Currently Listening: Apostrophe (Frank Zappa, 1974)

My first foray into Zappa was in grade school. 7th grade, so 1983. A bunch of us girls were having a sleepover at Jennifer Dixon's house in Cheshire CT, playing records, when Jen put on "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch." Stunning record, and the album art cracked me up. We went crazy for "Valley Girl," featuring Frank's 14-year old daughter Moon Unit. Moon did a lot to introduce her dad to prepubescent girls.

My second foray into Zappa was 1987, high school, when my friend Hub Sinnock put on "Apostrophe' / Overnite Sensation" in his little beat up VW Rabbit. That was it--I was officially a Zappahead. When Hub and I moved in together after college and moved to Boston, we bought A LOT of Zappa. Hub got all the Zappa when I moved out in 2002. I never did rebuild, but along came streaming.

Apostrophe remains one of my Top Three faves, and it had some relative commercial success. From Wiki, "Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote in his review: "Disillusioned acolytes are complaining that he's retreated, which means he's finally made top ten, but that's just his reward for professional persistence. If anything, the satire's improved a little, and the title piece—an improvisation with Jack Bruce, Jim Gordon, and rhythm guitarist Tony Duran—forays into quartet-style jazz-rock."

When I get asked what Zappa should newbies listen to, I always give three, in reverse order: Apostrophe, Overnite Sensation and Joe's Garage.

What about you?👇