This Day in Music
Michael Fitzgibbon
My all-time favourite American band, my all-time second-favourite American band, and Elvis is in Saginaw, on this day in music.
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
1982: My all-time favourite American band Frank Zappa (yes, I’m calling him a band) releases his 35th official album, “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch,” credited as an FZ solo album, rather than to or with The Mothers of Invention.
For all the readers who have been waiting patiently throughout the many Zappa chapters in my posts, this is the album that, like, totally includes the hit single and cultural phenomenon, “Valley Girl.” Written with his then 14-year old daughter, Moon Unit Zappa, the song became the highest-charting single of Frank's career, going to No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Inspired by Moon's routine of imitating the way young girls talked in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County circa 1982, the legend has it that FZ, who would record at all hours of the night in his home studio known as the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen or UMRK for short (now owned by Lady Gaga), woke Moon from a deep sleep, brought her down to the vocal booth, and asked her to do her Valley Girl routine. The rest is history!
Both light-hearted and scathing at the same time, the funny song had fans and casual listeners alike mimicking the strange inflection and slang vocabulary of Valley Girls. The fad became so ubiquitous that of course Hollywood made a motion picture about those rascally teens from San Fernando, starring Nicolas Cage. Though well-rated by critics, Valley Girl is not a particularly good movie.
The soundtrack to Valley Girl was popular with some good tracks, but not a great album, and did not include Frank and Moon’s titular song as they had the good sense not to license it, and even sued the production for trademark infringement.
Back to “Valley Girl” the song, typical for Zappa, looking past the lyrics, there is an astonishing musical performance, particularly from bassist Scott Thunes and drummer Chad Wackerman. Next time you listen to the song, focus on those parts and you're likely to be quite impressed.
Though “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch” is not top-tier FZ output, it’s more than just the hit single, and includes the excellent tracks, “No Not Now” and “Drowning Witch,” the latter crediting Steve Vai with “impossible guitar parts.”
The cover art is a classic “droodle” from American artist Roger Price, who gave the work two names, Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch and Mother Pyramid Feeding Her Baby.
Weird Al Yankovic
1983: Alfred “Weird Al” Yankovic, American parodist, accordionist, and actor, releases his first album, simply titled, “Weird Al Yankovic.” With six fully-original comedy songs, and six parodies of songs from popular music, it delivers an exceptional comedic performance, though it's not the kind of album one can listen to casually and repeatedly.
Yankovic's style is to aliterate the title of a popular song, follow it with lyrics along the same theme, and sing his words to the original song’s melody. As such, songwriting credits are given to both Weird Al and the original composer of the parodied song.
The most popular parodies on this record are “Another One Rides the Bus” (Queen's “Another One Bites the Dust”), “I Love Rocky Road” (Joan Jett and The Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock and Roll”), and “My Bologna” (The Knack's “My Sharona”).
Yankovic would go on to make 14 such LP's, including the soundtrack to the motion picture UHF, and sell over 12 million albums. He continues to entertain to this very day, currently on his 2026 Tour. His show includes his parodies, original comedies, and finely-tuned straight covers of some of rock’s most popular songs, along with a multimedia stage show.
It Always Happens in Toronto
1969: Jimi Hendrix is arrested in Toronto by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for possession of narcotics. (Everyone gets arrested in Toronto.) Jimi was acquitted of the crime in December of that year. (And they almost always get acquitted.)
Where it All Begins
1994: “Where it All Begins,” the 14th official album by my all-time second-favourite American band, The Allman Brothers Band, and their tenth album recorded entirely in the studio, is released. Following the solid 1990 album, “Seven Turns,” and another solid outing with “Shades of Two Worlds” in 1991, “Where it All Begins,” the best of the three, signalled that the ABB's comeback was real and they were here to stay.
The addition of Warren Haynes on guitar, slide, and songwriting, and Allen Woody on bass, had rejuvenated the band. Adding Marc Quiñones on percussion beginning with “Shades of Two Worlds” further boosted the band’s sound and presence. Sadly, Woody would die of an accidental heroin overdose in 2000, the third ABB bassman to die far too young.
The band persevered and would go on to be a premier touring act for the next 20 years, until Gregg Allman retired the group in 2014, releasing one more studio album, three more contemporary live albums, and numerous full-concert albums along the way.
Well-reviewed by critics, “Where It All Begins” would peak at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 and be certified Gold. Among the band's best studio output, feature tracks include the ABB classics and concert staples, “Back Where It All Begins,” “All Night Train,” “Soulshine,” “No One to Run With,” and “Sailin' 'Cross the Devil's Sea.”
Operation: Mindcrime
1988: American heavy metal/prog-metal outfit Queensrÿche release their third studio album, “Operation: Mindcrime.”
Similar in concept format to The Who's “Tommy,” the LP is a rock opera. The story follows Nikki, who, disillusioned with the societal corruption of his time and addicted to drugs, joins a revolutionary group of political assassins.
It was a breakthrough record for Queensrÿche, going to No. 50 on the Billboard 200, achieving Platinum certification, and selling over one million copies. It also spawned two charting singles, the first two of the band's career, “Eyes of a Stranger” and “I Don't Believe in Love,” reaching numbers 35 and 41 respectively on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart.
The band performed the opera in its entirety on their 1990 tour while promoting their next album, “Empire,” and featured guest heavy metal singer Pamela Moore in the role of Sister Mary.
In 2006, the band released a sequel to the story, “Operation: Mindcrime II,” a rare successful occurrence of doubling-down on a prior idea. Meat Loaf also did it with “Bat Out of Hell II,” but then failed miserably with “Bat Out of Hell III,” going to the well once too often.
The Daily Elvis
1977: Elvis is in Saginaw, MI, to perform a concert. Opening with “That’s All Right,” he set the tone for a night of classics as it was a song he almost never played in his later years. Unfortunately, sound system defects ended the show early.
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Okay, with today's blog finished, I'm off to find a pair of jeans to fit my butt, and then get my toenails cut at the galleria. (IYKYK!)
