Product Description

There is probably no figure of modern popular music who so deserves the sort of scholarly exercise undertaken by Ben Watson in this book, and I am ersonally convinced that Zappa will be regaled by 21st Century music historians as a "crux of the biscuit" of 20th Century music. And this 700 page tome will certainly be cited by our music historian descendants. In fairness, it may confound today's Zappa fans with it's copious references to Adorno, Freud, and Marx, but is likely to delight theerudite with its excerpts of the playfully situationist lyrics of Zappa, completely deconstructed by Watson. There is no doubt that Zappa was a genius--albeit a peculiarly American sort--and there is no doubt that no book has yet attempted such a thorough (albeit peculiar) analysis of his genius. Highly Recommended.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #328727 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From Amazon.com
There is probably no figure of modern popular music who so deserves the sort of scholarly exercise undertaken by Ben Watson in this book, and I am personally convinced that Zappa will be regaled by 21st Century music historians as a "crux of the biscuit" of 20th Century music.

And this 700 page tome will certainly be cited by our music historian descendants. In fairness, it may confound today's Zappa fans with it's copious references to Adorno, Freud, and Marx, but is likely to delight the erudite with its excerpts of the playfully situationist lyrics of Zappa, completely deconstructed by Watson. There is no doubt that Zappa was a genius--albeit a peculiarly American sort--and there is no doubt that no book has yet attempted such a thorough (albeit peculiar) analysis of his genius. Highly Recommended.

From Publishers Weekly
Frank Zappa's manic energy and weird lyrics may make him seem like a rock-cult eccentric, but to British journalist Watson, Zappa (1940-1993), founder of the Mothers of Invention (which disbanded in 1969), was a pioneering composer who forged a third stream between classical and rock music, a radical visionary whose works attack class oppression, the conformity of mass culture and the hypocrisy of conventional morality. Fusing musical analysis, cultural criticism and biography, this overblown, provocative study discusses Zappa's music in the context of avant-garde art, William Blake, Wyndham Lewis's Vorticist prose, punk rock and the Marxist politics of the French leftist group Situationist International. Watson unravels Zappa's formative influences as he discusses the ex-Mother's film 200 Motels, Broadway-musical parody Thing-Fish, sonic experiments conducted by Pierre Boulez, freewheeling orchestral scores, electronic synthesizer compositions and recent iconoclastic songs. Including a 1993 interview with Zappa and a discography, this is the ultimate book for serious Zappa fans.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this critical appraisal of the musician, Zappa fanatic and poet Watson briefly sketches Zappa's early life, then uses a Marxist framework to analyze chronologically the importance of songs on the 57 albums that Zappa released until his untimely death in December 1993. Throughout, the author uncovers the classical, avant-garde, and rhythm and blues roots of Zappa's music, deservedly placing the composer/musician within the radical postmodern tradition. Watson includes a discography and a description of his brief encounter with Zappa at the end of the book. Though obviously knowledgeable about Zappa and his music, Watson provides an overly academic, pedantic account that seems antithetical to the rebellious, adventurous spirit of Zappa. Recommended for Zappa fans.
David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Benign Fabrications
I have read the following books by or about Frank Zappa. In addition, this list constitutes a ranking of my assessment of the quality of these books.

1. THE REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK by Frank Zappa and Peter Occhioigrosso
2. MOTHER! THE FRANK ZAPPA STORY by Michael Gray
3. FRANK ZAPPA: THE NEGATIVE DIALECTICS OF POODLE PLAY
4. ELECTRIC DON QUIXOTE: THE DEFINITIVE STORY OF FRANK ZAPPA by Neil Slaven
5. NECESSITY IS... THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANK ZAPPA AND THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION by Billy James
6. COSMIK DEBRIS: THE COLLECTIVE HISTORY AND IMPROVISATIONS OF FRANK ZAPPA by Greg Russo
7. NO COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: THE SAGA OF FRANK ZAPPA by David Walley
8. THEM OR US by Frank Zappa
9. UNDER THE SAME MOON by Suzannah Thana Harris
10. BEING FRANK: MY TIME WITH FRANK ZAPPA by Nigery Lennon

When I started reading FRANK ZAPPA: THE NEGATIVE DIALECTICS OF POODLE PLAY, I found myself having flashbacks to the days of my doctoral studies and to the philosophical debates emerging from the 60's liberation movement. While a Ph.D. student I studied Postmodernism, Feminism, Liberation Philosophers, etc. You know, all the stuff you'd think would have no application outside of graduate study. As a result, I was fascinated because reading this book was the first time I had to actually reflect back to the philosophies I studied. I actually found myself reading POODLE PLAY in the manner that I read my required readings as a Ph.D student. I checked and read some of the citations; I searched for more information on topics for which I was unfamiliar (i.e.," Situational International"); I discussed major themes and ideas with colleagues who were professors of economics, philosophy, sociology and political science. After reading the several chapters, my first impression was that Watson's book was intellectually challenging - more challenging than any recent research I have been reading.

Two critical points can be made. First, I was profoundly struck by Watson' critique of Feminist Theory within Zappa's work. I never read such an analysis and found it refreshing. I saw Zappa much more of a deep thinker and an intellectual giant. Second, some of Watson's later analysis of Zappa's work seemed to be pushing the envelop to absurdity. I began to see Watson as a pseudo intellectual particularly when he equated KING LEAR with Zappa's APOSTROPHE('). Watson writes: "In 'Nanook Rubs It' Nonook blinds the fur trapper by rubbing his eyes with snow discoloured with ... [you know]. Blindness is also central to King Lear." (page 243). I almost stopped reading.

Somehow I managed to continue to read and I'm glad that I did. When I reached the epilogue, the entire book was made clear. Here, Watson describes his meeting with Zappa and his wife, Gail, after they read the prepublished manuscript of POODLE PLAY. At that time, Zappa had terminal cancer and the book made him laugh! Clearly, this was Watson's intent for his book. I finally got it! In an attempt to define the humor found within, I spoke with Dr. Bowman who specializes in the study of humor and recreation. Currently, there seems to be no formal label for Watson's brand of humor. Bowman came to the conclusion that Watson's work can best be described as hyperbolic or benign fabrications - descriptive terms that were derived from the work of Erving Goffman. Essentially, through a series of intellectual gyration, Watson takes classical literature (throughout the ages) and draws parallels with Zappa's work. In many cases the linkages are fascinating, but other times they are absurd. It is like a very good April Fools joke. It is like tugging a barely fitting rubber band over the head of a jar.

The big question is how was Watson able to pull this off? First, it is obvious that he studied philosophy and knows the subject matter. Second, he intimately knows Zappa's work. Third, Watson discovered reoccurring themes in the history of humanity. Thus, the blindness we find in APOSTROPHE(') can be defined with the same symbolic value we see in King Lear. Did Zappa create this deep symbolism in his lyrics? Of course not! Is there some kind of collective unconsciousness within humanity in which general themes for the understanding of the meaning of life continues to surface in a unique manner for each generation? Well, that sounds like a theme for Watson's next book.

This has to be the necessary course book in university
This one is very very funny!!
If you have basic knowledge about culture, literature, music, political and western history and philosophy, this is even funnier.
I have read this about ten times and it is more funnier every time.
WARNING! This is hard one to play!

Wordy and says very little .5 stars.
This book is guilty of trying to put FZ in clothing I am not sure he would wear.

I understand that FZ thought the book was 'good' but you can bet he never read this big paperwieght cover to cover.

Bird cage lining.

If this book was a singer it would be THE BEST OF GOLDENTHROAT.

A lot of words, and most of them for PHD's to muck about through. This book could have been about the space shuttle tragedy with the word Zappa put in here and there and nobody would have known the difference.