i don't care about clever, i don't care about funny.

"And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
'Cause everyone knows that's how you get famous"
- Lily Allen, "The Fear"

Throughout the semester so far, I’ve learned a lot about Zappa and his entrepreneurial skills. He certainly had an eye for business – he would watch for any opportunity and take it the moment one arose.

Even early on, we’ve seen that he would do anything for publicity. He knew that he needed to get his name out there. This was apparent from a video we watched in class where he performed on the Steve Allen show playing a bicycle. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before (forgive me if I have) but here’s a refresher: he had only been playing it for around two weeks or so, and only ‘picked up’ the instrument (if you will) in hopes of getting on the show. Zappa certainly wasn’t dumb – he knew that to get his name out there, he needed to reach the masses somehow. Even though the Steve Allen show wasn’t necessarily aiming to the same demographic he was, he knew that it would be watched by a large audience, which was just what he needed.

He also worked for several nightclubs, and worked on the soundtracks for some movies such as The World’s Greatest Sinner. He also wrote songs for other artists. He clearly was a man of opportunity and strongly believed in taking any break he could get.

Unfortunately this idea of taking what he could get backfired on him in a big way. He was asked one day by an undercover cop to make a video for a stag party. Zappa agreed, and gave the man a price. However, the man didn’t want to pay such a high price, so Zappa instead told him that for $100 he could make an audio tape instead. With a female friend, Zappa faked a sex scene – this was easy to do, since it was all just audio. When Zappa gave the tape over to the gentleman, he was arrested on the spot, all of his tapes were confiscated, and he was charged with conspiracy to commit pornography. This resulted in some jail time for him, which stuck with him for the rest of his life.

While Zappa was definitely very opportunity-minded, he wouldn’t sacrifice his art for this. For his appearance on the Steve Allen show – yes, he had to do something weird to get noticed. However, he DID try to make music on the bicycle, and that kind of avant-garde experimental music would show up on some of his later albums. He was a risk-taker and not afraid to be himself and speak his mind.

Likewise, Zappa’s recorded music was a work of art. He wanted every aspect of it to be perfect and was very organized. Everything he did was thought through and was some kind of expression of his thoughts and beliefs. He also used his album art to express himself; every inch of the space he had was covered in words, photos, letters… anything went.

I certainly don’t believe that Zappa sacrificed his art. If anything, his art was made better by his attempts at being an entrepreneur. It gave him the means to showcase his talent, and gave the world the chance to see what he could do.