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.
Mudd Club
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ike Willis (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Ray White (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Bob Harris (boy soprano, trumpet)
Steve Vai (guitar)
Tommy Mars (keyboards)
Arthur Barrow (bass)
Ed Mann (percussion)
Motorhead Sherwood (tenor saxophone, vocals)
Denny Walley (slide guitar, vocals)
David Logeman (drums)
Craig Steward (harmonica)
Jimmy Carl Black (vocals)
Ahmet Zappa (vocals)
Moon Zappa (vocals)
Hey, they're really dancin'
They're on auto-destruct
On the floor
On the pipe
Bouncin' off-a the wall
Hey, the people here are really
Tearin' it up
On the side
In the back
By the front of the stage
They ain't really crazy
You can take it from me
I should know
'Cause I go
Every time I'm in town
If you never tried it
Lemme straighten you out
It's the best kinda place
To unfasten yerself
MUDD CLUB
All the way downtown
MUDD CLUB
They ain't messin' around
Just turn to the left 'n look around
It's there somewhere
If you ain't found it, better
Hurry up
The folks down there's on auto-destruct
And so can you be too
(Fact of the matter
it's made for you...)
Try it on a Saturday 'bout four o'clock in
the mornin'
Or even on a Monday at midnight
When there's just a few of them
Fabulous Poodles
Doin' the Peppermint Twist for real
In black sack dresses with nine inch heels
And then a guy with a blue mohawk comes in
In Serious Leather...
(And all the rest of whom for which
To whensonever of partially
indeterminate
Bio-chemical degradation
Seek the path to sudsy yellow nozzle
Of their foaming nocturnal
Parametric digital whole-wheat
inter-faith
Geothermal terpsichorean ejectamenta
In Serious Leather...Serious Chains
Then they work the wall
'N work the floor
'N work the pipe
'N work the wall some more
In Serious Leather
In Serious Chains
In Serious Clothing
From when they come downtown
From the ruins of Studio 54
To twist 'n frugg
In an arrogant gesture
To the best of what the 20th Century has
to offer, at the
MUDD CLUB
Al Malkin's down there now
Looking for a Virgin with nice breath...
(Why, maybe it's you...
And you don't even know it!)
Hey, they're really dancin'
They're on auto-destruct
On the floor
On the pipe
Bouncin' off-a the wall
Hey, the people here are really
Tearin' it up
On the side
In the back
By the front of the stage
They ain't really crazy
You can take it from me
I should know
'Cause I go
Every time I'm in town
If you never tried it
Lemme straighten you out
It's the best kinda place
To unfasten yerself
WORK THE WALL
WORK THE FLOOR
WORK THE PIPE
IN SERIOUS PAIN
The lyrics to Frank Zappa’s “Mudd Club” are a commentary on the New York City club scene in the early 1980s. The Mudd Club was a renowned nightclub in Manhattan, known for its diverse mix of patrons and avant-garde entertainment. The song describes the chaotic atmosphere of the club, with people dancing wildly and indulging in drugs and alcohol. Zappa emphasizes that the patrons aren’t really crazy, but rather unfastening themselves from the constraints of society.
Zappa’s lyrics also touch on the fashion and style of the club-goers, with mentions of black sack dresses, nine-inch heels, blue mohawks, and serious leather and chains. He mocks the trend-setting aspect of the club scene with lines like “In an arrogant gesture/To the best of what the 20th Century has to offer”. In contrast, the “Fabulous Poodles” are mentioned as a kind of kitschy, retro act, possibly poking fun at the fads of the past.
Overall, “Mudd Club” is a celebration of the reckless abandon and individuality that characterized the New York City club scene at that time.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey, they're really dancin'
People are dancing enthusiastically
They're on auto-destruct
They're drinking and partying excessively
On the floor
On the pipe
Bouncin' off-a the wall
People are dancing, using drugs and having a wild time.
Hey, the people here are really
Tearin' it up
People are really enjoying themselves and having a good time.
On the side
In the back
By the front of the stage
People are scattered throughout the venue, dancing and having fun in different places.
They ain't really crazy
You can take it from me
I should know
'Cause I go
Every time I'm in town
The people may appear crazy, but they are not out of control; the singer is a regular and can attest to the fact that the attendees are just having a good time.
If you never tried it
Lemme straighten you out
It's the best kinda place
To unfasten yerself
The Mudd Club is a great place to let loose and have fun.
MUDD CLUB
All the way downtown
MUDD CLUB
They ain't messin' around
Just turn to the left 'n look around
It's there somewhere
If you ain't found it, better
Hurry up
The Mudd Club is located downtown and is not hard to find, so people should hurry up and get there to experience a great time.
The folks down there's on auto-destruct
And so can you be too
(Fact of the matter
it's made for you...)
The people there are partying hard, and so can you if you want to; the Mudd Club is a place for everyone.
Try it on a Saturday 'bout four o'clock in
the mornin'
Or even on a Monday at midnight
People should try going to the Mudd Club on different days and times to experience the variety of events held there.
When there's just a few of them
Fabulous Poodles
Doin' the Peppermint Twist for real
Even when there are only a few people, great performances like the Fabulous Poodles' dancing can be enjoyed.
In black sack dresses with nine inch heels
And then a guy with a blue mohawk comes in
In Serious Leather...
(And all the rest of whom for which
To whensonever of partially
indeterminate
Bio-chemical degradation
Seek the path to sudsy yellow nozzle
Of their foaming nocturnal
Parametric digital whole-wheat
inter-faith
Geothermal terpsichorean ejectamenta
In Serious Leather...Serious Chains
People come dressed in different styles and are welcome at the Mudd Club.
Then they work the wall
'N work the floor
'N work the pipe
'N work the wall some more
In Serious Leather
In Serious Chains
In Serious Clothing
From when they come downtown
From the ruins of Studio 54
People work the dance floor, walls, and smoke pipes, dressed in serious and fashionable clothing.
To twist 'n frugg
In an arrogant gesture
To the best of what the 20th Century has
to offer, at the
MUDD CLUB
People come to the Mudd Club to dance and enjoy the best of the music from the 20th century.
Al Malkin's down there now
Looking for a Virgin with nice breath...
(Why, maybe it's you...
And you don't even know it!)
Al Malkin is looking for a date and flirts with anyone he likes.
WORK THE WALL
WORK THE FLOOR
WORK THE PIPE
IN SERIOUS PAIN
People are dancing so hard that they might be in pain, but they continue to work the walls, floors, and pipes regardless.
Contributed by Aaron R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Gary Titone
@roblaaaGood question.
Frank used the term "mine the harbor" at one of the two August 1984 Pier concerts in NYC. These shows were 2 of 13 I had seen on the 84 Summer and Fall tour. The next pier over from the concert pier was the USS Intrepid. You could clearly see the ship from the stage. When Frank hit the stage he saw a large outdoor crowd and the air craft carrier. As the show was to begin, Frank looked up and said mine the harbor.
Certainly not the only form of theatrics that evening, before the show started a popular movie score tune called Ghostbusters was playing on the PA, when the song goes. Who you gonna' call? the large audience loudly sang in unison, Frank Zappa.
From the two Pier shows Frank had produced a condensed concert film called Does Humor Belong in Music ? With time restrictions of the typical 60 minute VHS format at that time what has been released on video is only a small portion of what was performed , fans have hopes of a modern video project without 60 minute VHS production limitations.
Who Ya Gonna Call
Team Zappa
Frank Zappa
Did you catch one of the 1980 tour dates? Drop the city/venue in the comments ⤵
Riccardo Bellani
Wasn't even born in 1980, lucky me I can watch those pearls on YouTube and jam around ;)
Hugh GotIt
Yes, I was lucky enough to catch my first 3 Frank Zappa shows that year. First, at (Spring tour) Lehigh University, PA, then Nassau Coliseum, NY, and last (Fall tour) Halloween Eve at the Palladium, NYC with the newest band member, a blue-haired Steve Vai. I was 17 and hooked for life. :)
Paul the wall of sound
I wish,..none the less his music still lives on from channels like this. Sad it wasn't the full show, but i would imagine there would be a copyright showing the whole show, but obviously not 100% on that one. But still great footage from that particular show, and track.
kryptonic
I should be so lucky
And I don’t mean
Kylie Minogue
Andrew Greenaway
Wembley Arena, London.
Marvie Music
Dear Zappa-team. We would like to see all the footage you have from the Mudd Club because I know there are more, thank you so much :)
Jeffery Roy
Is there not a business opportunity for a streaming site dedicated to replaying video of live performances by iconic musicians? I thought the inception of MTV would promote some such thing, but what we get is AXS, playing nothing more than tepid nonsense mostly by performers long past their peak.
Matija Krunic
@Jeffery Roy indeed I agree. Is anyone aware of any such streaming platforms that provide this? Now that the Zappa the estate is owned elsewhere why are they not leveraging such opportunities in streaming? Why so conservative. Instead they are releasing lackluster performances that I think Miss the Mark, such as the Yugoslavia concerts which is at best sloppy with performance and poorly recorded official release. This is the first time I've realized Frank Zappa is human as a band leader. I don't want to realize that. I want to see more of the Mudd Club.
Sleezus Later
We need more footage in general he recorded himself all the time