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Who is Fellini?

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The other night a musician asked me what I was up to, and I replied that I was working on my arrangements of Italian composer Nino Rota’s scores for Fellini’s films. I rabbited on for a few minutes, and then he said “who’s Fellini?”

Well knock me over with a cold lasagne. I mean, I thought everyone had at least HEARD of Fellini, but obviously not. I suppose it’s a generation thing. Why would a thirty something person have heard of Fellini? Unless they were a student of (Italian) film.

That occasion reminded me of the time at the hairdresser when the guy who was cutting my hair said “how’s your day been?” and I said “great, I’ve just done my Frank Zappa radio show”, and he said “who’s Frank Zappa?”

I rather naively think that the world knows who Fellini and Zappa are, because I grew up with them.

But, while I was growing up with them, I also knew about the heroes of my parents’ generation, like Chaplin, and Ellington.

It seems the current generation doesn’t know about essential people from the past.

I’m not quite sure what my question is here – obviously it’s “has any one here NOT heard of Fellini?”

Tell me.

And also, as a kind of sub-question, have we lost the acknowledgement of great artists from previous generations?

Have you ever been astonished at the lack of knowledge about essential musicians/composers/artists from the past?

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Comments

  1. Don’t want to turn this into a kids of today thread that Bob so abhors.

    Perhaps it is due to the massive proliferation of well everything, stuff you can read, watch, listen to or play on.

    So much choice, things are so ephemeral.

  3. Most people aren’t interested in who makes music. Most people aren’t interested in who makes films. Why should they be?

    “astonished at the lack of knowledge about essential musicians/composers/artists from the past?”

    Ask people you work with (not your mates) the name of another UK female singer apart from Adele. See how many times you’ll say “Amy Winehouse doesn’t count ‘cos she is dead”. Come to that ask who is the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

  4. That a thirty-something has not heard of Fellini is, as you say, not that surprising. But I would hope that if you asked the same question in Italy, you would get a more positive response.

    Have thirty-something Brits heard of Lean, Hitchcock, Boorman, Roeg, Powell etc?

    Have thirty-something French people heard of Chabrol, Truffaut, Duras, Rohmer, Godard, Resnais etc?

    Film is something that doesn’t seem to appear on many school curricula. Which, considering that it is one of the great art forms of the past century, is ridiculous.

    Time to create an Afterword Hall of Fame of great directors?

  5. TBH I think you’d struggle to get above a 50% strike rate if you walked onto an average high street right now and did a vox pop in which you asked Joe Public to name ANY film director.

    It’s not a generational thing. It’s a “most people aren’t particularly interested in what you’re interested in” thing.

  6. Some Italian pop musicians haven’t forgotten Fellini. As you can see from this Marco Masini clip which I stumbled across when @gary and I were discussing il pop italiano.

    Are there any other pop videos that reference movie greats of the past? Those witty, very well-read people who made Futurama were doing it all the time.

  7. There’s no excuse for anyone to be ignorant of the name Fellini. Other than ignorance.

    After all he’s mentioned in the lyrics of songs by:

    Fish (out of Marillion)
    Joni Mitchell
    Richard Ashcroft
    10,000 Maniacs
    The Cars
    Alan Sherman
    Was (Not Was)
    Robyn Hitchcock
    Squeeze
    Wishbone Ash
    Robert Calvert (out of Hawkwind)
    Lou Reed
    Donovan
    plus, the soundtrack to the musical Hair

    plus many other more obscure foreign language songs.

  8. I’m so flaming ignorant about so many things that I’m hardly in a position to criticise the yoof of today for not knowing about the popular culture I take for granted. I certainly wouldn’t blame them for not knowing about Fellini. In my book, I have always found watching his films to be more of a chore than pleasure anyway.

  9. I’m not disagreeing with you, Bob. But I did find your comment interesting.

    “TBH I think you’d struggle to get above a 50% strike rate if you walked onto an average high street right now and did a vox pop in which you asked Joe Public to name ANY film director. ”

    Directors do the chat show circuit. Their names are used in marketing. They have flings with gorgeous actors.

    Surely a few names such as Danny Boyle, James Cameron, Woody Allken, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton and Ang Lee have registered with the public?

    No?

    Sacre Bleu! Merde! The age of the auteur is over.

  10. Seems to me that the generation straight after (us) baby-boomers have great knowledge and appreciation of the likes of Fellini and Zappa. After that along came the internet – now there’s too much stuff, virtually everybody skims through everything, nobody knows nothing.
    Not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing (although it probably is)

  11. Yes, I agree with KFD that people would have heard of Tarantino et al, and that’s because the baton is passed. People are more likely to listen to PJ Harvey than Patti Smith, and to The Fall than Captain Beefheart because they’re riding the wave of what’s happening in the culture around them.

  12. I think most people wouldn’t know who Fellini is these days and you wouldn’t expect them to, even though it’s film it is still ‘high art’ film, and doesn’t appeal to the average film goer. Maybe 40 years ago there would have been a much higher percentage of people who would have known him but that would just be because he was more in the news then than he is now.

    I have the 8 1/2 weeks dvd sitting up there on the shelf collecting dust which I really should play again sometime …

  13. I once mentioned the famed 18th Century Alchemist the Comte De St Germain to someone and they thought I was talking about a fucking football team. I despair. I honestly do.

  14. I’ve taken to watching Pointless in the evenings (thanks to those kind people at filmon.tv). A quiz show for civilians (although hosted by non-civilians). It never ceases to amaze me how little the civilians on it know about the subjects that interest me, the blinkered eejits. Mind you, I know feck all about Strictly, Bake-Off, BGT, Katie Price or the Kardashians. So we’re even.

  15. I’m not getting at anyone here, but I do wonder if ignorance of other art forms such as literature would be thought acceptable. Not knowing who Keats was, for example. Personally, I don’t think that would matter, but there is undoubtedly a belief for many people that a knowledge of certain arts is important, while it’s almost a point of pride not to know about others. I know a couple of people who have taught film studies in college, and it is seen as a bit of a joke by lecturers in other Arts departments. Cinema is seen as too modern, too close to entertainment. But cinema is now over 120 years old, and theatre, novels and poetry all had roots in popular entertainment. Fellini seems to me a lot more interesting ,entertaining and lively than the turgid D H Lawrence who I had to study at school – creativity isn’t limited to one form.

    I’m all in favour of schools and colleges introducing students to as broad a range of arts as possible. But it’s for enjoyment, and there’s nothing wrong with liking or disliking any of it. The one thing I don’t understand is why there are exams in a subject like literature– what do they prove except showing you share, or pretend to share, the examiners’ tastes

    • Nah, not buying your original premise. I have a degree in English Literature and teach it for a living and the thing is, I realise that my love of it makes me a freakish nerd. I wouldn’t expect Joe Public to know who Keats is at all. Why would I expect the general layperson to know lots about my interests?

      The weird thing about lots of people who are passionately interested in a thing – music, film, poetry, art – is that they seem to find it surprising and disgusting when others don’t share their passion and knowledge. This thread is quite a good example of that phenomenon, as are all the threads of this type, right back to Jimmy Webb-gate.

      I think contempt for others is one of the worst and most prevalent features of proud nerdery and this kind of “I’m frankly shocked…” routine seems to me to be slightly related to that.

      • I agree with what you say there about people using their specialist knowledge to sneer at others. But is anyone actually doing that here?

        As regards Fellini, I don’t think there’s any contributor who is surprised or disgusted that few people have heard of him. He died in 1993 which is quite a while back now. OK Mousey was a bit surprised but once he thought about it, realised he shouldn’t have been.

        Your description of the point of exams in literature is spot on. But sadly, for many, there is nothing like having to read a book to pass an exam to put them off a writer for life.

        Then again, with a disinterested teacher, school can put you off a lot of subjects.

        • “But is anyone actually doing that here?”

          Not really and I didn’t say they were. I said this type of thread was “slightly related” to that.

        • They test the following. It’s not an exhaustive list.

          Powers of interpretation: the ability to reach complex, multi-layered and sometimes even contradictory conclusions about the meanings of things. Nuance.

          Analysis of language: the way that writers of all kinds craft and shape meaning.

          Analysis of contextual factors: seeing the work of literature not in isolation but as a part of its context, taking into account how texts are nuanced by historical, cultural, intertextual and critical perspectives.

          Comparative analysis: comparing and contrasting all of the above to seek patterns and contradictions and seeing if these shed new light on the concerns of the texts.

          And finally and most important: because every young person should read something beautiful, even if forced to, at least once in their lives and be made to prove that they have.

          The study of literature is the study of what it is to be human, as is all art. It also teaches you how to think, as does all art.

          Most people won’t have an opportunity to engage with it unless at school, and that isn’t acceptable to me or to anyone who cares at all about an education being more than just about “the workplace” (although the language analysis element is invaluable for sniffing out bullshit of all kinds: the most valuable “workplace” skill there is).

          Does it give you “skills” that will help you qualify as an accountant? Probably, yeah, but who gives a fuck anyway?

          • Fair enough, it’s a long time since I had to do the subject . As far as I remember, the way to pass your O level was to memorise what the teacher told you, about significant passages and so on, and include them in your paper. I knew complete philistines, who never voluntarily read anything pass their exams in this way. Things have changed.

            But I would still say that knowledge of literature is seen as important, in a way that other arts aren’t. I really “had” to read D H Lawrence. English Literature was one of only four O levels that were compulsory. It wasn’t a whimsical option for geeks. You yourself say, And finally and most important: because every young person should read something beautiful, even if forced to, at least once in their lives and be made to prove that they have. Should they also be forced to watch something beautiful and prove they have? I think I Vitelloni (Fellini) is a lot more beautiful and perceptive about young men growing up than Sons and Lovers.

          • In order to understand and appreciate “context, taking into account how texts are nuanced by historical, cultural, intertextual and critical perspectives.” one would suppose that someone reading a work with even a tangential reference to the popular culture of the time, set in, say, Italy or maybe anywhere at all in Europe at sometime between the 1960s and the end of the century, might benefit from knowing something of Fellini.

            Knowing something about Fellini, therefore, is undoubtedly a good thing if one consumes art from the second half of the 20th Century. There are a thousand Fellinis it would be good to know something about.

            If only freakish nerds can be expected to know of this sort of thing, and it isn’t at least an aspiration that most people should have a familiarity with their culture in general, I think we’re on a well-oiled incline to ignorance.

            • I’m not saying knowing about this stuff is bad. I’m just saying it’s not super-surprising when people don’t.

              And it’s not a slippery slope to ignorance so much as people have always been pretty ignorant. Most people aren’t interested in film or literature or music or visual arts. Most people never have been.

              @david-kendal – I don’t particularly privilege great literature above great film. I’d be all for every kid seeing at least one great film as well as reading one great book. The thing is, film just IS more immediate as a medium, requires less spadework to access in the first instance. The chances of a kid lucking into seeing a genuinely great film is a lot higher than accidentally reading great literature because kids do watch films. They have often to be led by the nose to reading.

              School is about giving kids opportunities that they’re not getting otherwise, for me.

              • I don’t think we’re disagreeing that much – I’m also trying to suggest that school students should have the opportunity to experience as broad a range of arts as possible. I’d add that as the written word is only one of many options now for communicating, it’s useful to develop critical facilities across a broad range of media. I know media studies is still often regarded as a joke subject, and at times it can be, but helping students understand, for example, how TV programmes are constructed is quite important, considering how the medium is such a large part of most people’s lives.

                • PS Not sure I agree that “most people never have been” interested in the arts – as a species we built a culture for millennia before anyone could write anything down or capture it on tape or film; we did it orally. Something that requires a great deal of interest over an extended period of time across a large proportion of the populace.

                  • Yeah I think the only thing we’re really disagreeing on is extent here. FWIW organised religion was a HUGE factor in giving people access to the arts – in this country, not least, the King James Bible, which is one of the greatest works of art ever created. So I know what you mean about the ignorance thing perhaps being a bit more pronounced now than in the past, but active engagement in the arts, rather than just osmosis? I still suspect it’s always been a pretty minority thing. Could be wrong, probably am!

  16. Some years ago I was asked to pay tribute to George Harrison on a local BBC radio station. Later in the day a journalist from their newsroom congratulated me on my piece. He was a couple of years younger than me I reckoned. He said he’d actually never heard of George Harrison before that day. I was a bit stunned. But then he added that he’d never heard of John Lennon before he was shot either…

  17. Good old Fellini. I remember (somehow) watching Juliet of the Spirits as a child. Scared me shitless. There’s nothing more terrifying than a whispering nun….maybe.

  19. Yesterday I was talking with a customer who is from Wolverhampton. She mentioned her daughter whose name was Willow. I said what a nice name it was and enquired if she got it from the Joan Armatrading song of the same name. She didn’t know who Joan Armatrading was which I found a little surprising considering she is a local lass.
    Its like New Yorkers not knowing who Boris Johnson is.

  20. It’s not just age, it is the culture you have immersed yourself in in your younger years. I doubt 10% of people over 50 have heard of him either.

    We, who come here are very unusual. I have to say I am not too up to date with Justin Bieber’s or Drake’s recent releases.

  21. Is knowing who Fellini was actually all that different from not knowing who Fellini was? How any of those who could confidently answer “Italian film director’ could actually go further? Like Zac Goldsmith and Bollywood, how many of those who know the name would survive a follow up question?

    Here’s my complete no-cheating knowledge of him:
    1. Italian
    2. Film Director
    3. First name Frederico
    4. Dead
    5. La Dolce Vita
    6. Anita Ekberg in a fountain
    7. Er… that’s it

    and i’m really clever

  22. Hey @Mousey, aren’t you the bloke who, a while back, wrote about how you couldn’t be arsed posting stuff as no one responded anyway, or sumpfink like that? Think that one got over 300 responses, and now look at the cascade of drivel ,with occasional thoughtful observation, this post has elicited.

  24. What is an “essential musician/artist”?

    We’re corralled into judging music/art based on the idea that some merit “essential” status while others don’t. La Dolce Vita was “essential” for probably 48 hours at Cannes in 1960. Then a group of “people who know” started to tell us that our lives are severely under-nourished unless we’ve seen it and absolutely fallen in love with it. Those people are everywhere, telling us what’s “essential” and what’s not. It’s this idea that we have to make people feel culturally inferior for not liking something or knowing something to justify our opinion on the matter being beyond reproach.

    I watched la Dolce Vita about 20 years ago and it’s far less essential to me than my DVDs of Blade Runner, The Princess Bride and Silverado. Hey, I’ve found my “essential” level and I’m happy with it.

    What I do miss – and this is where I think culture, on the whole, is poorer – is the way that art and the mainstream had far more elusive boundaries back in the day, how an art-house film could transcend its core audience and for a brief while take over the world and be treated like a mainstream film. It seemed much more fluid and less commodified to find such films compared to today.

    The best way to acknowledge great artists and musicians from the past is for artists and musicians today to make more art and music inspired by those people. It’s eminently preferable compared to listening to critics (of all persuasions) drone on about artists from the past being “essential”. Zzzzzzzzzzzz

    • There is not a single film that is essential.

      How I hate these stupid 100 films/books/places/dishes etc that you must experience before you die lists. Better to Do a Bisto and find stuff that you like. It’s the same with travel. People flock in their thousands to the essential sights and perhaps miss something that would be far more interesting to them on the way there.

      • My knowledge and appreciation of film received a huge boost back in the 80s and 90s, thanks to ‘seasons’ of films and other programmes which seemed to be regular features of BBC2 and C4’s output. Food week on BBC2 introduced me to ‘Tampopo’ and ‘Babette’s Feast’.

    • But Mister Gravy Granule, you contradict yourself. It’s not some cabal of critics, self-appointed “people who know”, that make an author or a work “essential”, it’s the number of artists who make further works that are “inspired by” them that makes an author or a work “essential”.

  26. I’ve heard they have “essential” stuff in that there Waitrose. Usually vanilla pods and quinoa neither of which are even vaguely essential in my drum unlike vodka which most definitely is.

  27. Does anyone seriously care about this stuff?

    Fellini made some great movies, and if you love film (and specifically old, foreign films), you’ll adore his work. But you can live a life of total Fellini ignorance and really be none the poorer for it.

    I used to think that hierarchies of art were a nonsense, but these days I’m less sure. I absolutely love movies, but I can’t think of a director whose work has impacted me to a fraction of the extent that the writings of the likes of Twain and Vonnegut have. There’s that great George R.R. Martin quote: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one” – word to that.

    Personally, the likes of George Herriman, John Carmack, Alan Moore, and Hidetaka Miyazaki have all created work that means far, far more to me than Fellini, and I wouldn’t expect a single person on the street to have even so much as heard of them.

    And that’s before we get on the truly inspirational “real life” achievements that properly blow my mind: how many of us can name all of the Original Seven, or the first person to surf big Waimea Bay? Just about anyone’s life would be enriched by knowing about these people and their exploit, but hardly anyone actually does. It’s just the way of the world. Music and film doesn’t belong to some sort of special category where people are obliged to know about it.

    Plus, I bet if you asked everyone on this blog who is top of the UK singles chart this week you’d discover that for a bunch of music fans, we apparently don’t know jack about the records that people are actually listening to in the real world.

                  • It might have inspired him to become a devotee of Sant Mat, leading him to give up alcohol, drugs and extra-marital sex altogether. Either that, or do a wife swap with his best friend.

                    • Johnny Concheroo writes:
                      “Contemporary Sat Mat movements assert that the “Master” or Guru is provided by God as the channel through which God manifests in the world – God is believed to be unknowable and inconceivable, so he has created Gurus as a way in which to be available. Only humans are capable of interacting with a Master, as other forms of life are asserted to be incapable of doing so.[citation needed]

                      Teachers of contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to teach a spiritual path which is intentionally easier than others described in the ancient scriptures as it requires nothing more than sitting quietly and looking and listening to the Beano album.[citation needed]

                      Specifics of this process include connecting one’s soul or attention, called Surat (soul) with the inner Current of Light and Sound of God, the Shabd. Adherents believe this Sound Current cannot be heard by the uninitiated; it is made manifest at the time of initiation.[citation needed] An essential component of the practice involves sitting still with eyes closed, with one’s attention focused at the “third eye center”, located between and behind the two eyebrows, while (mentally) repeating “The Beatles are the greatest geniuses ever to walk the planet and their music is better than anyone else’s”. This is called simran (repetition) and its primary function is to still the mind while remembering (or being connected to) the Afterword Blog via the mantra he provided. However listening to the Sound Current by plugging the ears with the thumbs and listening at the right side or above is equally as important. Sound is considered to be the source of the Light, and to contain everything required.[citation needed]

                    • Thanks Tigs. Thought I’d check because you know how saying “my friend” to someone can often come across as passive aggressive?

                • Can I just say that From This Moment On is a shit title for an autobiography? Is it just blank pages which the reader has to fill in themselves?

    • You sometimes get reminded that there are whole worlds of interest out there which pass you by totally. I was walking through Trafalgar Square, and among the tourists and buskers was an Indian film crew shooting a scene. I live with someone whose family are from India and had to ring her about something else anyway, and mentioned this. She asked me to describe the three main actors, suggested their names, and when I got back to work, I googled them and recognised from their pictures that she was right. Apparently these are big stars in India and in Mumbai they would have been surrounded by security because of the crowds a street scene would attract. Here just two Indian tourists asked for their autographs. (For all the Bollywood buffs who I know frequent this site, they were Katrina Kaif, Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone.)

  29. Okay let’s go a little further back to films that might have influenced what we saw in our youth. Anyone seen (or even heard of) L’Atalante? This was a touchstone to The Fellini/Truffaut generation. I have never seen it and yet it is supposed to be a timeless classic. On the way to be forgotten. Like Al Jolson, W Somerset Maugham, and Marion Davies.

    So it Goes.

    • I have ( can I claim some sort prize?).
      It’s your actual barge based cinematic masterpiece. For those who like stuff like this, this is the stuff they like.
      If I’m right, it was pretty much forgotten within 10 years of its release, but was ‘re-appraised’ due to Truffeau’ s love for it & its stock rose again.
      Cinema has a habit of doing that kind of thing, & celebrated directors can be big influences on the awareness of movies & directors. I believe Spielberg played a pretty big part in keeping the flame burning for Kurosawa, thus helping him get the backing to make ‘Ran’ & ‘ Kagemusha’. Spielberg was smitten by Kurosawa from his 50s peak, of course.
      Given the global appeal of Star Wars, Kurosawa’s ‘Hidden Fortress’ rightly got a retrospective audience by those checking out influences, & that in turn meant a new generation watching Seven Samurai, Throne Of Blood, Rashomon et al.
      At the risk of a Pseuds Cornerism, finding any bit of art that has seemingly languished & is no longer heralded but still resonates is a rare thrill, & can prompt prosthetisers to help reinvigorate appreciations of whole bodies of work.

  30. I think the point here is this. Could you be friends with someone who’d never heard of Fellini?

    I don’t think I could. I would hate them, secretly.

  31. So who is the world’s most famous living director?

    Anyone dare to make a suggestion?

    I nominate Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg.

    Clint Eastwood too, but I suspect most people know him because of his acting.

    But what would Joe Public come up with?

  32. Fred Fleaney. Played wing half for Preston North End. Occasionally remembered to this day by older fans as “the bandy-legged Beethoven”. Career tragically cut short by the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese War.

  34. So here’s how the team is lining up for all the important away leg of the Zenith Data Systems Trophy tonight at Preston Southfork.

    In goal: Deepika Padukone
    Back Four: Truffaut; D.H Lawrence; Matty Lawrence; Somerset Maugham
    Midfield: Vonnegut; Miyazaki, Leedsboy; Filmstudies
    In the hole: Fellaini
    Up top: Fellini

  35. A year or so ago I worked with a young woman called Sam – named by her dad after the TRex song Telegram Sam! I thought this was great.

    However, her knowledge of Bolan was sketchy at best. Her lifelong music love (inspired by her dad) was Status Quo. Because I am a huge, fat, wobbling arsehole I went through a list of Quo songs that I could call to mind. She then gave me the “walking encyclopaedia” epithet – before telling me that she doesn’t know any of the songs really – she just likes them.

    My point being that I might really like my car – and I do. But if I meet a car enthusiast who drones on about the engine or something, I class them as a saddo and me as a “normal” person.

    • I don’t agree with that. Whenever I meet someone such as your hypothetical car enthusiast, I admire their, er, enthusiasm and breadth of knowledge. Even if it’s something I have zero interest in, I love to see people displaying their expertise.

      Even on a specialist forum like this, there seems to be a constant underlying backlash against those who actually know stuff. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

      • I agree! Nothing wrong with knowing your stuff – I was talking about the people that drone on and on. Even listing about 8 Status Quo singles was enough for Sam to consign me to the rain-man-nutter club. I thought (wrongly) that she might be an obsessive. She’s not – she just likes them and doesn’t feel the need to pass an exam.

        Now, given that she doesn’t really pay much attention to Quo – should she still call herself a fan? I say yes.

  36. Mind you, it’s quite *nice* to know about, you know, culture and stuff. I saw Vanilla Sky last night and it’s jam-pakced with references to Truffaut, To Kill A Mockingbird, Bob Dylan, Twilight Zone, The Beatles etc.. I dare say that my dilettante’s knowledge of these things increased my enjoyment of the film. (Which I loved, by the way.)

  40. A bit of cross-thread hopping now. All those very serious looking jazz fans who we saw in the audience for BBC 2’s Jazz 625 on Colin’s Tubby Hayes thread were doubtless also flocking to the new art-house cinemas to see European art films. And in the early 60s there were some amazing films being made. I had to Google to check the dates, but they were coming thick and fast.

    Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957). 8½ (1963). Godard’s A bout de souffle (1960). Truffaut’s Les quatre cent coups (1960). Antonioni’s L’Avventura (1960)

    Bergman is perhaps best remembered today. And that’s largely thanks to Woody Allen. The chess game with Death has been parodied innumerable times. Even by The Muppets!

      • Not only did those jazz loving cappuccino kids have an extraordinary run of European cinema masterpieces at the turn of the decade. If they could pull themselves away from listening to Miles Davis and Tubby Hayes on the gramophone, in 1960 they could also go to see Beyond the Fringe at the theatre.

        BBC2 did not start up until 1964, and with only two channels to choose from, I expect there were slim pickings on the telly. If they had one.

  41. I feel a bit sorry for ver kidz when you consider that they are probably going to get information on Fellini – or The Beatles, or Dylan, or Tamla – from the likes of Nicky Campbell.
    A lot of the problem is with the messenger.

    • I don’t think the messenger or the information is that important to enjoy the music and films of the above people.

      As it happened, when I was one of ver kidz, I heard Zappa being interviewed by Nicky Campbell on his Radio 1 show in the early 90s. The interview wasn’t that bad as I remember, but what made more impact was hearing stuff like Valley Girl and Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow for the first time.

      • I’ve got that Zappa/Nicky Campbell interview on cassette somewhere. It was when Nicky was with Capital Radio. I remember NC was trying to be flip about Zappa’s ongoing lawsuits with the Albert Hall, his manager and assorted record companies, saying that it might be a sign that an artist’s ego had run riot.

        Zappa quickly slapped Campbell down, insisting that “These are not matters of ego. These are matters of the law!”

        I spoke to NC about it (via email) some years later and he didn’t seem put out by the dressing-down Frank gave him, conceding that Zappa was “a genius”.

  42. I know FZ was mentioned at the start of this thread but I have noticed something. Similarly to Godin’s Law, we need an Afterword-specific one: All threads which reach a reasonable length must end up with one or more references to Frank Zappa.

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