Today is the end of 'Zappadan' - stretching from 4th December, the day Frank Zappa died in 1993, to today, his birthday.
FZ was famous for many things, but mostly the poster of him sitting naked on the toilet. Which is a shame, as while he was always up for a bit of dodgy self-publicity, it was all in the cause of spreading his music.
And the music is gob-smackingly good. From the psychedlic parodies of his early work, through the jazz stages, doo-wop, the classical works, the dumb-70s rock and eventually into the convoluted computer driven, too-complex-for-humans-to-get-right, material of his last few years, there's always stunning guitar work, unexpected juxtapositions and a thread of caustic humour.
It's fair to say he was not a nice man, but he was a musical genius, and geniuses are seldom pleasant company.
Of all the artists I never saw in concert, this is my biggest regret, here's why 50-odd albums in his lifetime just wasn't enough...
