The Mothers of Invention News

Frank Zappa's music is not for the faint of heart or the humor impaired. The singer/songwriter/composer is probably best known by the masses for minor novelty hits such as the early 1980s tune Valley Girl, featuring his then-teenage daughter Moon Unit, Don't Eat the Yellow Snow or the disco sendup Dancin' Fool, which occasionally get played on ...

Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, also known as Flo & Eddie, were original members of The Turtles After a messy legal affair that marked the end for the band, they joined Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.

Steven Roark Looking out from the Pacifica shopping stands of Blue Moon Music, Manor Smoke Shop, Super Video, Cigar Plus and Donut Time - is newly released CD, "The Mannequin's Night Out" by the band, Billy the Shape.

You may not be familiar with Little Feat , but you sure as hell should. They've been around for 40 years, during which time they've worked and shared the stage with some of music's true legends, artists running the gamut from Jimmy Buffet to Bela Fleck , Dave Matthews to Vince Gill , Brooks and Dunn and Bob Seger .

Tickets cost $25. Call 954-727-0950, or visit jointherevolution.net . Let me paint you a picture.

RAY COLLINS looks more like a grandfather, but he's actually a Mother. The white-haired Collins, 71, was the singer who invited a young Frank Zappa to join the Soul Giants, the band that became the Mothers of Invention in the mid-1960s. Four decades later, Collins is a familiar sight in the Claremont Village, where he spends his days strolling the ...

Zappa Plays Zappa - an elaborate tribute the music of the late composer, guitarist, and Mothers of Invention bandeader Frank Zappa - makes a stop in Charleston in this summer.

's "Mothermania" album is now available for the first time as a digital download directly from Zappa.com , according to a press release.

The B-side is a Nat King Cole hit , "Orange Colored Sky," given a comic, Mothers-style "American Drinks And Goes Home" arrangement, again by Frank.

5 Down: His last name is a relative of a lantern. If you got John Lampkin, congratulations, crossword puzzle fan! The Wesley Hills resident constructed the Mothers of Invention-themed crossword in tomorrow's Life&Style section.

5 Down: His last name is a relative of a lantern. If you got John Lampkin, congratulations, crossword puzzle fan! The Wesley Hills resident constructed the Mothers of Invention-themed crossword in Sunday's Life&Style section.

When I first saw Chicago , live, they were Chicago Transit Authority. Their first record , the eponymous The Chicago Transit Authority, was an audacious debut: a sprawling double album, virtually unheard of for a rookie band that included jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental, feedback-laden guitar ...

Tell Me More , April 30, 2009 - I'm old. So my earliest experiences buying music involve going to record stores in the Washington, D.C., area to pick up LPs.

The Wire is still spreading its brutal Baltimore magic overseas, even if it is old news in the U.S. After five TV seasons, the last ending more than a year ago, the cult crime show may have run out of shocks at home.

When Tom Cole stepped into Discount Records and Books asking about jazz, the clerk recommended his five absolute favorites.

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XTC's psychedelic pside project gets an expanded reissue.

In the history of rock oddities, the spectacle of an established group taking on a pseudonym to record material in tribute to the music that initially inspired 'em has become an established ploy. The Mothers of Invention did it for doo-wop back in 1968 with Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, while in 1984, British art-poppers XTC donned the...

A classic Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention clip from an English broadcast in 1968.

Richard Metzger is Boing Boing's current guest blogger . Utterly astonishing clip of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at the BBC studios in 1968 performing a nine-minute workout of "King Kong." I realize that the music of Frank Zappa tends to be what is called "an acquired taste" but in my never so humble opinion, this is one pretty darn ...

There was a story Frank Zappa liked to tell about the time in the late '60s when he and the Mothers of Invention were booked, along with Woody Herman 's big band, to play a dinner for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.Seeing as these were the same folks who gave out the Grammy Awards each year, it should have been a real prestige ...