Insights on the genius of Frank Zappa you won’t find anywhere else.
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Zappa researcher Bob Dobbs reports from Zappa and Beefheart’s teenage hometown of Lancaster, CA after meeting with Captain Beefheart’s mother Sue Vliet. He describes the significance of the book The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard, Paul C. Buff, and Pal…
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Zappa Hour 8 – Art as Survival
Bob Dobbs and guests explore modern music and technology through the lens of Frank Zappa, with a focus on Marshall McLuhan’s essay “Art as Survival in the Electric Age”. Bob Dobbs is a Zappa researcher and McLuhan scholar. He is…
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Frank Zappa & the Astral Plane
Did Frank Zappa consult mediums? What does a medium say about Zappa’s music, life and the Big Note. Is it possible to speak to Zappa beyond the grave? Bob Dobbs, Ben Watson and special guest iON “the Non-Physical” debate the…
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Zappa Hour 7 – Thing-Fish & Them Or Us
Bob Dobbs and guests explore Frank Zappa’s scripts, including Thing-Fish and Them Or Us. They also explore the forces that shaped Zappa’s work, and how his work shaped art and society. Bob Dobbs is a Zappa researcher and McLuhan scholar.…
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Zappa Hour 6 – Hunchentoot & other scripts
Bob Dobbs and guests explore some of Frank Zappa’s scripts, including “Captain Beefheart vs The Grunt People”, Thing-Fish, “Hunchentoot”, and the book Them Or Us. They also probe the broader context of Zappa’s work and how he redefined the role…
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Zappa on telling the future
If we can just hop out of the bullshit for a minute and imagine ourselves located someplace else observing the event, the mystic procedure of telling the future, and the rest of that stuff, looks a little bit easier just…
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Nigey Lennon: Zappa’s early influences
Nigey Lennon and Bob Dobbs explore the influneces that shaped Frank Zappa’s music, from his parents, to his early love of R&B music, to Zen and conspiracy theories. Nigey Lennon (1954 – 2016) had a personal and professional relationship with…
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Frank Zappa for President, May 1991 interview
At the time of this interview, Frank Zappa was exploring a run for President of the United States. KPFA host Charles Amirkhanian and Frank Zappa talk world politics and culture in May 1991. Zappa, tones down his presidential run idea…
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Frank Zappa for President, April 1991 interview
At the time of this interview, Frank Zappa was exploring a run for President of the United States. KPFA host Charles Amirkhanian chats with Zappa about what’s going on in world politics and culture in April 1991. Frank talks about…
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Nigey Lennon: Being Frank about Zappa
Nigey Lennon and Bob Dobbs share stories of Frank Zappa’s personal life, including his literary influences, his relationship with Captain Beefheart, and his scientist alter ego “Dr. Zircon”. Nigey Lennon (1954 – 2016) had a personal and professional relationship with…