Zappa's earliest influences were 1950s pop and rock (such as doo-wop and rhythm and blues), and 20th-century classical composers including Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse. His output was divided between adventurous instrumental compositions and succinct, catchy rock songs with ribald, satirical, or comically absurd lyrics. On stage he demanded virtuosity and spontaneity from his musicians, and employed many performers who would later go on to achieve fame in their own rights. He directed and released a number of films featuring himself, his musicians and entourage, including 200 Motels and Baby Snakes.
His career started in 1955. His earliest recordings date from the mid-1960s, and include collaborations with his school friend Captain Beefheart. In 1965 he joined a bar-band called The Soul Giants, quickly dominating its musical direction and rechristening it The Mothers. Their first release (as The Mothers of Invention; the name alteration requested by their record company) was the 1966 double album Freak Out!. The line-up of the Mothers gradually expanded to accommodate Zappa's increasingly ambitious and avant-garde music, but by 1969 he decided to work outside the band structure, focusing on his solo career, and effectively disbanding the Mothers in 1971.
The beginnings of his solo career in the late sixties and early seventies was characterised by a strong free jazz influence, with albums containing little, if any, lyrical content, such as Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo. Towards the mid-seventies his albums became more rock-orientated, with a combination of Jazz Fusion instrumentation and Rock song structures. This more accessible sound bore reasonable mainstream appeal, especially with the release of the well-advertised albums Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe (') (which both went Gold), but Zappa's unpredictably eclectic output never led to solid mainstream recognition. He received uniformly lukewarm reviews from popular music publications such as Rolling Stone throughout his career. In his late seventies' output, the gulf between his humorous songs and more lengthy, complex instrumental music widened, and albums, such as Zappa in New York, Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III, and Sleep Dirt displayed, by track, both sides firmly segregated.
Zappa saw a second run of success in the early eighties with the release of many albums with predominantly comedic rock songs, but later continued to experiment with virtually every style of music through the eighties, and was productive as ever until his death. His output in this later-career period included two albums of strikingly original classical music with the London Symphony Orchestra, an electronic take on 18th-century chamber music (written by the obscure Italian composer 'Francesco Zappa', no relation), an album of Synclavier compositions (misleadingly titled Jazz From Hell which garnered a Grammy award), a double-CD release of electric guitar instrumental music (the laconically titled Guitar) and a plenitude of official live releases, revisiting fan-favourites as well as showcasing Zappa's talent for reinventing the music of others; his version of Stairway to Heaven becoming a word-of-mouth favourite.
Zappa produced almost all of his own albums, spending many hours in the studio recording and manipulating tracks, and was always at the forefront of emerging technologies; from tape editing, collage, multitrack and overdubbing in the sixties to digital recording, electronic instruments and sampling in the eighties. Conversely, Zappa was also a obsessive self-archivist, recording virtually every one of his live performances, and often using live recordings of new material without needing to enter the studio. The archive of tapes at his family home in Los Angeles continues to be a source of posthumous releases for the Zappa Family Trust. He was also noted as a spotter of talent and his shifting line-up of musicians included Lowell George, Jean-Luc Ponty, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman, George Duke, Mike Keneally, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai, as well as giving Alice Cooper his first break in music and working again with his old collaborator Captain Beefheart when his career was in decline.
In the late 1980s he became active in politics, campaigning against the PMRC's music censorship scheme and acting as culture and trade representative for Czechoslovakia in 1989; and considered running as an independent candidate for president of the US.
His death in Los Angeles, California, on 4th December 1993 came three years after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Enema Bandit
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ray white (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Eddie jobson (keyboards, violin, vocals)
Patrick o'hearn (bass, vocals)
Terry bozzio (drums, vocals)
Ruth underwood (percussion, synthesizer)
Don pardo (vocals)
David samuels (vibes)
Mike brecker (tenor saxophone, flute)
Lou marini (alto saxophone, flute)
Ronnie cuber (baritone saxophone, clarinet)
Tom malone (trombone, trumpet, piccolo)
John bergamo (percussion over-dub)
Ed mann (percussion over-dub)
Louanne neil (osmotic harp over-dub)
And now folks it's time for don pardo to deliver our special illinois enema bandit-type announcement take it away, don
"this is a true story
About a famous criminal
From right around chicago
This is the story of michael kenyon
A man who's serving time at this very moment
For the crime of armed robbery
It so happened, that at the time of the robbery
Michael, decided to give his female victims
A little enema
Apparently, there was no law against that
But his name lives on
Michael kenyon
The illinois enema bandit!"
The illinois enema bandit
I heard he's on the loose
I heard he's on the loose
Lord, the pitiful screams
Of all them college-educated women...
Boy, he'd just be tyin' 'em up
(they'd be all bound down!)
Just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag fulla
The illinois enema bandit juice
He just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag
Fulla the illinois enema bandit juice
He just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag
Fulla the illinois enema bandit juice
He just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag
Fulla the illinois enema bandit juice
The illinois enema bandit
I heard it on the news
I heard it on the news
Bloomington illinois...he has caused some alarm
Just sneakin' around there
From farm to farm
Got a rubberized bag
And a hose on his arm
Lookin' for some rustic co-ed rump
That he just might wanna pump
Lookin' for some rustic co-ed rump
That he just might wanna pump
Lookin' for some rustic co-ed rump
That he just might wanna pump
The illinois enema bandit
One day he'll have to pay
One day he'll have to pay
The police will say, "you're under arrest!"
And the judge would have him for a special guest
The d.a. will order a secret test
And stuff his pudgy little thumbs in the side of his vest
Then they'll put out a call for the jury folks
And the judge would say, "no poo-poo jokes!"
Then they'll drag in the bandit for all to see,
Sayin' "don't nobody have no sympathy...
Hot soap water in the first degree!"
And then the bandit might say, "why is everybody looking' at me? "
Well did you cause this misery?
Well did you cause this kinda misery?
Well did you cause this misery?
Now, one girl shout: "let the bandit be!"
Bandit are you guilty?
Bandit are you guilty? tell me now, what's
Your plea?
Another girl shout: "let the fiend go free!"
Are you guilty? bandit, did you do these deeds?
The bandit say, "it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
Etc. repeat
Wanna, wanna, wanna, wanna enema
Enema
Repeat...
The Illinois Enema Bandit is a song by Frank Zappa that tells the story of a man named Michael Kenyon, also known as the Illinois Enema Bandit. This notorious criminal was said to have committed armed robbery while also giving his female victims an enema. The lyrics describe his actions as he travels around Bloomington, Illinois, looking for "rustic co-ed rump that he just might wanna pump." The song paints a disturbing picture of a man who gets pleasure from causing pain and humiliation.
The lyrics are filled with humor, but they also critique society's fascination with true crime and the media's portrayal of criminal behavior. The song highlights the absurdity of the Illinois Enema Bandit's actions and the way in which they were sensationalized by the press. The repeated refrain of "the Illnois enema bandit juice" reinforces the idea that this man's crimes were both ridiculous and disgusting.
Line by Line Meaning
"this is a true story
About a famous criminal
From right around chicago
This is the story of michael kenyon
A man who's serving time at this very moment
For the crime of armed robbery
"
Don Pardo is introducing the true story of Michael Kenyon, a criminal from Chicago who is currently in jail for armed robbery. He became famous because of the enemas he gave to his female victims during the robbery when no law existed against it.
"The illinois enema bandit
I heard he's on the loose
I heard he's on the loose
Lord, the pitiful screams
Of all them college-educated women...
Boy, he'd just be tyin' 'em up
(they'd be all bound down!)
Just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag fulla
The illinois enema bandit juice
He just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag
Fulla the illinois enema bandit juice
He just be pumpin' every one of 'em up with all the bag
Fulla the illinois enema bandit juice
"
The song talks about the screams of the college-educated women who were his victims. He would tie them up and administer an enema full of the 'Illinois enema bandit juice' which he carried in a rubberized bag with a hose.
"The illinois enema bandit
I heard it on the news
I heard it on the news
Bloomington illinois...he has caused some alarm
Just sneakin' around there
From farm to farm
Got a rubberized bag
And a hose on his arm
Lookin' for some rustic co-ed rump
That he just might wanna pump
Lookin' for some rustic co-ed rump
That he just might wanna pump
Lookin' for some rustic co-ed rump
That he just might wanna pump
"
The news of the Illinois enema bandit has caused alarm in Bloomington, Illinois. He is sneaking around from farm to farm with his rubberized bag and hose, looking for college girls' backsides to administer his enemas to.
"The illinois enema bandit
One day he'll have to pay
One day he'll have to pay
The police will say, "you're under arrest!"
And the judge would have him for a special guest
The d.a. will order a secret test
And stuff his pudgy little thumbs in the side of his vest
Then they'll put out a call for the jury folks
And the judge would say, "no poo-poo jokes!"
Then they'll drag in the bandit for all to see,
Sayin' "don't nobody have no sympathy...
Hot soap water in the first degree!"
And then the bandit might say, "why is everybody looking' at me? "
"
The song talks about how the Illinois enema bandit will pay for his crimes one day. The police will arrest him, and the judge will order a secret test on him. The district attorney will put his thumbs in the vest and call the jury. The judge will then say no jokes after which the Judge pronounces him guilty and sentences him. The Bandit will resist arrest and ask why everyone is looking at him.
"Well did you cause this misery?
Well did you cause this kinda misery?
Well did you cause this misery?
Now, one girl shout: "let the bandit be!"
"
The girls shout if he is the cause of the misery they have been subjected to, and one of them asks to let the bandit be.
"Bandit are you guilty?
Bandit are you guilty? tell me now, what's
Your plea?
Another girl shout: "let the fiend go free!"
Are you guilty? bandit, did you do these deeds?
The bandit say, "it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
"it must be just what they all needs..."
Etc. repeat
"
The girls question the Bandit if he is guilty and demands he reveal his plea. Another girl asks to let him go free. The bandit repeatedly says that what he did is what they all need, implying that this kind of treatment is necessary.
"Wanna, wanna, wanna, wanna enema
Enema
Repeat...",
The song ends by repeatedly saying Wanna, Wanna, wanting an enema, emphasizing the focus on enema and suggesting that the idea of enema is tempting.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@JesseH
I have never heard of anyone that practiced so hard and so much to make music so much fun and complex. Frank Zappa was a musical genius.
@stefanmachler8295
Zappa hasn’t really practice, only before tours. 😝
@Daniel-iy8kt
Die Musik von Frank Zappa ist absolute Zeitlos, gestern, heute für immer. Ich vermisse Ihn!❤️
@moi3557
That solo never ceases to rouse my soul.
@robertfernandez1456
I was at the show 45 years ago remember everything Loved it
@dorishache9931
Ohh,wooohhh,I hear him several times..he's the best..always in your and my mind
@Havmann
Always extremely good musicians, and the opportunity for a good laugh. It was Zappa's signature
@friendofbeaver6636
I brought this record to a friend's party, in the 80's, sang along with Ray, and mimed "air guitar" to Frank's solo!
@lionelmangin2587
J'écoute Zappa depuis l'àge de 15 ans...J'ai 65 ans...
@unkolawdio
My 10th grade Frank Zappa to be sure