Over-Nite Sensation (CD - 1973)

Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Frank Zappa; Sal Marquez (vocals, trumpet, background vocals); Ricky Lancelotti, Kin Vassy (vocals); Tom Fowler (bass instrument); George Duke (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer); Ian Underwood (guitar, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, keyboards, wind); Jean-Luc Ponty (violin, baritone violin, keyboards); Bruce Fowler (trombone); Ruth Underwood (keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, percussion); Ralph Humphrey (drums).

Audio Remixer: Kerry McNabb.

Recording information: Boltic Sound; Paramount; Whitney.

Illustrators: Cal Schenkel; David McMacken.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Marty Perellis; Steve Alsberg.

Arranger: Frank Zappa.

Combining rock and intricate, experimental jazz with biting social commentary and a healthy dose of juvenile humor, Zappa's music was never less than provocative and often quite challenging. He manages to be musically ambitious, ironic, scatological and just plain weird, often within the same song. If you're looking to dive into his voluminous oeuvre, 1973'S OVER-NITE SENSATION is a good place to start. Following a string of experimental, nearly instrumental releases, the record is about as accessible as Zappa gets, and features some of his catchiest, wittiest songs.

Even with musicians such as George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty and several horn players, the album is more rock than jazz. Awash with references to tweezers, dental floss, dandruff, ponchos, poodles and dwarves, OVER-NITE SENSATION is laugh-out-loud funny. The opener, "Camarillo Brillo," which recounts a nutty sexual encounter, is full of intricate wordplay, and the more explicit "Dinah Moe Hum" surely delighted legions of brainy high school boys when it was released. The wonderfully demented "Dirty Love" belongs in the pantheon of great Zappa songs, as does "I Am the Slime," a hilariously astute, prescient take on couch-potato culture, decades before the term was coined. minimize