(Credits: Bent Rej)
Fri 19 December 2025 22:00, UK
Frank Zappa was always considered one of music’s beautiful anomalies, and when you hear his music and watch his live shows, it’s pretty easy to understand why.
When he was playing with The Mothers of Invention, rumours began to circulate that he and the band were having gross-out competitions on stage. The idea was to see who could do the grossest thing and get away with it. Stories circulated about band members eating poo and urinating on the crowd. These twisted tales became so commonplace that Frank Zappa had to come out and confirm that they weren’t true.
“There never was a gross-out contest. That was a rumour. Somebody’s imagination ran wild. Chemically bonded imagination,” said Zappa, clearing the air, “The rumour was that I went so far as to eat shit onstage. There were people who were terribly disappointed that I never ate shit onstage. But no, there never was anything resembling a gross-out contest.”
So, these stories weren’t true, but the fact that people were willing to believe tells you a lot about the public’s perception of Frank Zappa. These opinions weren’t necessarily poorly placed, as Zappa certainly looked like a larger-than-life character, and the music he made was a reflection of said image. To this day, people still struggle to describe Zappa’s music, as there was so much of it and he never believed in locking himself within one genre.
While a lot of people might believe that Zappa was a pretty strange character (and while these people might be right), the fact remains, Zappa was one of the most authentic and committed musicians the world has ever known. What you saw and heard was a true reflection of Zappa, and there has never been an individual so committed to his craft.
His hard work didn’t just help him make music, but it also meant that he was able to help other musicians who also wanted to make a name for themselves. In fact, there are two exceptional guitarists the world adores that might have struggled to reach the heights they did without Zappa in their corner: Adrian Belew and Steve Vai.
“The year I spent with Frank was the first and only time I’ve ever had serious instruction,” explained Belew, “Frank was a great teacher and very generous to me. He taught me a lot of things about music and the business of music. It wasn’t just how to play odd time signatures or do wild stuff, but how to behave and have a life as a professional. All those things were unknown to me.”
He continued, “Steve and I agree that when you go through what Frank teaches you, you come out as a high-quality professional. You know you’ve got to play things consistently and correctly and that you can’t mess around. The main thing Frank wanted from you was to show up at every gig in perfect shape and do the music correctly.”
It wasn’t just guitarists he helped out, either. Chester Thompson also admitted that playing with Zappa was one of the best experiences he ever had as a drummer, as he learnt not only how to make his sound better, but how to be more committed to his craft. If only more musicians were as committed as Zappa and those he took under his wing, who knows where music would end up? Hopefully, nowhere near a stage full of shit.
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