Frank Zappa and stuff

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Before I get to writing (next post will include some writing stuff) I thought I should mention my re-igniting my liking for the music of Frank Zappa.

Several years ago I had a number of vinyl albums (several thousand) featuring a great deal of sixties/seventies psychedelic/progressive/etc rock. Then a sequence of things happened.

Firstly we were burgled and the thieves stole my hi-fi; or rather they stole most of it. I would have actually preferred it if they'd taken the lot. But they didn't. In the process of making off with all the separates that made up my music system them dropped my turntable - my beautiful Linn turntable - smashing it into pieces on my floor.

Not long after this I had surgery on my left ear which left me with permanent (if low level and a little intermittent) tinnitus and a reduced hearing range. So I didn't buy a new separates system even though my love of music was undiminished. After all why spend the thousands of pounds to rebuy all the kit I had if I couldn't hear it well enough to make it worth while. Instead I bought a portable CD player and spent the insurance money on upgrading the security of our house (alarm, better doors/locks etc)

I had not bought a turntable by the time we moved house a few years later and when faced with the prospect of carting all the records up to our new home filled me with dread. (I did still have to sort all my books out for moving.)

With this in mind I did the unthinkable - I sold the lot. It almost brings me to tears thinking about it now.

Now I had a lot of Frank Zappa albums on vinyl back then but none whatsoever on CD so I was bereft of Zappa music. I put it a fraction right soon after by being a couple of Zappa compilations but it wasn't the same.

Well in recent months I have finally started to fill in the gaps. And today two more CDs turned up in the post - Zoo Allures (playing as I type) and Shut Up n Play Your Guitar (which I'm sure will feature later in the evening).

I am going to gradually work through them again so I can have a complete set once more. My life needs Frank Zappa's music; for those moments when I need a change from Tom Waits. And you never know it might help inspire more writing in future times.

Comments

Unknown said…
Sorry to hear your also suffer from tinnitus. Bummer aint it? Developed in me aged 21 and had it permanently every since. Also had hifi separates knocked in house burglary about what 20 yrs ago! Like you I sold records. I've never quite got my stock CDs to match what I used to have as LPs...
19 January 2016 at 23:31
Edmund Lester said…
I feel your pain - for all the above. The biggest regret I have about selling is the loss of part of my past.

I remember bus journeys home with a plastic bag with records. You could always tell other music fans from the distinctive bags and I had many a good conversation because I shareda record buying obsession with a passing stranger. Some became friends

Without the black vinyl disks I am somehow more remote from that memory
20 January 2016 at 00:03
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