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JOE'S GARAGE

 Joe's Garage

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Joe:
And a cheesy little amp
With a sign on the front said "Fender Champ"
From: Gary Rush <grush@crl.com>
  this is an early fender amplifier much revered by anyone who started playing guitar in that time period (50's - 60's). it is a small little amp, i think first sold as a starter amp, now they are considered vintage, although i think they have been reissued.
From: John Henley <jhenley@mail.utexas.edu>
  Fender is the famous electric guitar company that produces such models as the Telecaster and Stratocaster. They also make amplifiers, and the "Champ" is (was) one of their models.
From: lantz@primenet.com (Bill Lantz)
  ... it was a small, mobile amp that Fender put out years ago. Kind of the pignose of the early 60's.
From: paulhinr@nando.net (Paul Hinrichs)
  Sure was - it was their entry level amp, just big enough to enclose the 10 or 12 inch speaker it held. I think it might have had a tremelo effect on it, but definitely no reverb. Looked liked a standard Fender amp with the plate for controls and input, and then that patented Fender grillcloth over the front.
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And a second hand guitar
It was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar
From: fnord@panix.com (Cliff Heller)
  The wammy or "twang" bar is a movable handle that raises the bridge and puts a springlike tension on the strings. A simple and inexpensive effect still in use today.
From: Gary Rush <grush@crl.com>
  the tremolo bar, not invented, but perhaps improved by leo fender so that dick dale and other surf guitarists found it usable to such an extent that it became part of the genre. now called a whammy bar, heavy metal players use it mainly to 'dive-bomb'. the stratocaster (strat) was invented by leo fender.
From: ulrich@sfu.ca <Charles Ulrich>
  A vibrato bar. For other uses, see "Church Chat" on YCDTOSA Volume 4.
  Here is it, Charles
"FZ: ...sometimes people say
That if you fuck somebody, it's a sin.
This may or may not be true.
This boy not only fuck somebody with his organ,
But he also fuck the girl with the guitar
With an umbrella, with a zucchini, with a shoe
With an enema bag
(What else you do?

Vai: A vibrato bar)

FZ: A vibrato bar
And some people say this is a sin"
From: John Henley <jhenley@mail.utexas.edu>
  A whammy bar is also known as a vibrato bar. It tightens or loosens the strings all together, giving you a slight dip or rise in pitch without using the tuning keys. When the bar is grasped and yanked repeatedly, it gives you a vibrato sound. For that it's primarily used by the techically-impaired, since such bluesmen as B.B. King have demonstrated that you can get just as good or better effects using the fretting hand only. Whammy bars are mainly used nowadays for showy special effects, a la Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen. (Or Steve Vai.)
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At this point, LARRY
(a guy who will eventually give up
music and earn a respectable living
as a roadie for a group called Toad-O)
joins in the song...
From: Brian Zavitz <bzavitz@fres2.GLFC.Forestry.CA>
  This is a joke about the rock group Toto (pronounced the same as Toad-O). Toads are similar to frogs and in western culture are considered slightly repulsive. Someone who is toad-like could be either repulsive or diminutive.
  See comments to the song number 6 On The Bus
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Larry:
Down in Joe's Garage
We didn't have no dope or LSD
  It's common knowledge that all his life FZ (being incurable nicotine addict himself and despite enormous popularity in psychedelic oriented circles :-) strongly voiced against drug usage. Yes, but may be it's interesting to know that his earliest public anti-drug statements dated October, 1966. Here is a quote (as given by D.G.Walley in his NCP book p.65) from LA Free Press.
WE [MOI], AS A GROUP, DO NOT RECOMMEND...
VERILY, _WE REPUDIATE_ ANY _ANIMAL/MINERAL
/VEGETABLE/SYNTHETIC SUBSTANCE, VEHICLE and/or
PROCEDURE WHICH MIGHT TEND TO REDUCE THE _BODY,
MIND OR SPIRIT_ OF ANY INDIVIDUAL (any true
individual) TO A STATE OF _SUB-AWARNESS_ OR
INSENSITIVITY ... that is to say
WE ARE HERE TO _TURN YOU LOOSE
NOT TURN YOU ON_
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So we picked out a stupid name
Had some cards printed up for a coupla bucks
'N' we was on our way to fame
Got matching suits 'N' Beatle Boots
  See comments on _Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy_ in Bongo Fury N&C
 
'N' a sign on the back of the car
'N' we was ready to work in a GO-GO Bar
  Is there any basic difference between Go-Go and A-Go-Go trend ?-)
From: John Henley <jhenley@mail.utexas.edu>
  Nope. "A-Go-Go" tends to be found more in the _names_ of go-go establishments, meaning "you will find it here." Something like "a la carte."
From: fnord@panix.com (Cliff Heller)
  To a degree, yes. A Go-Go bar had women dancing up on pedestals, or even in cages. "A-go-go" derived from the same phenomenon, but became a catch all marketing term for "modern and cool"
  See also comments to _Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance_ in WOIFTM N&C.
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Officer Butzis:
This is the Police
Give yourself up
We have the garage surrounded
From: petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Peter Hipwell)
  Butzis (? a pun on "Butt Zits") was, I believe, the nickname of Al Malkin (who emits the last "Zetta" on Joe's Garage. According to Ben Watson, Zappa had tapes and tapes of Malkin in a variety of sordid situations, which he was thinking of editing into another project. He's also referred to in the long version of "Yellow Snow" on YCDTOSA vol. 1, and "Mudd Club" on YAWYI.
  CC
From: Vladimir Sovetov <sova@kpbank.ru>
  Album: Tinsel Town Rebellion
  Track: Peaches III
  Let's hear it for another great Italian, Alvin Lee, ladies and gentlemen... Vinnie, Butzis, Vinnie's girlfriend, Butzis' girlfriend, Patty, Denny, uh, Marty...
  Album: You Are What You Is
  Track: Mudd Club
  MUDD CLUB
Al Malkin's down there now
Looking for a virgin with nice breath...
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Mrs. Borg:
Everday this goes on around here!

Officer Butzis:
We will not harm you, or maim you
*(SWAT Team 4, move in!)*
From: Brian Zavitz <bzavitz@fres2.GLFC.Forestry.CA>
  I think it stands for Special Weapons And Tactical team. SWAT teams are special police units used to control terrorism, hostage situations, or some other crazy problem that large cities are bound to have. Like poor public transportation. ;^)
From: John Henley <jhenley@mail.utexas.edu>
  Special Weapons and Tactics. An elite squad for use in the most dangerous situations. Its use here is deliberate overkill.
From: Dave Lane <dalane@bbn.com>
  S.W.A.T. is an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics, a name given to a special heavily-armed unit of big-city police forces.
  I first heard the term used in the TV series "Adam-12" in the late 60's or early 70's. *(Conceptual Continuity Clue: Ike's "1-Adam-12, 1-Adam-12, see the NIGNINT" and/or "1-Adam-12, see the pecker", I forget which songs (Tinseltown?) On that show, the police dispatcher would always radio officers Reed & Malloy with "1-Adam-12, 1-Adam-12, see the man, 211 in progress, etc...".)*
  Also, there was a US TV show in the 70's called S.W.A.T.
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Central Scrutinizer:
This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER...
That was Joe's first confrontation with The Law.
Naturally, we were easy on him.
One of our friendly counselors gave him
A do-nut... and told him to
From: Brian Zavitz <bzavitz@fres2.GLFC.Forestry.CA>
  A do-nut (dough-nut) is a pastry that is shaped like a hockey puck but with the centre missing (tastes about the same too). They are sweet and fattening. The point here is that the counselor is basically ineffective and the best they can do is to offer Joe a confection.
From: lantz@primenet.com (Bill Lantz)
  A common police officer snack.
From: Gary Rush <grush@crl.com>
  In u.s. donuts and coffee are always part of friendly counseling. it's so predictable it's funny.
From: ulrich@sfu.ca <Charles Ulrich>
  ... often eaten by dunking in coffee.
From: petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Peter Hipwell)
  ... and also being impailed on a KKK pointy hat in the video for "You Are What You Is".
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