Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention CD

Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, Synclavier); Ike Willis, Ray White (vocals, guitar); Bobby Martin (vocals, keyboards); Moon Zappa, Dweezil Zappa, Senator Danforth, Senator Hollings, Senator Trible, Senator Hawkins, Senator Exon, Senator Gorton, Senator Gore, Tipper Gore, Reverend Jeff Ling, Spider Barbour, All Nite John, Unknown Girl In Piano (vocals); Steve Vai (guitar); Tommy Mars (keyboards); Scott Thunes (bass); Chad Wackerman (drums); Ed Mann (percussion).
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a transitional album that sees Zappa turning away from rock and putting more time into his Synclavier compositions. This is a year away from the computer-only (minus one live track) Jazz From Hell. So the album presents a handful of computer pieces ("Aerobics in Bondage," "Little Beige Sambo"), one rock song and one rock instrumental ("We're Turning Again" and the complex "Alien Orifice"), and a couple of attempts at pairing real performers with the computer ("Yo Cats," "What's New in Baltimore?"). Most importantly, the U.S. version of Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention contained "Porn Wars," a sound collage of excerpts from the PMRC hearings -- the lobby group wanted a law instructing record companies to put warning stickers on offensive albums. The LP's title was inspired by that particular piece (the other tracks don't relate to the subject) and yet the version released in Europe, Japan, and Canada -- which sported inverted black and white on the cover -- did not include "Porn Wars," but three extra tracks (two on Synclavier and one rock song). The 1995 Ryko reissue put all pieces from the two versions on one CD. Apart from the political issues of "Porn Wars," which quickly became dated, the album lacks memorable moments. It is not uninteresting and those allergic to the Synclavier will still prefer it over Jazz From Hell. ~ François Couture
Over the years, Zappa would often use both his life experiences and global current events as a catalyst for composing new material. This was never more apparent than on Frank's 1986 release, MEETS THE MOTHERS OF PREVENTION. A year previously, the P.M.R.C. (a group of U.S. senators and their wives, led by Al Gore's wife Tipper) led a congressional hearing dealing with what they felt were "obscene" recordings by popular musical artists. Along with John Denver and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, Frank was one of the few musicians who objected to this, and appeared at the congressional hearing to slug it out.
Soon after, Frank began writing the tunes that would comprise MEETS THE MOTHERS OF PREVENTION, one of his most politically charged works ever. "Porn Wars" contains actual sampled dialogue of the PMRC hearing, while "I Don't Even Care" features Johnny "Guitar" Watson on vocals. The album also proved to be a turning point for Zappa's '80s music, since it contained the first appearance of the Synclavier, which allowed Frank to finally write and record entire compositions himself, and would appear on the rest of his recordings.