition from   
   "Sound of Music" one year to "Midnight Cowboy" the next.   
   The Scorcese movie does a better job of that than I do.   
      
   But all this is is a rough timeline.   
      
   > His music in the late 60s was innovative, and he certainly doesn't   
   > get the proper credit for his contribution to the development of   
   > jazz-classical-rock fusion that was all the rage in the 1970s.   
   >   
      
   Well, there ya go.   
      
   He also sort of (re)invented Halloween. And yes -   
   the record business itself ( especially around LA ) was   
   following an arc. Marry all the stories you see about Frank   
   with the story from "The Wrecking Crew".   
      
   You had bands like Kansas that could play their own instruments   
   coming up. Frank sort of pioneered that but that wiped   
   out the LA edifice. Look at the film "Miracles   
   out of Nowhere" for how that generally   
   played out.   
      
   LA had descended into deep self-parody by the time the movie   
   "Foxes" was made. Y'know all those hair metal bands from LA?   
   That too. Another nexus point. One that pissed Warner Brothers   
   completely off apparently - and until you *see* it, it doesn't   
   make as much sense.   
      
   > From the 70s forward, however, his recordings and compositions were   
   > uneven and failed to have the consistency that was there during the   
   > 60s.   
      
      
   I thought it was well understood that Frank recycled his own work.   
      
   The omission of the war with Warner Brothers from this screed is most   
   curious. After that, Frank had to hustle to make a living.   
      
   IMO, and this is just that - he peaked with "Sheik". The next thing   
   was the utter failure of the '88 band followed by the Synclavier.   
      
   This, again is just me, but CPIII is the ultimate result   
   of this whole career. It's the most abstract.   
      
   > To be sure there was some fine music still being made, but the   
   > creative spark dimmed and there was a great deal of recycling taking   
   > place.   
   >   
      
   Life just wears people out, especially people who don't use a strong   
   form of ... social structure as a shield.   
      
   > I sometimes wonder if the label of "genius" was something that was   
   > self-affixed by Zappa himself....."   
   >   
      
   It's a cringe word. It's a journalism word.   
      
   > From a ZA cd album review.....   
   >   
   >   
   > I guess this has all been stated before (even by myself).  I also   
   > believe something happened to FZ after his assault in London which   
   > changed his whole psyche.   
   >   
      
   Well, yeah.   
      
   > I very rarely play anything after Waka/Jawaka anymore....   
   >   
      
   Prolific, wasn't he?   
      
   > TOG   
   >   
      
   --   
   Les Cargill   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)