Dweezil Zappa Talks About His Father
Growing up in the Zappa household must have been a wacky atmosphere teeming with psychedelic drugs, right? On the contrary, Dweezil Zappa, 41, remembers his house as clean and sober.
“We grew up having a lot of respect with our parents and none of us ever got in trouble,” Zappa told Spinner in an interview. “I’ve never taken a drug in my life, I’ve never gotten drunk and I’ve never smoked. Frank never did drugs or got drunk either. People assumed he did because of his music, but Frank used the power of the mind.”
This is one of the wide misconceptions about the older Zappa who died of prostate cancer in 1993.
Yet, do not think for a second that the Zappa house was conventional in other ways.
“To rebel in our house, I always said I’d have to become an accountant or a lawyer,” said Zappa
Zappa is currently playing Frank’s 1974 album Apostrophe in it’s entirety on tour. He admits it is tough playing his dad’s material which is infused with several different musical elements that he studied for two years before assembling his band.
Link: http://www.spinner.com/2011/01/03/dweezil-frank-zappa-apostrophe-tour/
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Gerry Rafferty Passes
Gerry Rafferty, the Scottish singer/songwriter who brought the world “Baker Street,” “Stuck in the Middle,” and “Right Down the Line,” died on Tuesday of liver disease. He was 63 years old.
Rafferty’s musical career is marked by the success of these three songs.
“Stuck in the Middle” was written by Rafferty and Joe Egan, both members of the band Stealer’s Wheel. The song hit immediate success, peaking in 1973 at #6 and the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It now remains a staple for classic rock stations.
And, for the soft rock stations, “Baker Street,” an entirely different soft rock classic, may very well go down at Rafferty’s most successful piece. The infectious saxophone solo, performed by Raphael Ravenscroft, is one of the most noticeable sax riffs ever. The song reached #3 in the UK and #2 in the U.S.
Rafferty spent years fighting alcoholism and depression and eventually the alcohol consumption did catch up to him. His music still does live on.
Here is “Baker Street”:
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Floyd Ends Dispute
The dispute you are all thinking of ended a while ago. Now, simply, Gilmour does not want to work with Waters anymore because, well, Waters is arrogant and domineering. He is incredibly talented, but, you catch my drift.
Pink Floyd did settle a legal dispute with their long time record label EMI. The two sides agreed to a new five-year deal, officially ending the legal battle over whether or not the label could rightfully take apart their albums and sell individual tracks online.
The news is not at all exciting, but, let’s face it, most news is not. EMI should be happy to have Pink Floyd back, though. While no new material will ever be created, the band still generates a ton of revenue from their expansive discography.
The Music Court 