Dead Girls Of London

For once, the bark of a Frank Zappa song is worse than its bite, because this is not a tale of necrophilia like "I Want My Baby Back," and it isn't even an ode to a serial murderer at large like the Phil Lynott-penned "Killer On The Loose." Zappa married his second wife, Gail, in 1967; they had four children - all of whom they gave bizarre names - and remained together until his premature death from prostate cancer in December 1993, just short of his 54th birthday. Though he may have been a family man, Zappa was also a rock star, and lived the rock star lifestyle. According to his biographer Barry Miles in Frank Zappa, the song was inspired by the frigid reception he experienced while trying to pick up girls at the London nightclub Tramp after recording sessions, the only place he could find that served meals after 2 a.m. Tramp was opened in Central London in 1969; it is a private club with an exclusive clientele; its membership list reads like a Who's Who of showbiz, including Elton John, Frank Sinatra and The Rolling Stones from the music side. A club of this nature is obviously a magnet for attractive young girls, many on the lookout for their big break in music, film or fashion. Although he was a big name, going back to Frank Zappa's hotel room was not regarded as a good career move. Whatever personal failings he have may had, no one could honestly claim that vanity was one of them, but this curt, and apparently serial rejection, obviously wounded his ego.

Zappa wrote "Dead Girls Of London" with the electric violinist L. Shankar; Zappa wrote the lyrics, and both men composed the music. Zappa got Van Morrison to record the lead vocal for the song, which was quite a coup, but a contractual landmine. Morrison was signed to Warner Bros., as was Zappa, but around this time Zappa was getting fed up with the label and formed his own Zappa Records. Understandably, Warner Bros. wouldn't let him use Morrison's vocal, so Zappa replaced it with his own vocal singing in unison with Ike Willis, and released the song on L. Shankar's album Touch Me There in 1979, the first release by another artist on Zappa Records. The Van Morrison version surfaced on bootlegs and was officially released in 2011 on The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAAAAM Birthday Bundle.