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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Sort of the way Tipper Gore ruined the Grateful Dead
Posted by Jill | 6:29 AM
Many readers probably don't remember when Tipper Gore became strange bedfellows with the self-rightous right to take on explicit music lyrics, and how the late and sorely lamented Frank Zappa took on all of them.

Here's a clip of Zappa making mincemeat of the late Bob Novak and some closet case from the Moonie Times on the original Crossfire:



Zappa is responsible for one of the filthiest albums ever made, the infamous Live at the Fillmore album, after which no one who heard it was able to listen to the Turtles' recording of Happy Together with a straight face ever again.

Funny how Zappa's own kids weren't damaged by their exposure to his or anyone else's music. Dweezil Zappa is an acclaimed musician in his own right. Moon Zappa is an author and actress. Ahmet Zappa has worked as a musician and actor, and is author of the children's book The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless. Not too shabby for three kids whose father performed stuff like this (not work-safe!):



...and this:




It was a strange time for Deadheads a few years later when Al Gore became Vice President and we found out that both Al and Tipper were Grateful Dead fans. In 2008, Tipper Gore, the Scourge of Rock 'n' Roll, was seen sitting at the drums with Mickey Hart, and here's the photographic proof. Can you be a fan of a band when another fan stands for something you despise, in this case, censorship?

Perhaps Bruce Springsteen fans in New Jersey will feel the same today when they read in the New York Times how soulless ghoul Chris Christie, the Republican candidate for governor, is a hard-core Springsteen fan:
Sitting in first class waiting for his flight to take off from Minneapolis, Christopher J. Christie froze in his seat: Bruce Springsteen had settled into the very next row. Mr. Christie tried to play it cool, but made a furtive cellphone call to a friend and whispered excitedly, “He’s sitting right behind me!”

Mr. Christie introduced himself and said he was a big fan. Mr. Springsteen was polite.

“I was hoping he’d say, ‘Let me slide over and I’ll sit with you,’ ” Mr. Christie said of the 1999 encounter. “But it didn’t happen.”


Maybe because you stand against everything he's been singing about for the last thirty years, asshole.

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5 Comments:
Blogger Interrobang said...
I don't suppose you remember this, but when Gore was running for President, there was a whole thing at the Democratic convention where the audience was chanting "TIPPER ROCKS! TIPPER ROCKS! TIPPER ROCKS!" I remember this mostly because I have a spoken-word album by Jello Biafra where he's telling the story (because he was there on a press pass, of all things), and he howls in anguish, "No, she doesn't rock!"

I know a hell of a lot of Democrats who didn't vote for him because they still can't stand her and her funnymentalist Christian censorship machine. (One of the groups she was backing at the time said that the Star of David was a satanic symbol, f'rinstance.)
9/30/09, 10:14 AM  
Blogger Bob said...
My perception of Springsteen's aging American fans is that they are 85% Rosalita Thunder Road. I think Springsteen draws a broader audience in Europe, where he is considered more contemporary & politically relevant,
9/30/09, 12:42 PM  
Anonymous mandt said...
Zappa was a genius---end of story.
9/30/09, 2:02 PM  
Blogger Rhode Island Rules said...
Well Frank certainly knew where we were headed. I wish he was still here kicking ass today.
9/30/09, 11:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
After I found out Ann Coulter was a Deadhead, i gave up assuming anyone was worthwhile based on the bands they liked (although I remain suspicious of anyone who's a fan of the Cure.)
--The Lodger
10/2/09, 7:22 PM  
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