FZ 1988. Courtesy of Eric Peterson
1940-1993

The purpose of this site is to provide a little help to those that are looking for written material about Frank Zappa.

afka (at) afka.net

Zappa Books

New Entries.

  • front15 March. The rarest known Real Frank Zappa Book edition: Czech limited and numbered only 100 copies print from 1995.
  • 15 March. Revised Ciao 2001 page. Added all missing scans of this wonderful Italian magazine, which has featured Zappa on the cover 10 times!
  • Cover Guitarra14 March. Brazilian Cover Guitarra (January 1999) with nice 7-page Zappa overview.
  • 14 March. Guitar (UK) - "the magazine for all guitarists". Whole page updated, scans added. Good interview by John Dalton. 
  • 14 March. BLAST from December 1976 with interview titled The Secret Life Of Zappa.
  • Tuttifrutti11 March. Tuttifrutti magazine from Italy with 16-page Zappa special commemorating one year of his departure.
  • 11 March. FUZZ with translation to Swedish of interview by Alan Di Perna, first published in 2003.
  • 9 March. Syracuse University Union Concert Board presents: Frank Zappa, April 24 1980, Manley Field House
  • 4 March. Czech monthly Muzikus printed in January-March 1996 a 3-part article on Zappa.
    Whole page has been revised and updated.
  • 4 March. New country in magazines list – Israel! Cinema World from August 1975 with Zappa on back cover only.
  • New Paper2 March. Rhode Island's New Paper from 1988 with 2-page interview "Citizen Zappa".
  • 1 March. Los Angeles Times, December 1994. "'Civilization' à la Zappa" by Rip Rense.
  • 1 March. Page scans added to following magazines:
    - Mix 83 June
    - RockBill 84 November
    - Mix 85 September
    - RockBill 88 May
  • Classic Rock27 February. Classic Rock's special issue "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time" has Dweezil Zappa commentary on Frank Zappa. Two editions posted:
    -- original UK edition September 2009
    -- Russian edition December 2009
  • The History Of Rock27 February. The History Of Rock is a 2400-pages encyclopedia issued 1983-85 as a weekly magazine in UK. Two parts containing Zappa stuff:
    -- #26 1-page article & back cover poster
    -- #75 "The Anarchy In The USA" issue with articles on Zappa & Captain Beefheart.
  • 26 February. Argentinian Pelo (March 1977) including article on Zappa producing Grand Funk Railroad.
  • MIX25 February. Short-living music & equipment monthly MIX from Brazil. Zappa cover and 2-page article "Apenas um luoco" (Just crazy).
  • Elektrický Don Quijote24 February. Electric Don Quixote again. This time Czech edition Elektrický Don Quijote from 2002.
  • 22 February. Argentinian Pelo (Hair) with 2-page interview "Hydrogen and stupidity".
  • Sound On Sound21 February. British recording magazine Sound On Sound with 3-page interview on Synclavier, resolvers, evolvers etc. February 1987.
  • 20 February. French monthly Actuel, October 1971, with interview "Zappa speaks".
  • Russian Electric Don Quixote19 February. Electric Don Quixote is a well-known and respected Zappa biography. To the 1st edition (hardcover and paperback) we added now two more:
    2nd edition 2003 with slightly changed title
    Russian solid hardcover edition 2009
  • Public News18 February. Houston alternative weekly newspaper Public News (September 1994) with great cover and short article on ACREQ ensemble tribute concert program The Dangerous Kitchen.
  • Music & Arts18 February. Italian monthly Music & Arts, December 1993 with 4-page article.
  • 17 February. Zappostrophe is the most enduring of all Zappa fanzines. Issued by Czech Frank Zappa Fan Club from 1986 until today. The current issue is #117!
  • 16 February. Argentinian Expreso Imaginario with 8 Zappa song lyrics translated to Spanish. August 1978.
  • Tuttifrutti15 February. Tuttifrutti magazine by Massimo Bazzoli. The 1988 June issue with Frank and Dweezil Zappa interviews.
  • Freak Out!!11 February. Italian edition of the Billy James book Necessity Is ...
  • 10 February. Mexican Pop from December 1972 with 2-page article and Mark Volman / Howard Kaylan interview.
  • 9 February. Swedish children and youth weekly Starlet, May 1980, with Zappa photo on last page.
  • Dominical9 February. Sunday magazine Dominical from Barcelona, October 1995. An 8-page nicely designed article.
  • 8 February. Argentinian Pelo, March 1976. 4-page article "Story of a mad genius".
  • 7 February. Japanese edition of Lunar Notes. The original is  a very fine book by Bill Harkleroad. Recommended. (BTW. This Japanese version is even on eBay right now.)
  • Frank Zappa. L'autobiografia6 February. 3rd edition of The Real Frank Zappa Book in Italian 2003 has a nice front cover displaying Frank Zappa and Claudia Cardinale.
  • 5 February. Argentinian Expreso Imaginario with 3-page article "The present day composer refuses to die". March 1982.
  • 5 February. In June 1974 Zappa wearing Veronica t-shirt was featured on the back cover of Dutch magazine Veronica.
  • Buzz5 February. Free entertainment guide Buzz with 7-page interview from February 1988.
  • 4 February. The penultimate issue of French weekly Superhebdo in April 1972 had a 2-page centerfold poster.
  • Hit Parader3 February. Mexican edition of the Hit Parader. Issue #4 from 1968. Great item!!!
  • 1 February. Roll was a short-living monthly magazine in Argentina. The November 1977 issue had 3-page article about Zappa.
  • 31 January. Zappa in children magazine! Kamratposten is Sweden's largest and oldest children magazine. March 1980 issue had Zappa on the back cover and nice article with good pictures.
  • Project Documentation30 January. Den Simms' classic Project Documentation was last year finally made available for download. I have no good  excuse why it's posted here only today.
  • 30 January. Talking Guitars is a book of interviews with 60 top guitar players. Contains the penultimate interview Zappa gave (March 1993).
  • 30 January. Creators On Creating is a fantastic collection of essays. Included is "All About Music" by Frank Zappa.  You have it already, this is chapter 8 of The Real Frank Zappa Book.
  • Vi Unge30 January. Danish youth magazine Vi Unge (June 1980).
  • 30 January. Canadian Pop Rock from June 1979 with 1-page article and 1/2-page Sheik Yerbouti ad.
  • Guitarristas Del Mundo29 January. Argentinian guitar magazine Guitarristas Del Mundo, 1987, with Zappa cover, interview and article.
  • 28 January. German edition of Penthouse from September 1988 with exclusive interview "Frank Zappa the Finance Shark of Rock 'n' Roll"
  • 27 January. Swedish weekly SE with a picture of Frank Zappa with Claudia Cardinale. December 1967.
  • 26 January. Wolfgang Ludwig's Untersuchungen zum musikalischen Schaffen von Frank Zappa (Studies on the musical works of FZ) is probably the most voluminous and detailed musicological analysis of Zappa's music. 300 pages, including over 100 pages of transcriptions, tables, examples etc. In German.
  • poeira Zine25 January. Brazilian poeira Zine (Dust Magazine) had in the end of 2003 a 6-page Zappa special.
  • 24 January. Two Mexico Canta issues from December 1969 and November 1971. Both have Zappa on back cover.
  • El Tubo23 January. El Tubo is a music monthly from Basque country, Bilbao, Spain. The January 1994 issue is featuring FZ on the cover holding the flag of the local soccer team Athletic Bilbao.
  • Apu22 January. Finnish Apu from September 1974 with a funny article how Zappa burned his fingers in shish kebab restaurant, how Frank and Gail performed a cappella Approximate in a wedding in Helsinki etc. etc. Pictures included!
  • Antelope Valley Press21 January. The Antelope Valley Press from August 1989 with exclusive interview "Zappa talks frankly about art, politics". The article has a picture of The Black-Outs and band members list.
  • OOR20 January. Dutch OOR, November 1971 as Zappa special issue with articles about 200 Motels and USA tour, interviews with Frank Zappa, Ian Underwood (!), Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan.
  • 18 January. German Fachblatt Music Magazin issues updated with zappateers info.
  • 18 January. One issue of German weekly Bravo added (June 1980) and all other Bravo issues updated with zappateers info.
  • 17 January. An exclusive interview in French Libération, August 1991. Full text in French and translation feature available.
  • Gold Coast Free Press16 January. Gold Coast Free Press is a rare weekly from Los Angeles. The September 1979 issue has a 3-page cover story "Warning! The Real Zappa" with photos.
  • MM15 January. Danish MM from March 1978 with Falkonet Theatre concert review.
  • 14 January. French Rock & Folk, November 1967. Contains the first half of an early and important interview by Philippe Rault. The translation feature is added to the page with full text in French. Read that FZ finally discovered a real psychedelic music in London (Pink Floyd and Tomorrow); if we put the same amount of money to promote Xenakis as we do for Monkees, teenagers will buy Xenakis discs etc. etc.
  • BAM13 January. BAM is Bay Area Music Magazine from California. The issue from January 1978 contained a long interview Rebel Without Applause. "In my mind there is no difference between making somebody laugh and making somebody think."
  • Slovak12 January. Nice find from an antique bookshop in Bratislava - Plný Šuplík Zappu is a book in Slovak language printed in 1990.
  • 4 January. Swiss Good News from September 1974 with 4-page article by Urban Gwerder.
  • 3 January. Germany tour program 1976.
  • 2 January. British Disc and Music Echo from August 1970 with a good interview (listed in Urban Gwerder bibliography).
  • TV Prevue1 January. The Chicago Sun-Times' weekly television guide TV Prevue, June 1974. Funny cover, but no other Zappa content inside.