Frank Zappa: Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
By Peter Reilly
FRANK ZAPPA: Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch. Frank Zappa, Moon Zappa (vocals); vocal and instrumental accompaniment. Valley Girl; Drowning Witch; Envelopes; No Not Now; and two others. BARKING PUMPKIN FW 38066 $8.98.
Performance: Moon's show
Recording: Good
Five of the songs on this album are standard Frank Zappa tirades about almost anything and everything delivered with his usual petulance. The sixth, however, Valley Girl, is a lightly wicked piece of genuine satire. Performed by Zappa's daughter, Moon, it is a monologue about the important things in the life of a typical girl living in California's San Fernando Valley. Shopping is, of course, her main concern, but other front runners are the length of her toe nails, her plans for the eventual removal of her teeth braces, and the dating behavior of her boy friends. All of this is related by Moon in a torrent of exclamatory cliches using that peculiar alum-lipped diction that real Valley Girls find so distinguished. A truly funny, mordant piece of record making.