Phi-Beta-Zappa

"Phi-Beta-Zappa"

In the late sixties when the college campus were a cauldron of "turn-on and tune-in" rebels and the "privileged brats" were protesting the establishment, there were two sub-cultures mixed in the foray. While Timothy Leary expounded the virtues of L.S.D. with his meditation seminars and illumination trips, there was a musical icon who was putting the new revelations to work.

Our minds are indelibly etched with the scenes from Kent College and the tragic deaths of those bold anarchists who stood transfixed before the onslaught of the social, uniformed, "Pigs." We never really knew if they were transfixed because of the noble efforts of anti-war, or anti-establishment, or just simply were transfixed by the grass waving before them, or the sun raining beams in their eyes, but the scene was reminiscent of campuses all over the U.S.; lacking the impact or tragedies of course.

But, here we are forty years later and it amazes me at how those same college rebels who cried for reform now sit in air-conditioned high-rises, wearing Brooks Brother's suits and Gucci shoes. It's their turn to grapple for the control and power of their position in the order of their own established careers. They squeeze every candidate interviewed for the same political posturing and blue-blood flaunting of "name brand" graduation certificates. While they walk the marbled hallways and rearrange the pictures on their genuine mahogany desks, it's a known fact that they can't figure out how to open the bubble packs around their Tchaikovsky's music C.D.'s.

In that same part of California there was a lesser known sub-culture of the illuminated. The brotherhood of Zappa freaks. These were blue collar kids who related to the commonality of Frank Zappa's message. Frank Zappa was a musical genius in both arrangement and production. His writing had social value and his tunes combined acid-rock, blues, folk and rock-and roll all into one sound. But the most powerful part of his music was his message.