ZAPPA & HAGSTROM

For a third time in three years, Dweezil Zappa® will be taking the Zappa Plays Zappa® entourage out on tour across the United States and the world. Reaching back into the vast Frank Zappa® catalog, Dweezil has captured the spirit and sound of his Dad’s incredible music. Executing the material with stunning accuracy while stretching through improvised passages, Dweezil and his Viking bring back an era of intelligent music, masterful musicianship, and gorgeous vintage tones. Find out more about the Zappa Plays Zappa tour here! Check out Frank Zappa's web site: www.zappa.com

Nifty Tough & Bitchin'

Back in 1967, Frank Zappa created an advertising agency in New York City called "Nifty Tough & Bitchin'" as another creative outlet associated with, but not directly tied to his musical endeavors. This ad agency, in a very short amount of time, mounted various professional advertising campaigns for clients such as Hagstrom Guitars, Panther Combo Organs, and even Remington Razor Blades in addition to art direction for the Mother's of Invention album covers.

The Hagstrom campaign was one of the first campaigns launched by Nifty Tough & Bitchin'. It features 3 print ads: "Nifty", "Long and Slippery", and "Folk Rock is a Drag", and a radio spot: "Long and Slippery". Using himself as the subject matter of the ads, Frank does a masterful job crafting these ads showing that he is not only a musical genious, but also an astute business man, and savvy marketeer. Frank was responsible for art direction of the various ad campaigns, and he was also skilled in the technical aspects of ad creation handling layouts and creating the blue lines for print media.

With arresting images, catchy headlines that tied in the strengths of the product while pushing the boundaries of traditional copy, and challenging the reader with his gaze, Frank's Hagstrom campaign was quite successful and effectively introduced the brand into the United States. The "Nifty", "Long and Slippery", and "Folk Rock is a Drag" ads ran in Hit Parader magazine and Song Hits magazine in the fall/winter of 1967.

Zappa Plays Zappa

Fast forward 41 years to 2008, and Zappa Plays Zappa heads out on the road again bringing Frank Zappa's music to the world. As Dweezil prepares songs for the set, he also spends a considerable amount of time tweaking his gear to get the vintage tones used on the original recordings, and that is exactly where the Hagstrom Viking comes to play. "The Viking feels amazing, and it has a great natural sustain, " states Dweezil. "It has an awesome vintage tone right out of the case, so then I can use my outboard gear to sculpt the sound as necessary."