Line #52 Music/JustAnotherBandFromLA


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/just_another_band_from_la_6413.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Just another article on TV Tropes...]]
3
4	''Just Another Band from L.A.'' is a 1972 LiveAlbum by Music/FrankZappa. It was his last album with the former Music/TheTurtles collaborators Mark and Howie, with whom he collaborated on ''Music/ChungasRevenge'' (1970), ''Music/FillmoreEastJune1971'' (1971) and ''Film/TwoHundredMotels'' (1971). The album is best remembered for "Billy The Mountain".
5
6	!!Tracklist
7	[[AC: Side One]]
8	# "Billy the Mountain" (24:47)
9
10	[[AC: Side Two]]
11	# "Call Any Vegetable" (7:22)
12	# "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" (3:10)
13	# "Magdalena" (6:25)
14	# "Dog Breath" (3:39)
15
16	!!Personnel
17	* Music/FrankZappa (guitar, vocals)
18	* Aynsley Dunbar (drums)
19	* [[Music/TheTurtles Howard Kaylan]] (lead vocals)
20	* Jim Pons (bass, vocals)
21	* Don Preston (keyboards, minimoog)
22	* Ian Underwood (winds, keyboards, vocals)
23	* [[Music/TheTurtles Mark Volman]] (lead vocals)
24
25	!! Eddie, Are You Troping?
26	* AllWomenAreLustful: "Billy The Mountain"
27	--> ''Ethell, like every little woman, she of course was very excited!''
28	* AnimateInanimateObject: Billy, a mountain who can talk and walk.
29	* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: The car on the album cover.
30	* BewareTheNiceOnes: "Billy The Mountain"
31	--> ''Cuz when a person gets to be such a hero, folks,''
32	--> ''And marvelous beyond compute,''
33	--> ''You can never really tell about a guy like that''
34	--> ''Whether he's really a nice person''
35	--> ''Or if he just smiles a lot (What?)''
36	* BrokenAesop[=/=]SpaceWhaleAesop[=/=]SpoofAesop: The moral of "Billy The Mountain" is one or all of these.
37	--> ''[[spoiler: A mountain is something you don't wanna fuck with]]''
38	* {{Bowdlerize}}: Some bootleg versions of "Call Any Vegetable" in Mark & Howie's live version are more pointed in their criticism of the USA during the "God Bless America" part and have them sing "Sieg heil! Sieg heil! Sieg heil!", while making the Nazi salute.
39	* CallBack and ContinuityNod:
40	** The album cover claims that "any similarities between this album cover and the one for ''Music/CruisingWithRubenAndTheJets'' are purely coincidental".
41	** Zappa and the Mothers are seen driving in a car on the cover, which continues car imagery in his conceptual continuity. Their vehicle also drives over what appears to be a sealed tuna sandwich from "This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich" from ''Film/TwoHundredMotels'' (1971).
42	** "Billy The Mountain" features Billy the Mountain, who would reappear during the song "The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary" from ''Music/StudioTan'' (1978), also available on ''Music/{{Lather}}'' (1993).
43	** A Lincoln car and a Studebaker Hoch are mentioned in "Billy The Mountain", adding to Zappa's car imagery in his lyrics.
44	** Billy being happy about "his royalty check coming in", references the line about royalty checks in "Flower Punk" from Zappa's ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney''.
45	** The orange county minister mentioned in "Billy The Mountain" brings "The Orange County Lumber Truck" from Zappa's ''Music/WeaselsRippedMyFlesh'' in mind.
46	** The line "are you kidding?" in "Billy The Mountain" is similar to the track "Eddie Are You Kidding?" on the album.
47	** In "Billy The Mountain" Studebaker Hoch references the album cover of Zappa's ''Music/FillmoreEastJune1971'' in his phone call
48	---> ''Ah, listen, by the way, before I go on: did you get those white albums I sent ya with the pencil on the front?''
49	** Studebaker's question about the wife's hemorrhoids are similar to the track "Latex Solar Beef" from Zappa's ''Music/FillmoreEastJune1971''
50	** Ethell wanted for draft evasion shares a theme with "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" from Zappa's album ''Music/YouAreWhatYouIs'' (1980).
51	** Studebaker Hoch buys some "Aunt Jemima syrup", a shout-out to "Electric Aunt Jemima" from ''Music/UncleMeat''.
52	** Canoga Park would be mentioned as one of the constellations on the album cover of ''Music/OneSizeFitsAll'' (1975) and as the location where "the charming Mary comes from" in "Fembot In A Wet T-Shirt Nite" from ''Music/JoesGarage'' (1979).
53	** "Call Any Vegetable" is a song from ''Music/AbsolutelyFree'' and "Dog Breath" from ''Music/UncleMeat'', though performed live and in a different arrangement.
54	** "Call Any Vegetable" is given new lyrics on this album. During the track Mark starts singing "God Bless America", a song that was covered earlier on ''Music/UncleMeat''. Howard also asks: "Where can I go to get my poodle clipped in Burbank?", which reference dog and poodle imagery again from ''Music/AbsolutelyFree'', something Zappa would elaborate more on in ''Music/OverNiteSensation'', ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'' and ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere''.
55	** "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" sings about pants and undergarments, a conceptual continuity item in Zappa's lyrics. The line about "these pants I'm wearing are double knit. They stretch in the right places" is similar to "who cares if you can't afford a pair of mother go-go stretch-o-lastic pants?" from "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" from ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney''.
56	** "Magdalena" features a teenage daughter in an obscene situation, much like the one in "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" from ''Music/AbsolutelyFree''. While the one in "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" would be "smothered in chocolate syrup", the one in "Magdalena" will be covered in mayonnaise. The father also claims to make "maple syrup for the pancakes of his land", just like St. Alphonso bakes pancakes in "St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast" in ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}''.
57	* CaveMouth: "Billy The Mountain".
58	* ConjoinedTwins: Kind of. Billy the Mountain has a tree on his shoulder named Ethel, who seems to be either a relative of him or a partner.
59	* CrossDressingVoices: Ethel's voice in "Billy The Mountain" and Magdalena's voice in "Magdalena".
60	* DeathMountain: "Billy The Mountain".
61	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
62	--> ''BILLY was a mountain''\
63	''ETHELL was a tree growing off of his shoulder''
64	--> ''BILLY was a mountain (BILLY was a mountain!)''
65	--> ''ETHELL was a tree growing off of his shoulder (ETHELL was a tree growing off of his shoulder)''
66	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: Cal Schenkel's album cover.
67	* DraftDodging: Billy is persecuted for draft evasion in "Billy The Mountain".
68	* EpicRocking: "Billy The Mountain", a 24:47 minutes long live performance.
69	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: All tracks seague into each other.
70	* InformedAbility: We know Studebaker Hoch (in "Billy the Mountain") is heroic because the narrator claims he is. He never actually does anything heroic in the song, which is probably the whole point.
71	* KitschyLocalCommercial: "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" spoofed Edward Nalbandian and his commercials for Zachary's All Clothing store, familiar on Los Angeles airwaves at the time, the song's title and chorus being a direct quote from one of Nalbandian's commercials.
72	* {{Leitmotif}}: Billy the Mountain and Ethel the Tree get a joint one, most audibly at the beginning when the Mothers sing the line "Billy was a mountain, Ethel was a tree growing off of his shoulder."
73	* LiveAlbum: The album is live.
74	* LongestSongGoesFirst: The side-length piece "Billy the Mountain" opens the album.
75	* MonsterShapedMountain: "Billy The Mountain".
76	* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: Zappa attacks the American draft system and RedScare during "Billy The Mountain".
77	* NameAndName: Billy the Mountain and Ethel the Tree.
78	* NationalStereotypes: The Canadian father in "Magdalena" makes, of course, maple syrup.
79	* NonAppearingTitle: The album title is never mentioned in any of the songs.
80	* OneWomanSong: "Magdalena".
81	* ParentalIncest: "Magdalena," in which a Montreal man lusts after his titular teenage daughter. [[CallingTheOldManOut Magdalena doesn't reciprocate]]. BlackComedy ensues.
82	* PepTalkSong: During "Call Any Vegetable" Zappa says:
83	--> ''Ah, but it's a great time to be alive, ladies and gentlemen. And that's the theme of our program for tonight. It's so fucking great to be alive! Is what the theme of our show is tonight, boys and girls. And I wanna tell ya, if there is anybody here who doesn't believe that it is fucking great to be alive, I wish they would go now, because this show will bring them down so much.''
84	* PrecisionFStrike: In the moral of "Billy the Mountain", although it's repeated so much that it borders on being a ClusterFBomb.
85	* ProductPlacement:
86	** "Billy The Mountain"
87	--> ''A man in a checkered double-knit suit drove up in a large El Dorado Cadillac''
88	--> ''Ahhh! there's a HOWARD JOHNSONS! Wanna eat some clams?''
89	--> ''Consider this rumor ("A rumor..."), which was published ("A rumor...") about three weeks ago in ROLLING STONE ("Oh, it's gotta be true!")''
90	--> ''He hit up the RALPH'S on Sunset for some 'AUNT JEMIMA SYRUP', some 'KAISER BROILER FOIL', and a pair of blunt scissors!''
91	** "Call Any Vegetable" has a mid section where Mark and Howie name several stores in L.A., like Bob & Ray's Swahili restaurant, "Jeans North" and "Jack La Lanne Hamburgers".
92	** "Magdalena"
93	--> ''I saw you standing under the Shell pest strip late last night.''
94	--> ''(...) I wantcha to turn around by the Sparkletts machine.''
95	* QuestioningTitle: "Eddie, Are You Kidding?"
96	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: All tracks on this album mention many real-life locations in L.A. During "Billy The Mountain" Billy and Ethell travel through the Mojave Desert, a wink to the location where Zappa spent most of his teenage years.
97	* RedScare: Ethell the Tree is thought to be an "active Communist".
98	* SelfDeprecation: The album title.
99	* ShaggyDogStory: "Billy The Mountain".
100	* ShoutOut:
101	** "Billy The Mountain":
102	*** When Billy receive his royalties "Pomp & Circumstance" from Edward Elgar is musically quoted in the background.
103	*** When Billy says to Ethell that they are going to New York the theme from ''Series/TheTonightShow'' is quoted.
104	*** As they travel through the Mojave Desert their voices echo through "the canyons of your minds", which is a reference to "Canyons Of Your Mind" by Music/TheBonzoDogBand.
105	*** Creator/JerryLewis is mentioned hosting a Telethon ("Wah wah wah, nice lady!").
106	*** Billy causes a "Oh Mein Papa" in the Earth's crust, an oblique pun on "''fissure''," because the song "Oh Mein Papa" was a hit for Eddie ''Fisher''.
107	*** "Johnny's Theme" by Music/PaulAnka, "Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder" and Music/StephenStills' "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" are parodied.
108	*** The scene where a sand storm comes up, while in the background somebody calls for Toto and Aunty Em references ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. The song "Over The Rainbow" is quoted too.
109	*** When Studebaker is mentioned the music quotes "The Star Spangled Banner".
110	*** Studebaker Hoch is said to resemble Zubin Mehta, a conductor with whom Zappa worked together in the early 1970s. Mehta is also one of the constellations on the album cover art of ''Music/OneSizeFitsAll''.
111	*** Studebaker is thought to have a son named ''Literature/{{Pinocchio}}'' and be able to sing like Music/NeilSedaka.
112	*** A man is described wearing a Dudley Do-Right wristwatch in reference to the mountie character from ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle''.
113	*** Studebaker Hoch is said to be born "underneath Music/JoniMitchell's autographed picture, right beside Elliot Roberts' big Bank Book, next to the boat where [[Music/DavidCrosby Crosby]] flushed away all his stash and the cops got him in the boat and drove away to the can where Music/NeilYoung slipped another disc."
114	*** Studebaker Hoch speaks in a ''very clear, impressive [[Creator/LRonHubbard Ron Hubbard]]-type'' voice.
115	** "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" mentions famous model Twiggy and musically quotes from the {{Doowop}} hit "Sixteen Candles" by The Crests.
116	--> ''Our model Twiggy here will demonstrate. I have this lovely little Seersucker.''
117	** "Magdalena" references a few obscure actors:
118	--> ''We can walk down the streets by the stars that say Jon Provost and Leo G. Carroll together, baby.''
119	--> ''Can't you see it: Frank Pernell and us, until dark''
120	--> ''My God, I was only following the sexual impulse like I heard on the Creator/JohnnyCarson Show from a book or something I wrote.''
121	** Music/LosLobos named their album "Just Another Band From East L.A." after this album.
122	* SingerNameDrop: Aynsley Dunbar is mentioned in "Billy The Mountain" and "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" references
123	* SpokenWordInMusic: "Billy The Mountain" is a fairy tale set to music.
124	* VacationEpisode: In "Billy The Mountain" Billy the Mountain and Ethel the Tree go out on a trip. All tracks on this album mention many real-life locations in L.A.
125	--> ''Ethell, we're going on a vacation!''

Context Music / JustAnotherBandFromLA