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Moon Zappa remembers life with her father Frank. ‘Pagan absurdists’ aren’t great parents
About this Episode
Moon Zappa grew up in what appeared, on the outside, to be an enviably free-wheeling and creative household in Laurel Canyon. On the inside, not so much. Her extremely funny, soul-baring and colourful account of dysfunctional family life in her memoir Earth To Moon is as gripping as it’s unsettling. A typical day: “Your mother’s on the rampage, I need you to hide the gun!” Only other children with famous parents can fully gauge the emotional turmoil. She talks here about her memoir Earth To Moon – just out in paperback – and the impact of Frank’s work and tours on the frail domestic set-up and the years they all spent “stewarding his genius”. Along with …
… “is genius worth the collateral damage?”
… fond memories of rare moments with her workaholic father.
… the Zappa family’s perilous finances: “Could he write a pop song or did he just choose not to?”
... how she was shut out of the control of Frank’s estate “plus a clause saying if I found religion I’d get no money at all”.
… the nurses’ reaction when they discovered her new-born brother was named ‘Dweezil’.
... recording Valley Girl, the song that made her a teenage star and changed the family fortunes but got no gratitude from her parents.
… why Frank found Valley Girl’s success “mortifying”. And how her one catastrophic live version put her off stage performance for life.
… and that unique bond you have with other celebrity offspring: “Jakob Dylan and I just cackle with laughter. ‘That happened to you too?’”
Order ‘Earth To Moon’ in paperback here:
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