Album title: 200 Motels
Artist: Frank Zappa
Nationality: American
Label: Bizarre/Reprise
Chronology: Thirteenth
Grade: C
Factsheet: Soundtrack to a movie of the same name, this is more illustration of why I don’t have time for, like or understand Zappa. The emphasis on smutty comedy and wordplay may very well be leavened by great music, but though I’ve enjoyed the odd album, what I’ve heard of Zappa up to now has mostly been of a similarity to Beefheart, and too weird for my tastes. There’s no way I would suffer through a double album like this, and therefore I’m not going to. Hell, even writing out the track listing has exhausted me by itself!
Tracklisting: Semi-fraudulent Direct-from-Hollywood Overture/ Mystery Roach/ Dance of the Rock and Roll Interviewers/ This Town is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich (Prologue)/ Tuna Fish Promenade/ Dance of the Just Plain Folks/ This Town is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich (Reprise)/ The Sealed Tuna Bolero/ Lonesome Cowboy Burt/ Touring Can Make You Crazy/ Would You Like a Snack?/ Redneck Eats/ Centerville/ She Painted Up Her Face/ Janet’s Big Dance Number/ Half a Dozen Provocative Squats/ Mysterioso/ Shove it Right In/ Lucy’s Seduction of a Bored Violinist and Postlude/ I’m Stealing the Towels/ Dental Hygiene Dilemma/ Does This Kind of Life Look Interesting to You?/ Daddy, Daddy, Daddy/ Penis Dimension/ What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning/ A Nun Suit Painted On Some Old Boxes/ Magic Fingers/ Motorhead’s Midnight Ranch/ Dew on the Newts We Got/ The Lad Searches the Night for His Newts/ The Girl Wants to Fix Him Some Broth/ The Girl’s Dream/ Little Green Scratchy Sweaters and Corduroy Ponce/ Strictly Genteel (The Finale).