Chapter 1
Zappa and Horror: Screaminâ at the Monster
Richard J. Hand
When looking at the link between horror and music in general what might spring to mind most immediately is the nineteenth-century Gothic tradition as epitomised by Modest Mussorgskyâs Night on the Bare Mountain (1867) and Camille Saint-SaĂŤnsâ Danse Macabre (1872) through to later works such as BĂŠla BartĂłkâs opera Duke Bluebeardâs Castle (1918). Alternatively, we might think of horror movie soundtracks from Bernard Herrmannâs paradigmatic score for Alfred Hitchcockâs Psycho,1 John Carpenterâs own compositions for his early films or Goblinâs work for Dario Argentoâs movies. When it comes to considering the links between horror and popular music we might think of Bobby âBorisâ Pickettâs novelty song âMonster Mashâ,2 the high Gothic camp of Richard OâBrienâs The Rocky Horror Show (1973) and its subsequent film adaptation,3 the appropriated horror iconography prevalent in many examples of the heavy metal genre or the specific image customised by groups such as Kiss and individuals such as Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. One of the pre-eminent âhorror musicâ icons in popular culture is Alice Cooper, who developed a neo-gothic image not least through legendary stage performances which deployed macabre illusions as a complement to the rock songs. Alice Cooper was, in fact, âdiscoveredâ by Frank Zappa, his first three albums being recorded on the Bizarre label. Discovering Alice Cooper notwithstanding, Zappa may seem a surprising figure to associate with horror, and yet it is a profound relationship. Throughout his career, Zappa reveals a recurrent interest in popular horror culture which is manifest in his achievements as a creative force of performance, composition and production.
Gigs of Horror
Zappa was very much a live performer who, for much of his career, thrived on touring and stage performances and used recordings from these events for numerous album releases, including the seminal You Canât Do That On Stage Anymore series. Although Zappa could be a natural showman, almost stepping into stand-up comedy mode on occasion, his relationship with his audiences could be complex and ambiguous. This was partly because of the unpredictability of the crowd, especially in Europe: one thinks of the insurrectional atmosphere Zappa encountered in the Berlin concert of 1968; the increasing antagonism he detected on each successive tour of the UK meaning that he could only reach the conclusion that âHate lives thereâ;4 and the concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London (10 December 1971) in which Zappa sustained serious injuries when he was assaulted by a spectator.5 Aside from the perils and menaces of the concert and the crowd, anecdotal evidence suggests that Zappa could be a temperamental performer. The academic and Zappa fan Dave Kenyon recalls how in 1970s UK concerts Zappa could be an ebullient performer engaging in repartee with the audience in one gig and, on another occasion, personify indifference by performing with his back to the audience throughout the concert.6 However, for Zappa, so evidently an artist committed to live performance for much of his working life and yet paradoxically sometimes alienated by it, there is one particular category of concerts that seem to have acquired a special â and gratifying place â for him: the Halloween concerts.
In US popular culture, the place of horror is most implicit in Halloween festivities. From the neighbourly âtrick or treatâ of children, seasonal haunted attractions, to horror movie nights (and occasionally film premieres) arranged for 31 October, Halloween-Horror has become a distinctive form of Americana which is increasingly becoming global. Although providing a seasonal opportunity to dress up as a monster, a legitimate night for children to stay up late and gorge on candy with a valid excuse to play pranks and exploit fears, at its heart Halloween has a saturnalian function. In principal, the modern Halloween is a carnivalesque celebration in a Bakhtinian sense: perceived authority and the social hierarchies that keep society in order are subverted and even profaned through playful disorder and hilarity.7 In the case of Halloween festivities, the rational world of everyday life is challenged by the iconography of horror, the grotesque, the taboo and the supernatural and by feasting, merry-making, consuming and costuming: the energies of the suppressed voices in society and within ourselves can be given legitimised expression. In the case of Zappa, the Halloween concerts provided an especially compelling context for saturnalian activity with a context that emphasised the carnivalesque dynamics of performance, music and audience.
The first notable Halloween concert Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention performed was before they even had a record contract: on 31 October 1965, the Mothers played The Action nightclub in Los Angeles where, quite bizarrely, a highly intoxicated John Wayne was having a night out and decided to attack Zappaâs hat. It was not an auspicious start to Zappaâs Halloween concert career. Indeed, it was seven years before Zappa would be in concert on 31 October with a performance at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1972. This concert was the beginning for Zappa of an explicitly Halloween event not least because it featured as special guest âZacherleyâ (John Zacherle) â the legendary television horror host â who judged the costume competition. Zappaâs very early song âDear Jeepersâ (1963)8 was a clear pastiche of Zacherleyâs 1958 novelty horror single âDinner with Dracâ.9
A review from The Free Aquarian (November 1972) by Greg Carannante provides a fascinating insight into the Passaic gig.10 At the outset of the review, Carannante makes it clear that âZappa, though in good spirits, did not really rise to the occasionâ and yet, somewhat paradoxically, the music represented âyet another step in the evolution of Zappa geniusâ.11 Zappa is seen as taking his music all too âvisibly seriousâ (this is neither the first nor the last time Zappa will be accused of this) which âdid not contribute much to what could have been one hell of a crazy concertâ.12 Carannante argues that the presence of the cult horror figure Zacherley and âhundreds of dayglo painted and outrageously costumed freaksâ served to turn âa concert into a special occasionâ which he likens to âa Betty Boop cartoonâ.13 He offers a tribute to the audience: âThose that bothered to dress for the occasion should know that they made the showâ.14 These were early days in the evolution of the Zappa Halloween concert series but clearly signal what was to come: an audience-centred carnival of frivolity, humour and meticulously performed music.
In the following year â 1973 â Zappa held a Halloween concert in The Auditorium in Chicago. However, the first of Zappaâs overt Halloween concerts took place in 1974 when he appeared at the Felt Forum in New York City. An institution thus came into being: Zappa returned to the same venue for Halloween concerts in 1975 and 1976. In 1977 Zappa moved to The Palladium in New York City for a series of concerts from 28 to 31 October 1977. Zappa would return to celebrate Halloween at the Palladium in 1978, 1980 and 1981, the latter being broadcast live as an MTV special. The following year, 1982, Zappa did not perform a concert on Halloween but did present the première of his movie The Dub Room Special 15 at the Ritz Theater in New York City: it is a concert film featuring performances from the 1981 Palladium Halloween concert. As well as introducing the movie Zappa also held a costume contest, in which the winners received a holiday in Las Vegas. In 1984 Zappa performed his last Halloween concert, returning to the Felt Forum for the occasion.
Some of the New York Halloween concerts have been valuably documented in Zappaâs films such as the aforementioned The Dub Room Special! and also Baby Snakes,16 which principally features material from the 1977 Palladium Halloween concerts. The digitally mastered Audio-DVD Halloween 17 features performances from the 1978 Palladium Halloween concert and includes footage that is particularly interesting as it closely documents the performers, the audience and their interaction. As Foggy G says in one of the many fan pages detailing Zappaâs work:
Frank played some great shows in his time, but never did he perform a run of shows as insane and inspired as the 6 shows he played at the tail end ...