The late Frank Zappa was no stranger to battling censorship during his decades-long career. Now, it appears the upcoming The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa hologram tour is running into some censorship issues as well. But don’t worry—hologram Frank has a few choice words to say about it.
The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa has released a peek at the hologram by way of a response to Ticketmaster’s Content Governance team flagging the upcoming tour’s artwork as “questionable content” and refusing to post it online—seemingly due to a nearly imperceptible image of a penguin’s butt in the bottom-left corner. As the Frank Zappa hologram notes in the new clip, echoing a 1984 quote from real-life Frank, “I’m a person who likes to do what he wants to do…whether people like it or not. And what I do is designed for people who like it, not for people who don’t.” You can watch the clip below:
Frank Zappa Hologram Responds To Censorship
[Video: Frank Zappa]
Beyond the images in question, the artwork for the tour, which pays homage to Frank Zappa & The Mothers’ 1974 song “Penguin In Bondage”, gives clues about the kinds of “fantastical holograms” fans will experience on the Zappa Trust-sanctioned tour. According to Ahmet Zappa, “If you’re someone that can’t enjoy the absurdity and humor of bringing Frank’s music and lyrics to life via holograms–such as penguins in bondage, talking hot dogs and super natural dental floss–this show might not be your cup of tea.”
Frank Zappa famously appeared before Congress on September 19th, 1985 to speak in opposition to Tipper Gore‘s Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), the committee formed to increase parental control over kids’ access to music deemed to have “violent, drug-related or sexual themes” by labeling them with “Parental Advisory” warnings. At the hearing, Zappa argued, “the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal’s design.” He later famously volunteered his own “Warning/Guarantee” label to be used on his Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers of Prevention album cover.
The pithy new clip from The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa is preceded by an updated version of Zappa’s “Warning/Guarantee” which references the latest conflict between Zappa’s music and the censorship powers that be. As Ahmet Zappa notes, “In response to Ticketmaster, I re-submit the poster artwork with our newly updated Warning Guarantee hiding the buttocks of the cartoon penguin. I mean, seriously Ticketmaster?”
The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa tour will kick off on Friday, April 19th with nine U.S. shows followed by seven European performances in May. Produced by Eyellusion, The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa hologram tour band is comprised of former Zappa bandmates including guitarists Ray White and Mike Keneally, bassist Scott Thunes, multi-instrumentalist Robert Martin, percussionist Ed Mann, and drummer and Zappa archivist Joe “Vaultmeister” Travers.
See below for a list of tour dates. For ticketing and additional information, head here.