Sometimes in life you think you know what’s what about something, but you really don’t. It happens all the time and it happened to me when I first thought I knew about Frank Zappa. I probably heard Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow at a friend’s house in middle school or I saw the iconic image of his face and one-of-a-kind facial hair in Rolling Stone. Whatever the case, I created an image in my head of this guy who played whacky music with funny lyrics, and I liked him. I also thought that that was all there was to him, but I was wrong.

Fast forward to after I graduated college and sometime in my early 20s, I started getting super into collecting records. I lived in Washington DC at the time, and I would spend Saturdays riding my bike around the District and stopping at 4 or 5 record stores to waste away the day. I also attended quite a few record fairs, which were frequent and major in the city, which exposed me to all types of music.

One day at a DC record fair, an album caught my eye. It was Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar by Frank Zappa, so I bought it and plopped it on my record player when I got home. To my surprise, the album didn’t include whacky music with funny lyrics; instead, it was simply a collection of Frank Zappa guitar solos that shredded the wallpaper off my crappy apartment walls. I was blown away and I realized in that moment that I had been wrong about Frank. There was so much more to him and his music, and I was hungry to consume all things Zappa and catch up on lost time.

I immediately became obsessed and determined to buy all his earlier records, and in doing so, I learned about legendary albums like Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka and Chunga’s Revenge. His sound was unique and unmatched, raw and out of control. I fell in love, deeply, and that affection hasn’t waned over time – it has only gotten stronger.

As an ode my devotion, I created the penname Zank Frappa, which is what I use to post on Thirsty Vinyl. I even convinced my wife and kids to name our family dog Zappa, a fitting name for a wild and lovable vizsla.