I Don't Wanna Get Drafted

Last updated
"I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"
Don'tgetdraftywithme.jpeg
Single by Frank Zappa
B-side "Ancient Armaments"
Released1980
Recorded1980
Genre Rock, comedy rock
Length3:10
Label Zappa Records
Songwriter(s) Frank Zappa
Producer(s) Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa singles chronology
"Stick It Out"
(1979)
"I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"
(1980)
"Love of My Life"
(1981)

"I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" is a 1980 single by American musician Frank Zappa. The song peaked at #103 US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 and #68 on the Cash Box charts, but more successfully reached #3 in Sweden. The original single version has never been reissued on LP or CD.

Contents

A slightly different version of the single recording was later included in the 1996 posthumous Zappa album The Lost Episodes .

The song was later completely rerecorded at a faster tempo for the 1981 album You Are What You Is and released under the title "Drafted Again".

The B-side of the single "Ancient Armaments" is an edited live instrumental from the New York City Palladium on October 31, 1978. A more complete recording of this track was included in a different mix on the 2003 album Halloween .

History

Zappa and his label Zappa Records had signed a distribution agreement with Phonogram in 1977 for releases in the United States and Canada.

Though Phonogram did release the single in Canada [1] they declined to do so in the US. According to Zappa, this was because a Phonogram executive who had served in the US military objected to the lyrics. Phonogram president Robert Sherwood disputed Zappa's version of the story, insisting that it was a marketing decision. Sherwood claimed that the distributor did not want to release a single without the support of a full-length album. [2]

Zappa later released the single in the US independently. Outside the US and Canada the single was distributed by CBS. Zappa later created another record company, Barking Pumpkin, distributed by CBS, after ending his agreement with Phonogram. [3]

The song was written in response to the re-introduction of mandatory draft registration during the Carter administration. The issue of including women in the draft is alluded to in the lyrics, and this was also a subject much popular discussion at the time. [4]

"I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" was recorded in February 1980 at Ocean Way Recording on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The picture sleeve for the single was one of the first places Zappa was seen publicly with short hair. He had kept his hair long since the mid-1960s, but his wife Gail cut it short around August 1979. [5] [6]

"Drafted Again" was recorded at Zappa's UMRK home studio. It has lines sung by Ahmet Zappa and Moon Zappa which were sung by Frank in the original. This version also has spoken references from the TV game show The Price Is Right : "LaCelia Jackson! Come on down! Nancy Butterworth! Come on down! You're the next contestants on SOOOOO WHAT! And, but, also. A new car! But that's not all..."

Reception

Record World called it "zany, funky, topical, rebellious and pure Zappa" and praised the keyboard playing and vocal performances. [7]

Track list

A: "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" - 3:10
B: "Ancient Armaments" - 4:10 [8]

Line up

Single version

Frank Zappa- vocals, guitar
Dale Bozzio — vocals
Terry Bozzio — vocals
Mark Pinske - vocals
Ike Willis - vocals, guitar
Ray White - vocals guitar
Arthur Barrow - bass
Tommy Mars - keyboards, vocals
Vinnie Colaiuta - drums [9]

Album version

Frank Zappa – vocals, guitar
Ike Willis – rhythm guitar, vocals
Ray White – rhythm guitar, vocals
Steve Vai – guitars
Ahmet Zappa – vocals
Moon Zappa – vocals
Mark Pinske - vocals
Arthur Barrow – bass guitar
Bob Harris – trumpet
Tommy Mars – keyboards
David Logeman – drums

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dweezil Zappa</span> American rock guitarist and actor

Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Zappa developed a strong affinity for playing the guitar and producing music. Able to learn directly from guitarists such as Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen, Zappa released his first single at the age of 12.

<i>Joes Garage</i> 1979 studio album by Frank Zappa

Joe's Garage is a three-part rock opera released by American musician Frank Zappa in September and November 1979. Originally released as two separate albums on Zappa Records, the project was later remastered and reissued as a triple album box set, Joe's Garage, Acts I, II & III, in 1987. The story is told by a character identified as the "Central Scrutinizer" narrating the story of Joe, an average adolescent male, from Canoga Park, Los Angeles, who forms a garage rock band, has unsatisfying relationships with women, gives all of his money to a government-assisted and insincere religion, explores sexual activities with appliances, and is imprisoned. After being released from prison into a dystopian society in which music itself has been criminalized, he lapses into insanity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Cuccurullo</span> American musician (born 1956)

Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1986 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.

<i>Sheik Yerbouti</i> 1979 live album with studio elements by Frank Zappa

Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets. It was later released on a single CD.

<i>My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Dweezil Zappa

My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama is an album by Dweezil Zappa. It was released in 1988 by Chrysalis Records.

<i>Them or Us</i> 1984 studio album with live elements by Frank Zappa

Them or Us is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records.

<i>Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch</i> 1982 studio album / Live album by Frank Zappa

Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991. It features five tracks composed by Zappa, and one song, "Valley Girl", co-written with his daughter, Moon Zappa, then a teen, who provided the spoken monologue mocking Valley girls, including phrases like "Gag me with a spoon!".

Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany.

<i>Thing-Fish</i> 1984 studio album by Frank Zappa

Thing-Fish is an album by Frank Zappa, originally released as a triple album box set on Barking Pumpkin Records in 1984. It was billed as a cast recording for a proposed musical of the same name, which was ultimately not produced by Zappa, but later performed partially in 2003, ten years after his death.

<i>Zoot Allures</i> 1976 studio album by Frank Zappa

Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dale Bozzio</span> American rock and pop vocalist

Dale Frances Bozzio is an American rock and pop vocalist. She is best known as co-founder and lead singer of the '80s new wave band Missing Persons and for her work with Frank Zappa. While with Zappa, she performed significant roles in two of his major works, Joe's Garage (1979) and Thing-Fish (1984). Bozzio has released four solo albums and one EP.

<i>You Cant Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3</i> 1989 live album by Frank Zappa

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, spanning from December 10, 1971, to December 23, 1984. It was released in 1989.

<i>Halloween</i> (Frank Zappa album) 2003 live album by Frank Zappa

Halloween is a live album by Frank Zappa, released in DVD-Audio format by Vaulternative Records in 2003. It features recordings compiled from various shows at The Palladium, New York City in late October 1978—including a Halloween show on October 31—along with some video content from the same period.

<i>Läther</i> 1996 studio album by Frank Zappa

Läther is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa. It was released posthumously as a three-CD set on Rykodisc in 1996. The album's title is derived from bits of comic dialog that link the songs. Zappa also explained that the name is a joke, based on "common bastardized pronunciation of Germanic syllables by the Swiss."

<i>Does Humor Belong in Music?</i> (album) Live album

Does Humor Belong in Music? is a live album by Frank Zappa.

<i>The Lost Episodes</i> 1996 compilation album by Frank Zappa

The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993.

Barking Pumpkin Records is an American record label founded by Frank Zappa in 1981. Zappa named the label after his wife's smoker's cough when she tried to quit the habit. Barking Pumpkin was initially distributed by CBS Records.

Zappa Records is an American record label based in Los Angeles which was founded by Frank Zappa in 1977. It was mostly inactive during the 1980s and 1990s, but was revived in 2006 by the Zappa Family Trust.

<i>Tinsel Town Rebellion</i> 1981 live album with studio elements by Frank Zappa

Tinsel Town Rebellion is a double live album released by Frank Zappa in May 1981. The album was conceived by Zappa after he scrapped the planned albums Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, and contains tracks that were intended for those albums.

<i>You Are What You Is</i> 1981 studio album by Frank Zappa

You Are What You Is is a 1981 double album by American musician Frank Zappa. His 34th album, it consists of three musical suites which encompass pop, doo-wop, jazz, hard rock, reggae, soul, blues, new wave and country. The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including hippies, socialites, fashion, narcotics use, cultural appropriation, religion, televangelists and the military draft.

References

  1. "Frank Zappa – I Don't Wanna Get Drafted! (1980, Vinyl)". Discogs . 1980.
  2. "1980-07 Record company zaps draft song".
  3. Gulla, Bob (2009). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History - Bob Gulla - Google Books. ISBN   9780313358067 . Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  4. Lowe, Kelly Fisher (2006). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa - Kelly Fisher Lowe - Google Books. ISBN   9780275987794 . Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  5. "Warning! The Real Zappa". Gold Coast Free Press - September 29, 1979. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  6. "The Island-Ear Interview: Frank Zappa". Island Ear - September 24, 1979. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  7. "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. May 3, 1980. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  8. "Frank Zappa - I Don't Wanna Get Drafted! at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1980. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  9. "Frank Zappa - I Don't Wanna Get Drafted! (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1980. Retrieved 2014-06-27.