I don't know whether the text of this whole interview exists, but I heard a small portion rebroadcast a couple of weeks in honor of Frank's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It apparently was from an interview by Terry Gross on her NPR program, Fresh Air. I only have a small segment of it, but Frank's position on "heartfelt music" is interesting, and I thought it was worth posting.
-Yirmeyahu
Frank Zappa: Well first of all. There's no need for anyone to understand what lives in my heart, if in fact such an organ exists. Secondly, in contemporary terms, I think that it is a despicable thing to do, to earn your living by sharing your personal inner turmoil with somebody else for money. I don't like those kinds of singer-songwriter types who are always weeping about the tragedy in their life. I mean, why? Who needs it? Everybody else has got theirs.
Terry Gross: Well, I mean you don't have to be whining to sing a good ballad.
Frank Zappa: Well... Yeah but usually they are. And that's the problem.
Terry Gross: Do you feel that there are any things that you have been musically held back from doing because of the lack of commercial potential in it, or do you feel that you've done what you wanted to do no matter what?
Frank Zappa: Well I continue to do what I like to do, but whether or not anybody ever hears it is a matter of access to air-time.
Terry Gross: So you have a lot of things that you are doing at home now that you think most of us probably won't get to hear because it won't get recorded.
Frank Zappa: Oh, it will get recorded, but whether or not you will ever find the record in a store or ever hear the record played on the air, that's the question. The material does exist.