A lot of people probably saw the picture of Frank Zappa sitting on the toilet before they had ever heard his music. Let alone that they knew who he was.
Taken by photographer Robert Davidson in a London hotel room in 1967, it became one of the best-selling rock posters in history. Zappa himself famously noted that he was more famous for sitting on the toilet than for his music.
I must have seen the picture before I started listening to Frank's music but, for me, that wasn't what triggered me to find out who the man in the picture was.
I got hooked when I found "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" and "Burnt Weeny Sandwich" in the public library. The album artwork pulled me in and the music blew me away.
Still, I can imagine that many people found the photo funny and subversive and thought it embodied the counterculture.
It is an iconic picture and the story behind it is fascinating to say the least.
And that's what the upcoming "Zappa And Me" documentary will be about.
https://www.wilddogworld.com/zappa-and-me-the-image-that-created-an-icon/
Although the Zappanale festival had existed for quite some years, the first 'international edition', with invited guests from all over the world and the inauguration of the statue, took place in 2002.
It's no surprise that the poster referred to the famous picture.
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