If you watch Frank long enough, you begin to realize just how important the band members are to his music. He always seemed to find just the right player, singer to get his music across. He asked a lot, and he had to find those who could give a lot, those often with exceptional talent and personality. But to get that talent, they had to respect the person in charge first. Zappa was just that kind of person. I've seen Dweezil do his father's songs, and it's just not the same without those unique personalities and talents.
This song is so amazing! Every casting show contestant should listen to this! Nearly every line has a point about the music business which is true now and obivously has been true at least since back in the 80's. Frank 's the man!!
Frank Zappa-last bastion of sanity in this insane world. My hero, big time. This song sums it all up. How bland, dull, commonplace and unimaginative the mainstream music industry is, and how it continuously caters to society's lowest common denominator. I just love how Frank exposes all those self-important assholes for the buffoons they really are.
I've always loved how he took the bright cheery major chords of "I'll Tumble For Ya" and completely perverted them. I don't know enough music theory to describe it properly. FZ 4 evah!
This is an absolutely accurate synopsis of the music biz in LA, as observed by all of us who were playing original music back in the 70's and 80's and undoubtedly true even today. The sad fact is "true brilliance eludes the masses" so ya gotta dumb it down to achieve mass appeal...
cremesupreme. Mr FRANK ZAPPA Loved DEVO. and you understand what ZAPPA been saying in his music like his GEM JOE S GARAGE. That DE EVOLUTION IS REAL yes even in 2018 !
I saw him twice i think at the Horden Pavilion in Sydney. He was amazeing, I had loved his music for a long time but seeing in "action" was something else. His band were so tight, it was wonderful to see.
Almost everyone on this thread has completely missed the point of this song. Frank was not having a dig at any band or musician, rather he was commenting on the process of record companies manufacturing a fake image for bands to help increase sales over the actual musicianship of the artists themselves. Hence 'Tinsletown' Rebellion.
But he's also critiquing bands that willingly sold out, "They used to play all kinds of stuff and some of it was nice, some of it was musical but then they took some guys advice".
It's a dig at punk bands, new wave music, and their fans. You don't go specific like Madam Wong's or Starwood, two places that ceased operations in the 80s unless you are pointing out real events.
REST IN PEACE , TO MR FRANK ZAPPA, ALAN MYERS , AND ROBERT CASALE BOB 2 OF THE DEVO !!!!!! WE ARE ALL DEVO , AND DE-EVOLUTION IS REAL !!!!!!! AND GODSPEED TO , FRANK ZAPPA ALAN MYERS AND ROBERT CASALE !!!!
FRANK ZAPPA WAS A TRUE LEGEND, AND YES FRANK WAS TO PRODUCE DEVO, BACK IN THE SEVENTIES, WE SEE MUISIC ZAPPA FANS , OLD DEVO THE FRIST TWO ALBUMS , Q ARE WE NOT MEN, A WE ARE DEVO , AND DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE ON WB , WAS LIKE WHAT ZAPPA,AND CAPTAIN BEEFHEART WHOULD DO , EPERMENTAL MUSIC !!!!!!!!!! AND DEVO PICKED CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND MR, FRANK ZAPPA, AS ONE OF DEVO'S FAVORITE!!!!!!!! AND FROM THE ALBUMS, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, THE DEVO SOUND CHANNGED TO ROCK-DISCO, GOOD FOR EXESERCISE , DANCE
Lyrics From Madam Wong's to Starwood To the Whiskey on the strip You can hear the crashing, blasting strum Of bands that come to be real hip And get a record contract From a talent scout someday They'll sell their ass, their cocks and balls They'll take the check 'n' walk away If they're lucky they'll get famous For a week or two perhaps They'll buy some ugly clothes to wear And hope the business don't collapse Before some stupid magazine Decides they're really good They're a Tinsel Town Rebellion Band From downtown Hollywood Tinsel Town Rebellion, Tinsel Town Rebellion Band It's a little bitty Tinsel Town Rebellion A Tinsel Town Rebellion Band They used to play all kinds of stuff And some of it was nice Some of it was musical But then they took some guy's advice To get a record deal, he said They would have to be more punk Forget their chops and play real dumb Or else they would be sunk So off they go to S.I.R. to learn some stupid riffs And practice all their poses In between their powder sniffs Chop up a line now, snort it up now And when they think they've got it They launch a new career Who gives a fuck if what they play Is somewhat insincere Tinsel Town Rebellion, Tinsel Town Rebellion Band A Tinsel Town Rebellion A Tinsel Town Rebellion Band Did you know that in Tinsel Town the people there Think substance is a bore And if your New Wave group looks good They'll hurry on back for more Of leather groups and plastic groups And groups that look real queer The Tinsel Town aficionados Come to see and not to hear But then again this system works As perfect as a dream It works for all those record company pricks Who come to skim the cream From the cesspools of excitement Where Jim Morrison once stood It's the Tinsel Town Rebellion From downtown Hollywood
Another GENIUS FRANK ZAPPA`S Song ! Lyrics as always, remarkable - on top ! And Boy, o Boy, those perfectly change of rhythm during whole song ;-) ZAPPA RULES !
I'm really impressed by this song. It seems quite cultured and sophisticated. It's also quite amazing how this live performance sounds exactly like the album version, something not a lot of bands can manage.
This was a lot more impressive to see done live, thanks for sharing this. I'm fairly new to his music. The only album I heard of his was the, "Have I Offended Anyone?" My Dad (RIP) got me into him with that album.
I will always LOVE Frank Zappa's music . Some of which is difficult to listen to, like modern Jazz, as it is not designed to have mass appeal . It is designed to make you listen ... Maybe think ? what a concept !
frank was devo , we are all devo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mr zappa was to produce devo back in the day listen to zappa s the song the tortore nevers stops it is living proof that de-evolution is real!!!!!!!!
Frank was into heady stuff but didn't like the stodginess, he liked music that was fun but resented the commercialism and lack of musicality that sometimes came with it. His genius was in the way he coped with the art/business paradox and he came as close to having his cake and eating it too as anyone could in such a tough industry.
this was one of my favorite records of my teenage years. which of course the 'zappa family trust' has seen feet to sabotage even in this adulterated version to make sure they don't lose a penny. if i'd have known that zappa & fam were such tightwads when i was a kid i probably wouldn't have thought that his fart jokes were half as funny. yeah he was talented and made one of my favorite instrumental records ever (get a vinyl copy of 'sleep dirt'),and not just that... get 'uncle meat' too (also vinyl). but i continue to be amazed at the lactose intolerance of this clan which seems preternaturally insane about the royalty check. get a clue. he was brilliant, but not that brilliant. NO ONE is that brilliant. he became a millionaire doing his art, i would think that that would be enough. and some of those millions came from me. i know frank was stunned to see a penniless ellingtion, but to the best of my knowledge it didn't bother him too much to see a beefheart in a trailer. or maybe it did. what do i know. all i know is beefheart died in a trailer, and zappa didn't.
a perfect take on how some artists have, do, and will sell out to "become famous" or will adopt a false persona. frank sings they come to be seen not heard. i miss his wit and thoughtfulness.
I actually recall a 1978 interview in which Frank was asked to list his favorite New Wave bands. Devo was actually among them. I guess Frank wasn't a fan of Freedom of Choice....
amber no Mr ZAPPA said that DEVO is not New Wave or punk or Progressive but in the own Dimension when DEVO made Freedom of Choice and after the less 🎸 and more electronics ZAPPA knew that even DEVO New sound was DE evolving when machines take over you
I had never heard of Culture Club before reading the discussion in this comments section... no great loss there. Fortunately, I grew up hearing a lot of Zappa's music, seeing as though my father is a big Zappa fan. To the gentleman comparing Frank Zappa to Wierd Al, I can only suggest looking up the Yellow Shark, the Grand Wazoo, Hot Rats and Man from Utopia... and then come back and compare the compositions and musicianship of Frank Zappa to Wierd Al or the mediocre pop groups you mentioned.
Well, yeah. That's why it's called show business. Record companies are a business, and popular music makes more money. They're not putting out these albums for their health. That said, just because a song is popular doesn't mean it's bad, any more than it being unpopular makes it good, or vice versa. For example, "When Doves Cry" is a better song that this groove-less Frank Zappa song, despite the fact Prince had the artistic disadvantage of actually producing music that many people liked.
Well, maybe. But considering that "Whip It" and "Karma Chameleon" are very famous songs, and hardly anyone has ever heard of this Zappa song, I'd say I'm not alone. This song has clever lyrics and is delivered by a crack band. But the melody is a pretty standard A-B-A-B construction, with nothing that interesting about it. Zappa hated The Beatles too, but I love them. I guess my fissured musical taste buds are wrong about that also.
@tristan19861986 Frank knew he wasn't a good singer. That's why he got singers for when the song needed a singer. This doesn't need a good singer, and as he wasn't playing guitar as well, he sang it.
Frank put out something on the order of 60 albums. That's a lot of material & it spans the gamut of so much more than just his "bitterness." Look, I get it. You don't dig the fact that he's all over bands that you seem to like. & then there are many others (self included) that don't 'hate *all* that stuff.' I would no more dismiss the quality of his music anymore than I would a good song from a more mainstream band (any era, any genre) even if I can't tolerate everything else said did.
I love zappa but his music can get a bit convoluted and some instrumentals are hard to listen to. but I think that was what he was aiming for out of the box musically away from the mainstream rhythm of the day . Even listening to it on a lp (yes I still listen to them on a record player for a treat now n then ) it all sounded like a jam session which in my opinion was no bad thing Rip frank
Can you recall the melody of "Karma Chameleon" in your head? You can? I rest my case. I, on the other hand, don't remember a single note of this song. Although Frank has done some other songs I do remember, but not this one.
As a choral singer who has sung some pretty difficult shit (Schoenberg, Mahler, Charles Ives), I can sing you lots of pretty difficult stuff. I can sing "Tinsel Town" AND "I'll Tumble For Ya", AND FZ's "The Mating Call of the Adult Male Mud Shark", and as a composer FZ is far beyond your typical pop tunesmith. Can you paint like Titian or Jackson Pollack? OK then. :D
Talent is subjective. I think The Bee Gees, Culture Club and especially The Beatles had talent, and I think most people would agree with me. But if Frank thought they all sucked, that's okay with me. I just happen to disagree. I think writing catchy material does take talent, if it were easy then everyone would write songs that everyone remembers. Well, everyone but Frank, I guess. However, I already admitted that Frank's band are very good musicians.
Nice language, FZ. It really helps you make your point. I've heard several albums by Frank, and while the music is very complex I didn't care for it. His parodies are the most entertaining thing he does, in my view. Sorry my opinion makes you angry.
Amazing performance, had to listen to this after being bored out my tits watching American Idol. Frank would be spinning in his grave. Never again.............
i have loved zappa since lumpy gravy & lets make the water turn black,to most of what he did thereon,iv read the posts & cant find one that deserves an answer.you all seem to know everthing about him & his werk,but are a bunch of squabling geese who seem to have learnt nothing,eg,listen to the solo on the 23rd min in???? your all certefiable planks!!!!!!!
No. I'm saying good music can be popular. I don't think popularity has anything to do with quality, and Frank Zappa does. He thinks if it's popular then it must be bad, because most people are dumb. Well, maybe I'm dumb, but I like Devo and Culture Club's music more than Zappa's. All his hectoring won't change my mind, I like what I like.
Yes. I think Boy George was a better songwriter than Frank Zappa. Maybe not the hippest opinion, but I think the Boy had a real way with a melody for a couple years there. This song, however, is practically melody-free.
