#thing-fish

Thing-Fish is a pretty good contender for the fucking weirdest thing Frank Zappa ever released, and one I’m having a hard time trying to describe for the purposes of this post. The three record (or two CD) “Original Cast Recording” with complete libretto is essentially a musical (part song/part dialogue) that’s part “government-backed spread of AIDS to eliminate undesirables” allegory, part satire about Broadway musicals and the people who go see them (I always had the feeling FZ was invited/forced to attend some 80′s Broadway production and found it so stupid and loathesome that he channeled some of his contempt into this thing, but that’s just a theory), part satire about male/female sexual and business roles in the 80′s, and part Conceptual Continuity run quite amok. None of the characters or storylines introduced come to any resolution or conclusion, just a bizarre fuck-off ending, and there’s songs (including some re-worked versions of older recordings) and themes and phrases and things that appear elsewhere in Zappa’s catalog. I certainly don’t think this is the “worst” Zappa album or anything (besides, it’s Francesco Zappa if anything, considering “the” FZ didn’t write any of it and it’s not all that stimulating for the ears), but this one is weirdly divisive and, in my experience, some people don’t like it. It also has it’s fans, and has a lot of weirdly funny and memorable parts. That said, I’m rarely ever in the mood to listen to the entire thing. There’s a handful of tracks I like to hear from time to time, but some of the long sections of dialogue kinda make the whole thing feel longer than it really is, as does the fact that it’s on three LPs but is only about two LPs long (for real, all six sides fit on a 90-minute tape). Of course, none of the above has stopped me from owning three copies of it, as I’ve bought it on CD twice before / in addition to having the three record box because [surprise] there are some differences between the LP and CD versions. 

Dis da closin' numbah now!

Didn't really enjoy Thing-Fish that much when I heard it, but it is nice to hear Ike singing the songs. (Also I guess the jukebox-musical concept is rather cool I think?)

Frank Zappa - He’s So Gay

The next item I post will also be something I just un-shrinkwrapped and, in this case, will be listening to for the very first time (for the record, I'm finding it very pleasant!)