200 Motels What’s the Deal?

“What’s the deal?” Somebody gave weird old Frank Zappa a bunch of money to make a moving picture. Is that just like years ago when somebody gave Zappa a smaller bunch of money to make records? Well, sort of similar.

Over the last 6 years Zappa, both with the Mothers of Invention and under his own banner has made record albums. He has also written the music and words for these albums. Whatever the source of his inspiration, be it taco and burger stands in the Valley, Varese and Stockhausen, the Moonglows and the Codsters or his friends, Zappa has set a pace in expanding rock and roll creativity*

He has become the big musical editor of reality, our orchestrating rock and roll social historian and critic-in-residence. Though he has never made music that set the world dancing he has opened doors for others and a few minds as well. Whatever you may think of his compositions, whatever you may think of his technique and performance, his public positions, his jaundiced view of America and some of its noblest institutions (like the back seat of your cat for instance) Frank Zappa has always been an innovator.