well, I must admit that for most of the music this board listens to, I am completely ignorant.

The whole WORLD?

I have no idea.

to me, Zappa is the definition of psychedelic.

it is facetious, sarcastic, hilarious, extremely political, radical, confrontational, and above all what I call "baked-out" that is to the say, reminiscent of a psychedelic experience, particularly early Zappa, though I suppose this baked-outness permeates his entire career.

You forgot "boring if you're not on drugs" in that description.

...

I'm kidding. Zappa's pretty cool.

you know, a had to give a description like that about the Dead to a History of RocknRoll teacher one times..

What's really amazing to me about this topic so far is the number of artists people have listed that my dad is really into or really was into in his day! Seriously, Tom Waits, the Dead, Miles Davis, Cotrane... I have a hard time thinking these people aren't pretty well heard having grown up with a pretty damn conservative guy being into them in my household. Of course I know that doesn't account for the majority of the planet, but still I think many people approaching 60, at least in America, have listened pretty heavily to all of that stuff.

Of course my dad gave me his copy of Meditations on cd just to get rid of it because he was into Giant Steps, and I couldn't get him into post-Swordfish Trombones Tom Waits despite growing up with Nighthawks at the Diner constantly playing in the background. But some people just go for melodic non-dissonant stuff. Most people in fact.

I think Marley is fair if you want to talk about stuff beyond his greatest hits, but then his greatest hits are pretty damn familiar with millions and millions of people. Zappa is probably better known for "Valley Girl" and showing up at the PMRC hearings than anything else, I suppose.

Honestly, I have never met anyone who had heard of the Velvet Underground who didn't listen to them. Maybe it's just my generation, but generally if people didn't listen to them, they'd never heard of them either. Or Lou Reed, but if you'd say the words "Walk on the Wild Side" they'd know since that got played on classic rock stations.

The artists who come to my mind who actually fit this subject are John Cage and Yoko Ono.

Cage, everybody knows did some song with no music, and they think he's some sort of pretentious novelty act. They have no idea he predicted that all music would go electric long before it did, or invented chance determinism. For that matter, they don't understand that 4'33" while not necessarily Cage's most interesting piece, is actually a real musical score that isn't intended to be completely silent because of the actions of the player and the audience.

Yoko they go on about how she ruined John Lennon (quite the opposite in my book) and how horrible they think her music is. Then if you ask them to name any of it, or even describe it, they're stumped. They go on about the fact that she is moany on a song or two and then they go out and dance to the fucking Cure!

Not attempting to dis you, but saying "Casey Jones" is your favorite Dead song is the very definition of "not really much of a fan" as it's their one classic rock fodder tune.

The other extreme is that if you say "St. Stephen" is your favorite Dead song then you are likely an absolute hippie who views them as a religion and think patchouli is the answer to never having to use soap again.

I still like some of their music despite their moronic following. Honestly, I think looking out there to all those dancing bear fools worshiping him must be a big part of why Garcia was so self destructive.

"Feel Like a Stranger" is a really good example of what they could sound like at their darkest and heaviest. "Cold Rain and Snow", "Jackstraw", "Comes a Time", "China Doll", they definitely had their moments.

Ramones. Everyone at my school seems to know the name, quite a few people also wear Ramones shirts, yet the most you'll get out of them (even the shirt wearers) is "... yeah... I like the "Hey Ho Let's Go" song..."

Not really. the analogy would be more apt if it was a person saying they are a rockets fan but they only watched when they won the championship back in the day.

I used to be that way with Zappa. But now I luff him.

i cannot get into zappa. I have had roommates and friends who love his music dearly, but I do not like it.

from the Onion:

Frank Zappa Fan Thinks You Just Haven't Heard The Right Album
April 7, 2004 | Issue 40•14

NEDERLAND, CO—In spite of your insistence that you are not into Frank Zappa, avid fan Roger Von Lee believes that you would change your mind if you heard the right album. "You're prejudiced, because the only Zappa you know is 'Valley Girl' and 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow,'" Von Lee told you Tuesday. "Seriously, you need to check out Hot Rats or Absolutely Free. Zappa and the Mothers were at their peak, and Zappa's jazz-rock fusion experiments predate Bitches Brew. That'll totally convince you that Zappa's the shit." Von Lee added that if those two don't get under your skin, he can recommend another 15 to 20 albums that will for sure.