Frank Zappa
“Psychedelic Upholstery”
Dave Pierce:

What do you think's gonna be next, after psychedelic?

FZ:

Somebody's gotta prove to me first that "psychedelic music" exists. Really, you know. Let's— Let's be serious about this, if you say "country and western," yes, that exists as a label for a type of music, but "psychedelic," you know, what is that? It's just a label that somebody in a company stuck on it. And right now they're using the same word to sell dresses in somebody's store.

Dave Pierce:

Yeah, okay. Well, what do you think the next gimmick is gonna be?

FZ:

The next gimmick? Eh, I don't know, you think it up.

Anything. Somebody's gonna put a band together that, uh, the music is made on a '39 Chevy. And they've got contact microphones on different parts of the engine. And a special microphone that picks up the upholstery. And in live performance, they need very special amplifiers to get this sound across to the audience. Of course, they still have to have somebody standing out in front shaking a tambourine to keep the beat for the kids, but the rest of the music is very mechanical-organic. It comes right from the soul of the Chevrolet. And I think this is gonna be one of the first, uh, really underground groups produced by Motown.

(laughter)

It'll be a mixed, it'll be a mixed group. A mixed group, because some of the kids that'll be in the group will be Polish because they know how to work on the engine.

Joe Doll:

What do you think will be the next, you know, like . . .
FZ:

After that?

(laughter)

Joe Doll:

. . . the next, like, youth rebellion fad that . . .

FZ:

Youth rebellion fad? Well, let's see . . . Eh, next step is that the kids'll all cut their hair off and go bald. I'm sure that'll happen.