Word: zappa
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...rock group called the Mothers of Invention has confronted some harsh necessities in its current European tour. Replacing the instruments and equipment that were incinerated by a fire in France was bad enough. But replacing Lead Guitarist, Singer and Songsmith Frank Zappa is something else again. He will be out for three or four months with a compound leg fracture and other injuries received when an unappreciative music lover in London jumped up and threw him off the stage...
Anyone who enjoys being the target of a put-on will revel in Frank Zappa's 200 Motels. It's an act of undisguised aggression against the audience-rather like a mugging in a movie theater. Zappa makes movies the way he and his group, the Mothers of Invention, make music-wildly, brazenly, eclectically...
...Touring can make you go crazy, ladies and gentlemen," a voice proclaims early in the movie. "That is what 200 Motels is all about." It would be foolhardy to take Zappa at his word, of course. The film might just as easily be about hydrangea cultivation or the presidency of Chester A. Arthur. If it can really be said to be "about" anything, 200 Motels is about the effect it has on the audience, which is not always pleasant and is occasionally exasperating and even disconcerting. It helps that the movie is sometimes exceedingly funny...
Part of the action takes place on a triumphantly phony set representing a town called "Centerville" ("a real nice place to raise your kids up"), where the Mothers are stranded. Another part takes place in a cavernous recording studio, where Zappa can fleetingly be seen leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of his composition 200 Motels, which is made up of equal parts of Spike Jones, John Cage and Buddy Holly. There are episodes involving lust-crazed groupies, a sleazy impresario named Ranee Muhammitz (Theodore Bikel) and a character called Larry the Dwarf, who is played by Ringo...
Reaction to 200 Motels was pretty extreme, with a lot of people in hysterics and a lot of people walking out in the middle. If you like the Mothers live, you'll probably like the film, since it is basically Zappa's stage show, augmented by a symphony orchestra, a chorus, dancers, animation, and a cast of dozens. If you find Zappa a drag, particularly his more narrative albums like Absolutely Free and We're Only In It For The Money, you will probably be bored still by the whole thing. If you do want...