Most folks have at least heard of Frank Zappa, the crazy, rock icon. Younger generations may know the Zappa name from his progeny, Moon Unit, and Dweezil. (The latter was actually named for Frank’s nickname for his wife’s misshapen little toe.

A popular image was the classic 70’s poster of him sitting on a toilet under a caption reading; Zappa Crappa. Sadly, he was more famous for his tossed off commercial semi-hits like “Valley Girl” and “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”, than his expert guitar work on scores of lesser known masterpieces. If you are any kind of fan, you already know about his profanity laced tunes that skewer the pretensions of modern society.

One such little known treasure is the album “Sheik Yerbouti”, released in 1979 on the artist’s own Barking Pumpkin Records. The cover features a close-up of Zappa’s middle- eastern looking face shrouded in Bedouin robes. In these post 9-11 times, he’d have a hell of a time boarding a plane.

For those easily offended by graphic imagery, this might be the time to skip ahead to the next article.

My first exposure to this collection was at a party. The young couple a few doors down from the frat house always hosted a lot of post-party parties for the over-served. J-Rat had it on cassette, and put it in without any fanfare.

Frank had me immediately, on hearing the romantic “I Have Been In You”, about a couple that might be just a little too intimate.

The second song “Flakes” is an up-tempo number that makes fun of all the idiots working retail in Southern California.

Next up is “Broken Hearts are for Assholes”, a tune that always makes me blow beer out my nose. I happens toward the end when notorious back up group The Mothers of Invention, go into a particularly vulgar chorus. In party settings this always turns into a sing-along.

There are a number of other quality selections on the disk, but in the interest of time and space limitations, I will jump ahead to my all time personal favorite Frank Zappa song; “Bobby Brown Goes Down”. This is a twisted love story about a big man on campus who has an unexpected sexual awakening. This song is so depraved, I have a hard time pulling a line from it that won’t offend somebody. So I’ll just share my favorite line, which is when Bobby croons, “I can take about an hour on the tower of power…long as I gets a little golden shower. I ask you, is that beautiful imagery or what?

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. Pick up a copy of this classic Zappa album, and put it on for your next party. You’ll be surprised at who is shocked and who is delighted. Oh, one last thing. Remember Teddy Ruxpin? The stuffed bear moved his mouth to the words of the cassette tapes in his belly. Well my daughter had one, when they came out back in the 80’s. I couldn’t resist replacing the tape with a cassette of “Sheik Yerbouti”. I’ll never forget the image of the little bear singing along with Frank on the chorus of the afore mentioned song #3, and the look of shock on my mother-in-laws face. Priceless!