Moon Zappa remembers life with her father Frank. ‘Pagan absurdists’ aren’t great parents
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?’”
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