KROQ's top 106.7 songs of the 80's

Blinded by the white! I think Nashville's top 100 for the 80's would be more integrated. Which makes the inclusion at no. 31 in 1985 of "(I Ain't Gonna Play) Sun City" by Artists United Against Apartheid... what? I wish my friend Alanis were here - she'd know the right word. Maybe not the right way to use it, but she'd know the right word.

Is this a joke?

One thing that's become abundantly clear to me over time is that there is nothing funny about Frank Zappa.

He said he went into pop music in order to be able to afford having his serious compositions played by orchestras (See title of 3rd Mothers album). He saw the amount of attention (and money) the public gave to serious 20th century composers, and he had too much of an ego to settle for that.

Which is what I'm talking about. The guy wasn't interested in cultivating a jazz or symphonic music audience; he pitched all of his music directly to his established fan base - a pop music fan base. I think that shows a lack of confidence - maybe he was aware that jazz or symphonic music fans wouldn't appreciate his work. You see that as strategy and ego. Maybe so, or maybe some combination of the above.

but what he was doing and what Frank was doing (or "trying to do") are quite different.

I dunno. Beefheart is more blues-based, but both have a lot of similarity to my ears. Both play art-rock with lots of odd time signatures, complex and intellectual structures, and self-consciously strange lyrics that seem to come straight from each man's id. The main difference I hear is that Beefheart really loved the music he mined and put quite a bit of thought into his lyrics, whereas Zappa did neither. Again, YZMV.

On the other hand, his best work thrills me in a way that only a handful of others can. But hey, if you prefer the sharp stick...

You know, lots of people I respect love the guy, and I hope it's obvious that I've put time into trying to appreciate his work. I've bought and owned at least 10 or 11 Zappa albums, but I've sold them all but Hot Rats, which I like. I pretty much can't get around the contempt I hear and the sophomoric lyrics, so yes, please, I'll take the sharp stick.

Blinded by the white!

The 1984 seemed a bit more integrated - General Public @ #3, I think, and Prince with #5.

Hey, do any of you people happen to have Kate and Anna McGarrigle's Love Over and Over? I want a couple of the songs, but iTunes doesn't have them.

Adam Ant Remasters! Good Sex Rumples The Clothing!

Adam & The Ants had six albums? Who knew?

Well, Adam & The Ants had 3, Adam Ant had another, uh, 5? 6?

I saw Garbage tonight. Beyond being one of the best sounding shows I've ever seen (not a big surprise given the guys in the band are all studio geeks, but still a pleasure to get a loud show that doesn't kill your ears or sound like shit), and that, aside from a few deep album cuts from records 2 and 3, they played every damn song I would have wanted to hear, there's, well, Shirley Manson. Guh. Mega-guh.

The woman is a stone, smoking hottie, with that sex-ay Scottish burr, great gams and not a lot of shyness about flashing her knickers. Given the show we got at the back of the house, the people right at stage front were definitely getting a whole extra show on top of the music. Favorite non-musical moment? Shirley cutting down some guy in the audience who was doing something disruptive; she started by asking "Are you being naughty?" and went on from there.

Major envy, Frank. I have "Sex Is Not the Enemy" stuck in my head right now. That's a catchy song there.

I have "Sex Is Not the Enemy" stuck in my head right now. That's a catchy song there.

Heh. First encore.