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.
The Groupie Routine
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mark volman (vocals)
Howard kaylan (vocals)
Jim pons (bass, vocals)
Don preston (keyboards, electronics)
Ian underwood (keyboards, alto saxophone)
Aynsley dunbar (drums)
What can I say, you guys are my favorite band
You gotta tell me somethin',
Are you here in hollywood long?
I mean, I just...
No, I'm ah, we're recording here in town
You're recording here?
Yeah, at the record plant
The record plant?
Yeah
Oh, bobby sherman records here
I just love bobby sherman and david cassidy
Do you know david cassidy?
No, i...
Have you ever run into any members of the tree dog night?
Joe shermy once i...
Oh! they are my favorite band!
They're so professional, I mean...
So creative...
How 'bout david crosby? I mean...
He's so in, you know, i...
No, I never...
He's...he just knows...
I mean, he almost cut his hair but he didn't
No, listen, ah, do you know how...
Do you know how to get to the chateau mormon from here?
Not exactly...is it by the, by the airport?
No no, we don't, we have a bus on this particular thing
Oh!
Yeah
Tell me one thing: do you like my new car?
Oh yeah! it's a...pavilion, isn't it?
Oh, not just a pavilion, it's a pauley pavilion
Oh!
Yeah, it's real futuristic,
I like the little naked man turn signals
So ah, we gotta get up, you know,
And ah, go to the studio in the morning
And then we groove court for about two weeks
And then we ah, we leave again
Oh, really?
Where do you play when you go from here?
Ah, let me see...needles...
Oh oh! you guys are so professional
No, it's nothing...
I mean the way you get to travel to all those exotic towns
You get to playin' and playin' in all these great sounding
Halls
Tell me somethin': do you really have a hitsingle in the
Charts now?
Right now, I mean, with a bullet?
That's really important
Listen baby, would I lie to you
Just to run my fingers through your pukes?
Don't talk to me that way!
I am not a groupie!
I never said that...
I'm not a groupie
Neither are my friends here
Jim and ian and aynsley and don and frank
None of us are groupies
Pleased to meet all you girls
Hiya howie...
Tell 'em, tell 'em, we don't...we aren't groupies
Howard
Yeah
We only like musicians for friends
That's right
You, you know, you understand?
We still wanna hear your record
You know, we still like to come in your bus
Listen now, on the other side of the record,
Didn't you say that you got off bein' juked
With a baby octopus and spewed upon with cream corn?
And that your hair-lipped queen-o-bassplayin' girlfriend
With the cross ties and the tits on her shirt
Had to have it with a hot seven-up bottle or you went up the
Wall?
Oh! howie...
What's the deal, mama?
Howie, all that's true, howie
And sometimes I even dig it with a jack-in-the-box ring job
But howie, we are not, we are not groupies, howie
I told robert plant that
I told elton john
I told steve stills
Yeah
And he didn't even wanna ball me
I can see that...
Listen, the thing is baby, I want some action, you know
I'm only here for a couple of weeks,
Recording at the record plant
With that naked statue in the bathroom and stuff...
I'm horny as fuck!
Listen to me...
I want a steaming, succulent, juicy, drippy, ever-widening
Kind of a smelly, slimy, many folded,
Sort of in-and-out contracting sphincter
Kind of a hole with a, with a, with a...
Let's see, there's gotta be a way I can put this discreetly
Let's say we hop in the isle over those guys
And the blewin' fuck baby!
Hey, hey, hey!
I'm in this band man...
I told you that many times
No matter what goes on
Listen! it just so happens tonight
I mean, this is unbelievable
Are you a virgo
No...
I mean, it just so happens tonight
Me and my girlfriends, well,
We came here lookin' for a guy from a group
Ah!
But just not any guy from any group
Yeah...
We're lookin' for a guy from a group with a dik
Well, I can show you!
But he's gotta have a dik which is a monster!
(wow!)
That's me!
You peeked!
That's me, you little westward wench nipple-queen!
Take me, I'm yours, you hole.
Fulfil my wildest dreams!
Oh! anything for you my most seductive pop star of a man.
Yeah?
Picture this if you can
Okay, I'll try...
Bead jobs
Knotted nylons
Bamboo canes
Three unreleased recordings of crosby, stills, nash & young
Fighting at the fillmore east.
Oh!
Two unreleased recordings of...of the grateful dead,
Sitting in with mel torme
Yeah!
No! i...
Oh! man! oh, I, I just...
I can't stand it!
Do you understand me baby?
I mean, I can't stand it!
I can't stand it!
I can't stand it!
...
I gotta see my baby!
I gotta...
I can't stand it!
The lyrics to Frank Zappa's "The Groupie Routine" describe a conversation between a groupie and members of a band, likely The Mothers of Invention. The groupie fawns over the band, expressing her admiration for Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy, Three Dog Night, and David Crosby, and asks if they are recording in Hollywood for long. The band members politely answer her questions and try to steer the conversation away from their personal lives and toward their music. However, things take a turn when the groupie suggests that she and her friends are not groupies but only interested in befriending musicians. The conversation then takes a more explicit turn, with the groupie discussing her sexual fantasies and desires.
The lyrics can be seen as a commentary on the phenomenon of groupies in the music industry and the way they are often portrayed as superficial and obsessed with fame. Zappa uses humor and satire to poke fun at both the groupie and the band members, highlighting the tension between their desire for privacy and the public’s desire for access to their personal lives.
Line by Line Meaning
I mean, really, really, I mean, you guys,
What can I say, you guys are my favorite band
The singer is telling the band that they are his favorite, and he is really into them.
You gotta tell me somethin',
Are you here in hollywood long?
I mean, I just...
The singer is asking whether the band is in Hollywood for an extended period and is curious.
No, I'm ah, we're recording here in town
You're recording here?
The band is informing the singer that they are recording in town, and the singer asks if they are recording at a specific location.
Yeah, at the record plant
The record plant?
Yeah
The band confirms that they are recording at The Record Plant.
Oh, bobby sherman records here
I just love bobby sherman and david cassidy
Do you know david cassidy?
The artist expresses his admiration for Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy and is curious if the band knows David Cassidy.
No, i...
Have you ever run into any members of the tree dog night?
Joe shermy once i...
Oh! they are my favorite band!
They're so professional, I mean...
The singer asks if they've met any members of Three Dog Night and expresses how much he appreciates their professionalism and creativity.
How 'bout david crosby? I mean...
He's so in, you know, i...
No, I never...
He's...he just knows...
I mean, he almost cut his hair but he didn't
The singer brings up David Crosby and admires his style and taste in music, though he has never met him.
No, listen, ah, do you know how...
Do you know how to get to the chateau mormon from here?
Not exactly...is it by the, by the airport?
No no, we don't, we have a bus on this particular thing
The artist asks for directions to the Chateau Mormon, and the band informs him that they have a bus that they use for transportation.
Oh! Tell me one thing: do you like my new car?
Oh yeah! it's a...pavilion, isn't it?
Oh, not just a pavilion, it's a pauley pavilion
Yeah, it's real futuristic,
I like the little naked man turn signals
The artist asks the band what they think of his new car, and they compliment its unique and futuristic features.
So ah, we gotta get up, you know,
And ah, go to the studio in the morning
And then we groove court for about two weeks
And then we ah, we leave again
Oh, really?
Where do you play when you go from here?
The band tells the artist about their routine for recording to prepare for going back on tour, and the artist is curious about their upcoming tour stops.
Ah, let me see...needles...
The band mentions one of their upcoming tour stops.
Oh oh! you guys are so professional
No, it's nothing...
I mean the way you get to travel to all those exotic towns
You get to playin' and playin' in all these great sounding
Halls
The artist admires the band's professionalism and the many exotic places they get to travel to play music.
Tell me somethin': do you really have a hitsingle in the
Charts now?
Right now, I mean, with a bullet?
That's really important
Listen baby, would I lie to you
Just to run my fingers through your pukes?
The singer asks if the band has a hit single on the charts, and the band responds that it's important. The singer teases the band by suggesting that he would lie to them to get something from them.
Don't talk to me that way!
I am not a groupie!
The female speaker asserts that she is not a groupie and is offended that the band member talked to her in that manner.
I never said that...
I'm not a groupie
Neither are my friends here
Jim and ian and aynsley and don and frank
None of us are groupies
Pleased to meet all you girls
The band members acknowledge that they didn't say the women were groupies and introduce themselves to the women, who are also not groupies.
Hiya howie...
Tell 'em, tell 'em, we don't...we aren't groupies
Howard
We only like musicians for friends
That's right
You, you know, you understand?
The female speaker introduces Howard and continues to assert that they are not groupies and only like musicians as friends.
We still wanna hear your record
You know, we still like to come in your bus
Listen now, on the other side of the record,
Didn't you say that you got off bein' juked
With a baby octopus and spewed upon with cream corn?
And that your hair-lipped queen-o-bassplayin' girlfriend
With the cross ties and the tits on her shirt
Had to have it with a hot seven-up bottle or you went up the
Wall?
The female speaker asks to hear the band's record and make a joke about some outrageous sexual act they claimed to have done. She also mentions the band member's girlfriend's quirky sexual preferences.
Oh! howie...
What's the deal, mama?
Howie, all that's true, howie
And sometimes I even dig it with a jack-in-the-box ring job
But howie, we are not, we are not groupies, howie
I told robert plant that
I told elton john
I told steve stills
And he didn't even wanna ball me
I can see that...
The female speaker admits that some of their outrageous claims are true and makes reference to sleeping with famous musicians. However, she still asserts that they are not groupies, even if they enjoy sleeping with people in the music industry.
Listen, the thing is baby, I want some action, you know
I'm only here for a couple of weeks,
Recording at the record plant
With that naked statue in the bathroom and stuff...
I'm horny as fuck!
The singer reveals that he is looking for a sexual encounter since he is recording nearby for a limited time and feels sexually frustrated.
Listen to me...
I want a steaming, succulent, juicy, drippy, ever-widening
Kind of a smelly, slimy, many folded,
Sort of in-and-out contracting sphincter
Kind of a hole with a, with a, with a...
Let's see, there's gotta be a way I can put this discreetly
Let's say we hop in the isle over those guys
And the blewin' fuck baby!
The artist describes what he wants sexually in graphic terms and attempts to find a discreet way to ask for sex. He suggests hopping over other people in the aisle to go have sex.
Hey, hey, hey!
I'm in this band man...
I told you that many times
No matter what goes on
The band member reminds the artist that he is also in this band and that he has mentioned it before.
Listen! it just so happens tonight
I mean, this is unbelievable
Are you a virgo
No...
I mean, it just so happens tonight
Me and my girlfriends, well,
We came here lookin' for a guy from a group
Ah!
But just not any guy from any group
Yeah...
We're lookin' for a guy from a group with a dik
Well, I can show you!
But he's gotta have a dik which is a monster!
(wow!)
That's me!
You peeked!
That's me, you little westward wench nipple-queen!
Take me, I'm yours, you hole.
Fulfil my wildest dreams!
Oh! anything for you my most seductive pop star of a man.
Yeah?
The artist informs the band member that she and her friends are looking for a man with a monster penis and has selected him to be that man. He agrees to have sex with her.
Picture this if you can
Okay, I'll try...
Bead jobs
Knotted nylons
Bamboo canes
Three unreleased recordings of crosby, stills, nash & young
Fighting at the fillmore east.
Two unreleased recordings of...of the grateful dead,
Sitting in with mel torme
Yeah!
No! i...
The singer and the band member start talking about sexual fantasies and weird stuff they are into, including BDSM, live recordings of famous bands, and violent encounters.
Oh! man! oh, I, I just...
I can't stand it!
Do you understand me baby?
I mean, I can't stand it!
...
The artist is overwhelmed by all the sexual encounters he has had and how much he enjoys it. He feels like he can't control himself at times and expresses his feelings.
I gotta see my baby!
I gotta...
The singer wants to leave to go see his girlfriend, whom he is in love with.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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