The Composer – 1979 - 80

In 1979, when the costs of renting out studio time were simply becoming too high, Zappa opted to build his own - the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen (UMRK). He was finally independent, with his own studio and record company and a distribution deal with Phonogram.

1980 saw the release of his first album on his own record, Sheik Yerbouti (a pun on the hit by K. C. and the Sunshine Band), which was a rock opera recounting the story of an American rock and roller in a country where rock is seen as the root of all evil. The album reached No. 21 on Billboard, but not without some controversy over his explicit lyrics. All Zappa had to say was: “I’m a journalist of sorts. I have a right to say what I want to say about any topic. If you don’t have a sense of humor, then tough titties.” [Miles p.274] As many later went on to note Zappa was perhaps an integral part of the pop art movement, just like Warhol. After all, it was characteristic of the pop art movement not to romanticize or beautify their images, just like Zappa with his truthful, unapologetic interpretations of the world around him, which most could not handle.

The album also features his first use of “Xenochrony” on Rubber Shirt. “He would select a number of different tapes – all at the same tempo – and play them simultaneously to create a track in which the relationship of the instruments to one another is totally random.” [p. 271]