He is known as the man with the strange rectangular beard that never seems to move the man with the weird smutty lyrics, and the only man to have written about dental floss. On his birth anniversary (4^th December 1940) we remember him.

His four children have had to brave the playing fields of America with names like Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahment Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigene. In the world of Frank Zappa such behavior is completely natural. He has been accused on many occasions of being abnormal to which he has said the following, “If we consider what most people accept as normal in America today – stuff like Video Christian fanaticism, drug abuse, enthusiasm for tennis or other activities which cause Orange hair, then I definitely qualify for abnormality”.

This one and a half hour documentary on Frank Zappa focuses on two very important albums in his career ‘Apostrophe(‘)’ – 1973 and ‘Overnite Sensation’ – 1974 that encapsulate the extraordinary musical diversity of Zappa and were the two most commercially successful albums that he released among the over 40 albums he made.

When you listen to Apostrophe (‘) you will come across a lot of genres playing around. Zappa’s wife Gail talks about her beau in different circumstances from his music to his love for making music that he wanted to make for himself than making it for others. “Zappa was an American composer who wanted to say what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted” says one of his engineers who have worked with him. His tracks like Montana or Dirty Love had every ingredient of music from a rock band to an orchestra all rolled into one. This shows how brilliant he was with his arrangements. You could also make out the violins in the background. This was a serious commitment to his work.

Zappa also had a side of humor to his personality which came out in the song Cosmik Debris or even the rock and roll in St. Alfonso’s Pancake Breakfast. “Most of his work came from personal experiences, while the rest was guesswork. But seriously speaking sex was topmost on his list and Overnite Sensation was directed towards sex” feels Gail. If purists had a problem with that, Zappa could hit back and say “To me absurdity is the only reality”.

The definitive authorized story of both the albums takes a turn when you watch live performances of his concerts, interviews that speak volumes of the man that customized a facial look that perfectly suited his mischief, intense music. There are also musical demonstrations, rare archive and home movie footage plus live performances to tell the story behind the conception and recording of these groundbreaking albums. Friends who worked on the albums like Billy Bob Thornton, Alice Cooper, Steve Vai and Warren Cucurullo give their insight on the man in his heydays.

Going into the vault where he has stored all of his master recordings, music videos on old spool tapes with the stamp of ‘Scotch’ written on them, you can gauge that this was an artist who made music that sounded different a slight rap sound, jazz, rock and roll, soul and rock. Dweezil his eldest son and the few remaining members of the Zappa band still play his classic tunes Zappa playing Zappa and relive the days of Frank Zappa and his magic.

Rating: *****

Reviewed By Verus Ferreira