The Thousand Year Charm Offensive of Frank Zappa
On Communism, the West and Zappa’s Music - Part 1 of 3
“I’ve come to watch communism die,” Frank Zappa said to the camera in Prague, shortly after the success of the Velvet Revolution. President Vaclav Havel made him Czechoslovakia’s special ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture, and Tourism, until George H. W. Bush’s James Baker gave Havel an ultimatum: “You can do business with the United States or with Frank Zappa.” President Havel had to withdraw Zappa’s ambassadorship due to the terrible financial status of his country.
During Soviet domination, Zappa’s music was smuggled into Eastern European countries, like Czechoslovakia, giving many people the strength for enduring and bringing about the end of Soviet rule. Zappa’s music, like the man, was singular. According to Havel, his influence made him one of the gods of the Velvet Revolution.
Frank’s humor and passion helped me to avoid being completely swallowed up by sixties radical politics. He built on rock and roll’s beauty with stunning guitar improvisation and classical composition. I recognized his humor growing up listening to Lenny Bruce, and watching the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges.
Zappa considered exploring a presidential run before his illness derailed his plans. In an interview in 1991 he said, concerning his qualifications, “I don’t play golf, I don’t take vacations, and I do think the U.S. constitution is one hell of a document and that this country would work better if people adhered to it more closely.”
Like Shakespeare, Zappa was not only a successful artist with a large body of work, but a savvy businessman. Both fellas also happened to be white and male, a current concoction despised by American leftists.
For Zappa to endure for the next thousand years, Judeo-Christianity and the US Constitution need to endure. Both Shakespeare and Zappa have been gifted with genius and humor, and only our survival in the West ensures that these two great individuals, along with many others, can flourish well into the future.
Check out the ongoing discussions about music at GOTD and associate editor Mike Kilgore’s daily music series:
Who Is Generation X's Greatest Black Musician? Here's My Vote
Generation X's Greatest Black Musician? Rihanna, In My Humble Opinion.
Why Rap & Country Are So Challenging and Why I Much Prefer Tupac Shakur to Will Smith
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Check out “Mike’s Music Morning,” born from these debates.
Zappa, the thinking man' rocker.
Thanks for that, Fred Tribuzzo.